London (AFP)

Johnny Depp rose to fame for his portrayal of eccentric characters like the heroes of "Edward in the Silver Hands" or the "Pirates of the Caribbean". Far from the big screen, the American actor had to face his demons like his idol Marlon Brando.

The libel lawsuit filed against British tabloid The Sun by the 57-year-old star sheds a harsh light on his glitzy and often tumultuous lifestyle.

The hearings gave rise to lengthy debates about his alcohol and drug use and the couple he formed with actress Amber Heard.

Wanting to wash his honor in front of the newspaper which described him as a violent husband, the actor embarked on this procedure not without risk for his reputation after more than 35 years of career, with an impressive filmography but never an Oscar.

Born on June 9, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky, a state in the middle of the United States, Johnny Depp overwhelmed himself with music before launching himself as a comedian.

He made his big screen debut in the 1984 Wes Craven thriller "Claws of the Night". His popularity soars with his angel-faced cop character in the "21 Jump Street" television series. .

In 1990, he played "Edward in the Silver Hands", a young man with scissors instead of hands who brought a little magic to the inhabitants of a small town by cutting their hair and trimming their shrubs.

His sense of fantasy also works wonders in the role of Peter Pan creator JM Barrie in "Neverland", released in 2004, which earned him an Oscar nomination.

He also played his hero, journalist and drug addict Hunter S. Thompson in "Las Vegas Parano". It was on the set of "Rhum Express", a lesser known work by Thompson, that he met Amber Heard in 2011.

Versatile, the actor has also taken on darker roles as an undercover detective in "Donnie Brasco" in 1997 or a drug dealer in "Blow" in 2001.

- 14 years with Vanessa Paradis -

The blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean" in which he plays Jack Sparrow, a sea bass who loves rum, has given him immense notoriety.

Nominated three times for an Oscar, notably after having slipped into the skin of "Sweeney Todd, the evil barber of Fleet Street", Johnny Depp has never won the precious statuette.

Johnny Depp returned frequently to his first love, music, collaborating with Oasis, Alice Cooper and Joe Perry, the guitarist of Aerosmith.

Accustomed to a sumptuous lifestyle, declaring one day to spend more than $ 30,000 a month on wine, he claimed in British courts that his former business manager had relieved him of the $ 650 million accumulated "since (the films ) Pirates (of the Caribbean) 2 and 3 ".

Side heart, the actor attended several celebrities including the British model Kate Moss. During his affair with American actress Winona Ryder in the 1990s, he had a tattoo "Winona forever", transformed into "Wino forever" ("Drunkard forever") after the breakup.

He spent fourteen years alongside French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, with whom he had two children, a daughter and a son, before breaking up in 2012.

He then married Amber Heard in 2015, a tumultuous union that ended in 2016 before a divorce in 2017.

If the actress pointed out his excesses and accused him of violence during hearings which turned out to be a big deal, Johnny Depp admitted to taking drugs but denied any violence.

Winona Ryder and Vanessa Paradis have always supported him, the French singer describing him in a testimony versed in the procedure as "a man and a kind, attentive, generous and non-violent father".

Johnny Depp is due to reprise the role of villainous Gellert Grindelwad in Fantastic Beasts 3, a derivative of the Harry Potter universe, next year. But Amber Heard's accusations against him have called into question his participation in the film.

© 2020 AFP