Thursday July 22, 5:59 pm Eastern Time

Company Press Release

Paramount Pictures Invites You to Join the Celebration as Richard Gere Places His Hand and Footprints in Cement At the Mann's Chinese Theater

WHAT: Paramount Pictures Invites You to Join the Celebration as
      Richard Gere Places His Hand and Footprints in Cement At the
      Mann's Chinese Theater

WHEN: Monday, July 26
      11:30 a.m. Ceremony

WHERE: Mann's Chinese THEATER
       6925 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood

       Attendees Include: Garry Marshall...and more to come.

On Friday, July 30, Paramount Pictures will release ``Runaway Bride'' starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

Richard Gere is one of our foremost American actors, known for his roles in films such as ``Pretty Woman,'' ``An Officer and a Gentleman,'' ``Days of Heaven,'' ``American Gigolo,'' ``Yanks,'' ``Internal Affairs,'' ``Primal Fear'' and ``First Knight.'' Most recently, Gere starred in the political thrillers ``Red Corner'' and ``The Jackal,'' with Bruce Willis and Sidney Poitier.

Gere began acting at the University of Massachusetts, where he was a philosophy major. After spending full sessions with the Provincetown Playhouse and Seattle Repertory Theatre, he performed in a number of New York plays, notably the title role in ``Richard Farina: Long Time Coming and Long Time Gone,'' in addition to two plays by Sam Shepard, ``Back Bog Beast Bait'' and ``Killer's Head.'' Gere's career was established with performances in the Broadway rock opera ``Soon'' and the New York production of the British farce ``Habeas Corpus,'' and he won widespread recognition playing Danny Zuko in the Broadway and London productions of the hit musical ``Grease.'' An accomplished classical actor, Gere's many credits include the Lincoln Center presentation of ``A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and London's Young Vic Theatre production of ``The Taming of the Shrew.''

Gere's motion picture debut came in 1978 with the Oscar®-honored ``Days of Heaven,'' for which he received the Italian equivalent of the Academy Award(TM). His subsequent films include ``Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' with Diane Keaton, ``Bloodbrothers,'' John Schlesinger's ``Yanks'' and ``American Gigolo.'' He returned to the Broadway stage in ``Bent,'' winning the Theatre World Academy Award and rave reviews for his role as a homosexual prisoner at the Dachau concentration camp who loses his life rather than deny his identity.

Gere starred in the 1982 blockbuster film ``An Officer and a Gentleman,'' followed by ``Breathless,'' ``Beyond the Limit,'' ``The Cotton Club,'' ``Power,'' ``No Mercy'' and ``Miles From Home.'' In 1990, Gere received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a corrupt cop in the Mike Figgis-directed ``Internal Affairs,'' and he starred opposite Julia Roberts in the year's top-grossing picture, ``Pretty Woman.'' The following year, he made a guest appearance in Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's ``Rhapsody in August.'' He is now actively involved in developing projects and has executive produced some of his more recent films, including ``Final Analysis,'' ``Mr. Jones'' and ``Intersection.'' Gere was the first actor to agree to appear in ``And the Band Played On,'' the HBO adaptation of Randy Shilts' book about the first five years of AIDS in America. Gere played the role of a fictional choreographer.

An outspoken human rights advocate, Gere has done much to draw attention to the tragedy that has been unfolding in Tibet under Chinese occupation. He is founding chairman of Tibet House in New York and has testified on Tibet's behalf before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tibet. ``Pilgrim,'' Gere's book of his photographs of the Tibetan people, was published in 1997 by Little, Brown & Company, with all of the author's proceeds going to Tibetan charities through the Gere Foundation. Gere recently volunteered in the Albanian refugee camps helping the survivors of Kosovo.

Richard Gere is the 220th person to be honored and joins such illustrious stars as Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas and Fred Astaire.

Paramount Pictures, Hollywood
Photo: Michael Berman, 323/956-5681
Print/Radio: Susan Indri, 323/956-5915