Johnny Depp’s ethnicity is mixed, but he is an American citizen by birth, a status he earned by being born in Owensboro, Kentucky, United States. Johnny Depp has multiple ethnic identities. He is primarily of English descent but with a healthy smattering of French, German, and Irish ancestry.
Depp is known for his dynamism as an actor, and it would appear that some of his dynamic abilities stem from his multi-ethnic identity. Join us on a ride to explore the actor’s ethnic identities and nationalities.
Where Was Johnny Depp Born?
Johnny Depp was born John Christopher Depp II on June 9, 1963, in Owensboro, Kentucky, United States. He is the youngest of four children born to waitress Betty Sue Depp nee Wells and civil engineer John Christopher Depp. However, Depp only spent a few years there as his family traveled a bit during his childhood.
At one point, the actor lived with his grandfather while his family traveled around. He ended up spending most of his childhood and formative years away from his place of birth.
What Nationality Is Johnny Depp?
Due to his birth in a North American country, Johnny Depp is an American citizen. However, during the trial of his defamation suit against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, the actor’s accent further lent credence to the well-established fact that there is more to his national and ethnic identity than being American.
An in-depth look at his ancestry has uncovered the reality that although he is primarily of English descent, he also has Belgian (Flemish), Dutch, German, Irish, Northern Irish, Scottish, and Welsh blood running through his veins. Johnny Depp also has a Native American ethnicity courtesy of his great-grandmother who is Native American.
The actor also has French origins. His surname Depp is an adaptation of the French surname Dieppe which originates from Pierre Dieppe, a French Huguenot Immigrant who reportedly settled in Virginia sometime in the 1700s.
Where Was Johnny Depp’s Childhood?
As previously stated, Johnny Depp’s family lived a nomadic lifestyle when he was born. They moved around a lot in the first few years following his birth. Depp grew up with an older brother, Danny, and two older sisters, Debbie and Christie. When the actor was seven years old, his family eventually found some stability and settled in Miramar, Florida, in 1970.
After the family settled, they battled issues of physical abuse from his father on his mother and occasionally on the actor and his siblings too. His parents would eventually get divorced in 1978. At the time, Johnny was only 15 years old and already a high school student at Miramar High School.
Following the divorce, Depp’s mother was able to restore a measure of stability to the lives of the actor and his siblings. She eventually found love again and married Robert Palmer, who adopted Depp and his siblings. The Edward Scissorhands star even credits Palmer as a big inspiration to him.
Johnny’s time as a high school student was cut short when he decided to drop out to pursue a musical career. It is on record that he tried to go back to school a couple of weeks later but was advised against it by his school principal who convinced him that the pursuit of his musical dream was a good and worthy cause.
Where Does Johnny Depp Live?
Johnny Depp currently lives in a Los Angeles, California penthouse in the United States of America. His penthouse is located in the bourgeois Hollywood Hills. When he is not chilling at his Los Angeles penthouse, the actor could be found at any of his numerous properties in the United States and beyond.
As previously mentioned, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory star knows all about moving from place to place, an experience he gained as a child when his family would go from place to place. Even after they had settled down in one place, he didn’t stay with them for long before charting his own course as a singer.
After living in Florida during his formative years, Depp left school to join a band in 1979. For about a year, the band known as The Kids played in Florida and its environs. Next, they moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a record label. Eventually, they changed their name to Six Gun Method.
Three years after moving to Los Angeles, California, in December 1983, Depp fell in love with and later married Lori Anne Allison, a makeup artist and the sister of his bassist. The former couple’s marriage lasted for just a couple of years. Allison used her connections in Hollywood to get Depp started on an acting career he only took at first to make ends meet.
He was introduced to actor Nicholas Cage who took a shine to then-21-year-old Depp and convinced him to pursue acting as a career actively. Given that he already had designs on becoming an actor for a brief period, it was not difficult to convince him to try. He did try and turned out to be very good at it.
Johnny Depp Owns A Private Island in the Bahamas
Despite some challenges that saw him experience financial difficulties, Depp has become a highly successful actor who can afford to live anywhere he pleases. Besides his expensive LA penthouse, he also owns a 45-acre private island in the Bahamas.
With six white sand beaches, a palm tree-lined lagoon, and solar-powered houses, the island is one of the most scenic and beautiful properties belonging to the actor. On this Bahamas island, Depp held his wedding reception following his LA wedding ceremony with Amber Heard.
Forbes confirms that the talented actor laid eyes on the property while filming the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and went ahead to purchase it for $3.6 million in 2004, shortly after the release of the film series’ first installment The Curse of the Black Pearl.
At the time of the purchase, the island was known as Little Hall’s Pond Cay. Following the confirmation of the transfer of ownership to the actor, he renamed it Lilly Rose Beach after his daughter.
While talking about the island’s purchase during a 2009 interview with Vanity Fair, Depp claimed that he had never seen any place as beautiful and pure as the island. He revealed that his pulse rate dropped about 20 beats, and he could taste the instant freedom it offered.
To keep in touch with the place of his birth, Depp also owns a horse farm in his home state of Kentucky, although one could easily assume that it does not hold as much space in his heart as the island he named after his daughter.
