Moved to Miramar, Florida

Started own rock group at age 13; subsequently played in 15 other bands

Moved to Los Angeles with band, The Kids; played lead guitar

Sold ball-point pens by phone before he began acting

Introduced by his then-wife Lori Allison to actor Nicolas Cage, who helped arranged a meeting with an agent who set up audition for his feature acting debut in Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street"; the director's daughter Jessica also played a part in convincing her father to cast Depp

First screen lead, "Private Resort"

TV acting debut in episode of "Lady Blue" (ABC)

Had small role in Oliver Stone's "Platoon"

TV-movie debut, "Slow Burn" (Showtime)

Starred as a baby-faced undercover cop in TV series, "21 Jump Street" (Fox)

Began working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation

Headlined John Waters' "Cry-Baby" playing the Elvis-inspired, leather-clad title role; first film acting with Iggy Pop

First hit movie, Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" co-starring then-girlfriend Winona Ryder

Appeared along with Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway in Emir Kusturica's "Arizona Dream"

Impressively recreated silent-comedy routines of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton in "Benny and Joon"

Starred in the title role of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"

Opened L.A. club, The Viper Room

Played infamous, cross-dressing, B-movie director "Ed Wood"; second film with Burton

Directed the eight-minute short film "Banter" for DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)

Acted opposite Marlon Brando in "Don Juan DeMarco"

Made first action film, John Badham's "Nick of Time"; cast as a mild-mannered accountant who becomes embroiled in an assassination scheme

Formed the rock group P, making major label debut on Capitol Records

Purchased first home in Los Angeles; house once owned by Bela Lugosi

Starred as William Blake in Jim Jarmusch's post-modern Western "Dead Man"; film also featured Iggy Pop

Earned some of the best reviews of his career as the title character in "Donnie Brasco"; based on the book about an FBI agent who infiltrated the Mob

Feature directorial debut, "The Brave" reteamed him with Brando; also wrote and co-starred; premiered at the Cannes Film Festival; Iggy Pop wrote the score

Portrayed Raoul Duke in Terry Gilliam's adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"; first film with Christina Ricci

Starred opposite Charlize Theron in the thriller "The Astronaut's Wife"

Reteamed with Burton for "Sleepy Hollow" starring opposite Christina Ricci

Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (November 16)

Starred as corruptible rare-book dealer hired to find satanic texts in Roman Polanski's supernatural thriller "The Ninth Gate"

Had two roles in Julian Schnabel's "Before Night Falls," a biopic of gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas; portrayed an imprisoned drag queen with a gift for smuggling and a brutally officious army officer

Reteamed with Terry Gilliam to play a modern-day ad executive whisked back in time in "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote"; shooting began in 2000 but was put on hold when leading actor Jean Rochefort suffered a double disc hernia

Cast as a British policeman with unorthodox means of tracking a serial killer in the thriller "From Hell"

Portrayed American George Jung, one of the major cocaine traffickers for Columbian kingpin Pablo Escobar, in Ted Demme's "Blow"

Played a sociopathic CIA agent in the Robert Rodriguez western feature "Once Upon A Time In Mexico"

Starred in the blockbuster hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"; earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actor

Played a writer who is accused of plagiarism by a strange man, who then starts haunting him in "The Secret Window"

Portrayed 'Peter Pan' author J.M. Barrie in "Finding Neverland" also starring Kate Winslet; received Golden Globe, SAG and Academy Award nominations for Best Actor

Cast as Willy Wonka, in Tim Burton's remake of the classic tale "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor

Reprised the role of Captain Jack Sparrow in Gore Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Reprised role of Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Reteamed with Burton to play The Demon Barber of Fleet Street for the film adaptation of the musical, "Sweeny Todd"; earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a leading role

Replaced the deceased Heath Ledger's character in, "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (lensed 2008)

Will portray notorious Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger in Michael Mann's 1930s gangland flick "Public Enemies" (lensed 2008)