Johnny Depp is an American actor widely known for his collaboration with Tim Burton which includes Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Sleepy Hollow. He is also known for playing Captain Jack Sparrow in The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Over the years, Depp has starred in several box office juggernauts, becoming one of the highest-paid actors.
However, it isn’t only Depp’s iconic roles that have intrigued fans and admirers. Since his first public relationship in the early 80s, Depp has been involved in over five high-profile relationships. While his marriage to actress Amber Heard may have been his most popular, here is a closer look at Johnny Depp’s dating history.
Lori Allison (1983–1985)
Lori Anne Allison met Johnny Depp before he even began his professional acting career. At the time, Depp was focused on growing his music career and fanbase. Depp was so passionate about making music, he reportedly dropped out of his Miramar High School in 1979 for it. He joined the rock band, The Kids, in 1980 and enjoyed moderate success in Florida. The band chose to move West to Los Angeles to secure a record deal. All this time, Lori Allison was a constant presence in Depp’s life. A makeup artist, Allison was also the sister of Depp’s band bassist and singer.
The couple dated for a while and married on December 24, 1983. Although Depp’s rock band split up the following year, his silver lining was gaining a wife. Luckily, Allison was instrumental in kick-starting his acting career after introducing her then-husband, Johnny Depp, to actor Nicolas Cage. Cage encouraged Depp to pursue an acting career and even introduced him to an agent that helped the actor land the role of Glen Lantz in Wes Craven‘s supernatural slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). However, Depp and Allison divorced in 1985, but remained as friends.
Sherilyn Fenn (1985–1988)
Post-divorce, Johnny Depp got involved with actress Sherilyn Fenn, who had just split from a brief relationship with the late pop singer, Prince. The couple met while working on the short film Dummies. During their time together, Fenn also made a guest appearance in an episode (“Blindsided”) of the Johnny Depp-led police procedural series 21 Jump Street in 1987. While together, the couple were so in love, Depp had Fenn’s name written on his helmet in the film Oliver Stone‘s 1986 war film Platoon. Although Sherilyn Fenn had nothing but nice words about Depp years after their breakup, the couple’s love story lasted for about three years and ended in 1988.
Jennifer Grey (1989)
Actress Jennifer Grey had recently ended her engagement with actor Matthew Broderick when she met Johnny Depp. Depp, who was single, was introduced to the actress by Grey’s agent. The two hit it off almost immediately, with Depp engaging Grey within two weeks from when they first met. For Grey, Depp was a needed distraction and considered the actor fun and energetic. However, a few months into their engagement, Grey says Depp became jealous and paranoid. Grey couldn’t keep up with it and reportedly broke up with Depp by leaving him a note in the actor’s hotel room.
Winona Ryder (1989–1993)
With the success of Tim Burton‘s Beetlejuice (1998) and her lead role in Heathers (1989), Winona Ryder‘s career had just hit fame. Depp first met Ryder at the Great Balls of Fire premiere in New York City, where the actors locked eyes. For Depp, who was 26 at the time, it was love at first sight. However, the couple grew closer while working together as the lead characters on Tim Burton’s fantasy gothic romance movie Edward Scissorhands (1990). Theirs was a love fated to happen, especially because several top actors were initially considered for the titular role of Edward Scissorhands.
However, Tim Burton always had Depp in mind for the role, even without ever watching his performance on the 21 Jump Street series. The couple became engaged a few months after dating in 1990, with Depp a tattoo on his upper right arm that read “Winona Forever.” However, their fairytale romance ended in 1993, following their breakup. After they split, Depp changed the tattoo to read “Wino Forever.”
Kate Moss (1994–1998)
Kate Moss was introduced to Johnny Depp by George Wayne, then-writer for Vanity Fair in 1994. The couple were enamored with each other and had a series of adventures together. Although the relationship was one of Hollywood’s trendiest at the time, soon pictures began to emerge with the couple yelling at each other in public. Despite it all, the couple continued to appear in love. With conflicting schedules keeping them away and Depp later admitting he was “horrific to live with,” the couple split in finally in 1998. In retrospect, Depp and Moss have maintained they didn’t give the relationship their best. In 2022, Kate Moss appeared virtually in court to support Depp in his case against Amber Heard.
Ellen Barkin (1998)
Johnny Depp and Ellen Barkin met on the set of Terry Gilliam‘s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). Although they started off as friends, they soon became romantically involved. However, the relationship was brief and didn’t last long. She’s one of Depp’s exes to testify against him during his trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. In her testimony, she mentioned he once threw a wine bottle in her direction in a Las Vegas hotel room, during a heated argument with his friends. Depp responded that her claims were untrue and that Barkin holds a personal grudge against him. Safe to say their relationship didn’t end on a good note.
Vanessa Paradis (1998–2012)
Shortly after splitting from Kate Moss, Johnny Depp began dating Vanessa Paradis. Although they had known for years through mutual friends, Depp was in awe of Paradis when they met in France. At the time, Depp was in France for the filming of Roman Polanski‘s neo-noir horror thriller The Ninth Gate (1999). Paradis is a French model, singer, and actress.
Of all his relationships, Paradis was Depp’s longest and the only one to bear his children. Although the couple chose not to marry, they welcomed their first child, daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp on May 27, 1999. Depp’s second child, son John “Jack” Christopher Depp III (Jack Depp) was born in 2002. However, with their schedules keeping them away from each other, the couple split, after 14 years together, in 2012
Amber Heard (2015–2017)
Amber Heard is unarguably the most popular spouse and partner of Johnny Depp. As with many of his relationships, Depp met Heard while filming Bruce Robinson‘s 2011 comedy drama The Rum Diary. Shortly after Depp split from Paradis, he began dating Heard. The couple married on February 3, 2015. A year later, on May 23, 2016, Heard filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized on January 13, 2017. This became the beginning of their legal battles across the UK and the United States. The fallout of the domestic violence, defamation cases and media attention, ultimately affected Johnny Depp’s acting career, causing casting setbacks.
Joelle Rich (2022)
Joelle Rich, a London-based lawyer, came into the spotlight after representing Johnny Depp in his defamation case in the UK. Although not part of his legal team in his US trial, Rich was in court to support the actor. There were speculations that Depp and Rich were romantically involved. However, it remains unclear when they started dating. Although neither confirmed nor denied the dating rumors, as it was believed to not be serious, PEOPLE confirmed they had split by November 2022.
Follow Us
