Thursday, November 26, 2015
Richard Gere’s Zen Exterior Cracking Under Weight of Divorce from Carey Lowell
7:24 AM
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Richard Gere made it through 30 years
being dreamy. Few other stars from his era emanated the same particular
brand of sophisticated sex appeal. The other sexiest men alive from the
’90s, say, Tom Cruise or Nick Nolte, always seemed a little odd and
crazy, even before we knew they were just downright crazy. Meanwhile,
Richard Gere seemed cool and unflappable in a way reminiscent of stars
from the Golden Age of Hollywood—Cary Grant springs to mind.
It helped that Mr. Gere devoted his
personal life to noble causes. He was outspoken about raising HIV/AIDs
awareness. He also defended animal rights, and talked about how, “As
custodians of the planet it is our responsibility to deal with all
species with kindness, love, and compassion.”
A lot of his quotes, or at least
the quotes that ended up on the Internet next to a picture of his face,
dealt with taking a peaceful path through life. Which made sense;
Richard Gere is a Buddhist who is known for hanging out with the Dalai
Lama and working to save Tibet. Barring
that one pervasive rumor about the gerbil, he seemed to have coasted
into old age with elegance and grace. He just played the new, sexiest
grandpa in The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
And now he is getting divorced and attempting to stab reporters with an umbrella. Really. An excerpt from Page Six in October reported that, during his divorce from Carey Lowell, his wife of 12 years:
“The Pretty Woman actor stormed
into a Manhattan courthouse Thursday to attend the first hearing in his
icy divorce battle with wife and former ‘Bond girl’ Carey Lowell—while
jabbing his umbrella at a photographer. Gere—wearing meditation beads on
his left wrist and carrying an orange canvas bag from a 2009 Tibetan
prayer festival called the Kagyu Monlam—nastily wielded the pointy black
umbrella like a sword.”
Somehow this is delightful. It is
like watching Mother Teresa get in a screaming match with a taxi driver,
especially because Mr. Gere’s weapon of choice was a little absurd. An
umbrella doesn’t generally seem capable of doing that much damage unless
John Steed is wielding it. There is comfort somehow in knowing that
even the most peaceful people can go a little batty in the face of
heartbreak.
Still, it was already a stark contrast from Mr. Gere’s very amicable divorce with his first ex-wife Cindy Crawford in 1995.
On Oprah’s Master Class in 2013,
the supermodel claimed that their divorce had been mostly caused by
their age gap (Mr. Gere was 37 while Ms. Crawford was 22). She still
spoke warmly of her ex, though, and claimed:
“Richard’s a super-smart guy, and he’s
interesting, and he’s interested, and I learned a lot about the world,”
she said. “It was a great chapter in my life.”
Carey Lowell does not seem to feel the
same way. The couple married in 2002, and Ms. Lowell said that she first
developed a crush on Mr. Gere when she saw An Officer and A Gentleman. However, the Law & Order star was always supposedly more extraverted than the Pretty Woman heartthrob. The Daily Mirror
noted: “Carey likes being elsewhere in the limelight. She is very
sociable and although very much respects what Richard likes she loves
being around people.”
Far from just writing off their marriage
as a “great chapter in her life,” Ms. Lowell is asking for $100 million
of Mr. Gere’s fortune, which is estimated around $250 million. There was
also a dispute over how custody of their 15-year-old son, Homer, would
be shared, and Ms. Lowell reportedly refused to move out of Mr. Gere’s
$4.5 million inn in Bedford, N.Y., which sources said she was intent on
living in with Homer. Mr. Gere, meanwhile, removed her picture from the
brochure. Throughout this drama, Mr. Gere was said to have been dating Top Chef host and Salman Rushdie’s ex, Padma Lakshmi. Us Weekly reported:
“It started very recently and quietly,” a source tells Us.
“It’s very new. I wouldn’t even go as far as calling them a couple.
They are dating. It’s the first time Padma has dated anyone since Teddy
[Forstmann], and it’s something she’s been approaching very, very
delicately. They’re just getting to know each other. They’re just having
fun.”
After six months, however, their relationship and the fun appeared to be over. FOX News reported that they had split:
“We’re told the couple recently ‘decided
they would be better as friends,’ according to a source, who adds that
both had been busy with work.”
Which is great news if you’re planning
on getting together with the newly single Richard Gere. Especially since
you can find him at the courthouse this month, where his divorce is
hopefully nearing the final stages (the couple has reached a custody
agreement, but there is still a question of whether Ms. Lowell will be
getting $100 million). Page Six has reported:
“The Pretty Woman star flirted with a reporter in the elevator, joking, ‘You want me to give you a special, intimate interview?’ ”
It’s a pretty direct approach for a guy
whose characters are known for flying women to operas in different
cities and whisking them off to polo games.
There’s a possibility that Mr. Gere’s
refined style might change with his single status. When fellow ’90s star
Bill Murray got a divorce he was seen roaming 20-something parties in
Brooklyn, and making what one 20-something referred to as “bad life
choices.”
In that case, Rachel Moheban, a Manhattan
psychotherapist, told the Observer, “After divorce, some men just want a
whole new life. It sounds like a midlife crisis, but I don’t think it’s
worrisome. After being married for a long time, sometimes men just like
to have some fun and feel free.”
Though that seems less likely for someone who’s more inclined to practice mindful meditation. Especially since one source told The New York Post that
one of the major reasons for the split between him and Ms. Lowell was
that “The Buddhist actor craves privacy, and Lowell likes socializing
with other bigwigs.”
At the very least, Mr. Gere seems to be channeling his emotions into his work. In his upcoming film Time Out of Mind he’ll be playing a homeless man. He noted in The Wall Street Journal that his role reminds him of his work with the Tibetan refugees in that they are both “trying to find their place, trying to get back home.” Meanwhile, Richard Gere may be living out this storyline perhaps a little, in real life, too.
Richard Gere and Carey Lowell Share Their Love of Yoga at the Bedford Post Inn
7:23 AM
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You don’t have to be an avid
practitioner of yoga to visit the Bedford Post Inn. But it seems a
shame, somehow, to stop at this bucolic setting and not take advantage
of the Yoga Loft, a light-filled former barn that overlooks a zen
garden. And for those who spend a night in one of the inn’s eight rooms,
a free yoga class is part of the deal.
Opened in 2007 by husband-and-wife
actors Richard Gere and Carey Lowell and partner Russell Hernandez, the
inn is known as much for its restaurants and related comforts as it is
for its unique yoga program. Only a few years after opening, the Bedford
Post Inn was named a member of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux
organization of boutique hotels.
“We’re on the smallest end of the spectrum,” says general manager Peter Ruvolo. “We’re very proud and lucky to be a part of it.”
Nestled on 14 acres in Bedford,
Westchester County, just under an hour’s drive from New York City, the
property has original structures that date back to before the
Revolutionary War. A restaurant called Nino’s was located there from
1953 to 1994. But when Gere, Lowell and Hernandez decided to buy the
property, it was in disrepair.
“This was their brainchild. They live in
the area, and they kept going by this property, which was lying
fallow,” says Ruvolo. “They wanted a place for the community, a
beautiful setting, where people could do their yoga and relax. They also
wanted it to be an oasis for travelers.”
Visitors to the inn come from all over
the world, but a substantial number of patrons are local. They take yoga
classes, which are offered daily, and dine at The Farmhouse, the less
formal Barn, or get takeout coffee and pastries from The Bakery Within
the Barn. The emphasis at all three is on fresh, healthful ingredients.
“We try to source local farmers as much
as possible, and we work with several in the area,” says Ruvolo. “We do
organic when we can. We have a foraging program. The owners have about
100 acres behind us, where there are berries, wood sorrel, mustard
greens, and other wild edibles. One of the things we’re thinking about
for the future is having guests at the inn go out and forage with the
chef if they like.”
Executive Chef Jeremy McMillan first
worked at the inn as part of its opening team. He was chef de cuisine
under Chef Brian Lewis, overseeing daily kitchen operations until a year
later, when he moved to New York City to become sous chef at the
Michelin-starred A Voce Madison. He helped launch A Voce Columbus as
Chef de Cuisine, which opened to wide acclaim and was named one of the
three best new restaurants in the U.S. in 2009 by The Wall Street
Journal and received a Michelin star a year later.
But the Bedford Post still called to
him, and in 2010 McMillan returned as Executive Chef. The Farmhouse is
open for dinner and blends Italian traditions with seasonal and local
ingredients. The less formal Barn offers classic country cuisine. There
are several private dining options, including a Chef’s Table and Wine
Cellar.
Situated atop The Barn restaurant is the
Yoga Loft, where there are daily classes in different forms of yoga as
well as the Feldenkrais form of therapeutic technique. Workshops on such
topics as Fundamentals of Tibetan Medicine and aromatherapy are given
by experts. “Because Mr. Gere practices yoga, he felt it was something
he wanted to bring to the local community,” Ruvolo says. “He really
wanted people in Bedford to have access to this.”
As for the guest rooms, “think
Restoration Hardware,” says Ruvolo, referring to the chain of home decor
stores. “Some of them have fireplaces. Some have terraces. The whole
property was designed by Carey Lowell and her architect, so it has a
cohesive style. It’s simple and elegant, with a lot of whitewashed
wood.”
Stones that were excavated when the
builders were creating a geothermal heating system were repurposed when
possible. Some of the timbers in the rooms and the Yoga Loft come from
lumber on the property. A long table in The Barn restaurant is made from
the floors of reclaimed box cars.
The inn is open year-round. An
increasing number of guests come from New York City for a weekend
getaway. “It’s a quick jaunt, and a great way to get someplace in an
hour that feels like much further away,” Ruvolo says. “It feels like
you’re in Vermont.”
Richard Gere's divorce tested by "Law & Order" star Carey Lowell; Fair share of marital assets discussed
7:22 AM
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It
looks like former Hollywood heartthrob Richard Gere's divorce from
model-turned-actress Carey Lowell will drag on longer than expected.
Yes, you heard that right. The actor who has made lots of ladies all
over the world swoon is in the thick of divorce proceedings. The
settlement between the two parties, which has been kept under wraps, has
been bogged down by assets & money matters.
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Lowell is remembered as a Bond girl in the flick "License to Kill" and for her role in "Law & Order." Gere, as many people all over the world know, is the star of a string of memorable and entertaining films, including "Pretty Woman," "Chicago," "Runaway Bride." "Shall We Dance" plus poignant ones like "Unfaithful" and "Nights in Rodanthe," to name some.
News that Richard Gere and wife of 12 years Carey Lowell are divorcing first broke out in September 2013. Lifestyle differences that led to growing apart made the couple opt for divorce. At 65, Richard has cultivated philanthropic interests and has shown a strong preference for a life of privacy.
Nonetheless, he continues to appear in films, like the upcoming "Oppenheimer Strategies."
Gere has been involved with ecological work while Lowell is the type who likes being in the social circuit. They have a teenage son named Homer James Jigme Gere, but custody matters have been agreed on. It's the financial settlement that has lagged for over a year now. Gere recently had a face-off in court with his estranged wife, but they were civil to each other and even had a friendly chat.
For now, there are other important things on the mind of the actor, who also convincingly plays a homeless man in the film "Time Out of Mind."