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Johnny Depp has become, in his young middle age, like a star of the movies’ golden period
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Johnny Depp's £1m gift for Great Ormond Street, the hospital that saved his daughter's life
Last updated at 09:58am on 17.01.08Johnny Depp secretly visited Great Ormond Street Hospital yesterday to donate £1 million of his own money to thank staff for saving his daughter's life.
He arrived unexpectedly at the London children's hospital where eight-year-old Lily-Rose was treated last year when her kidneys failed.
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Surprise gift: Johnny Depp, 43, pictured with Vanessa Paradis, 34, the mother of his two children. The actor has donated £1m to Great Ormond Street Hospital
Last week he invited five Great Ormond Street doctors and nurses to the party for the London premiere of his film Sweeney Todd.
And on November 29, unknown to the public, Depp spent four hours at the hospital telling bedtime stories to patients dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow after having his Pirates Of The Caribbean costume flown over from Los Angeles.
In March last year, Lily-Rose spent nine days at Great Ormond Street after E.coli poisoning led to the failure of her kidneys.
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Long-term girlfriend Vanessa Paradis with daughter Lily-Rose, 8, and son Jack John, 6
She is said to have contracted the bug while staying with Depp, 43, and her mother Vanessa Paradis, 34, in a rented mansion in Richmond, Surrey, while he filmed Sweeney Todd.
Filming at Pinewood in Buckinghamshire had to be halted as her conditioned worsened so much it was feared she might not live.
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Johnny Depp, pictured with Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter, on the red carpet last week for the premiere of Sweeney Todd
Depp, who was yesterday named best actor in a musical at the Golden Globes for his role in Sweeney Todd, later said of the scare: "It was the most frightening thing we have ever been through. It was hell.
"But the magic is that she pulled through beautifully. Great Ormond Street was terrific, a great hospital."
Disney, which made the Pirates Of The Caribbean films, will also today donate £10million to Great Ormond Street, which needs to raise £170million in five years to re-develop two-thirds of the hospital site.
Meanwhile, Sweeney Todd director Tim Burton says he is finally planning to tie the knot with Helena Bonham Carter.
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Depp was yesterday named best actor in a musical at the Golden Globes for his role in Sweeney Todd
The pair met when Burton directed the English actress in Planet Of The Apes seven years ago.
They now have two children together and have knocked through the wall that separated their adjoining London homes.
Burton, 49, whose Sweeney Todd has just won best film musical and best actor in a musical for Johnny Depp at the Golden Globes, told the Radio Times magazine: "Helena and I feel so married we never got around to doing it, but I'm thinking about it. I'm a late bloomer."
The couple had a daughter, born in December, to join their son, four-year-old Billy.
Bonham Carter, 41, who previously dated Kenneth Branagh, has appeared in Burton's movies Big Fish and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.
Reader views (3)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
What a top guy. Our Daughter has need to go to GOS and is under a sentence of terminal health.
This guy seems to shun notoriety, lives in Paris I believe and has a pretty normal day to day life.
It brought a tear to my eye, not just because of the money but the admission of the natural fear of loosing a loved one.
Another one joins our club with a happy outcome makes one feel someone else understands the world we live in.
Then to play in character Jack Sparrow unannounced for hours must have been a treat beyond words can say for the kids well enough to understand and then the money will no doubt help them all in some way.
Wonderful thing, glad she’s well now! Fantastic story. I’m going to watch Sweeney Todd now I think!
- Chris, South Wales
The guy is quite simply a 'super star'. No PR, no cameras, top bloke!
- James, London
Good on him, but at the end of the day you can't put a price on the life of a loved one.
- Hans Orph, London
