EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: JOHNNY DEPP'S 27TH BIRTHDAY PARTY!
It's all there on a home video Star has exclusively unearthed showing shy young Johnny long before he became the freaky Pirate of the Caribbean.
"He was genuinely embarrassed," his stepsister Sandy Gambino told Star. "He was flustered, he didn't know where to look when the belly dancer fussed all over him, sitting on his lap and stroking his hair.
"Everybody at the party was roaring with laughter. Johnny at the time was a national heart-throb on 21 Jump Street, yet he was really a reticent young guy. The belly dancer threw him for a loop!"
The Star video was shot by Sandy's father Robert Haley, a trucker who married Johnny's mother Betty Sue Depp in 1984.
The occasion was Johnny's 27th birthday. His mom and Haley threw a surprise pool party for the young Star at their modest two-bedroom, two-bath home in Hollywood, Florida.
"Johnny was filming 21 Jump Street in Vancouver, Canada, and flying back to south Florida every chance he got to see his family and friends," Sandy, 46, of Silver Springs, FL., told Star in an exclusive interview.
"I was married and living in Fort Lauderdale when my father called one day and said: 'Johnny's coming in and we're having a surprise birthday party by our pool. You gotta come over!'
"I brought my six-year-old son David, and found Johnny with his then-secret girlfriend Sherilyn Fenn who was playing Audrey Horne on Twin Peaks at the time.
"They were an obvious couple — holding hands, kissing and smooching in the pool. At the time they were both famous, with megahit TV shows, but the public didn't know they were an item.
"But we did! And it's all on the video. She threw us off at first because we all knew her as a famous brunette. But at the party she had blonde hair for a part she was playing. It was a riot!"
Also at the party were Johnny's mom, step-dad Robert, a keen amateur photographer who shot the video, Johnny's two sisters and their partners — and the belly dancer.
"My dad and Betty Sue had found her through an ad in the yellow pages and thought it would be a hoot to surprise Johnny," said Sandy.
"No one knew how much it would fluster him. He was sitting at a table on the patio when she appeared in her outfit of veils and scanty bikini. Then she started shaking her belly directly in front of him — and his face was a picture.
"He turned beet red and then he looked this way and that. The thing is that this dancer was not a skinny gal. She was a big chunky woman and she was right in Johnny's face, patting his cheeks and stroking his hair.
"The more she touched and fooled with him the more embarrassed he became — to everyone's enjoyment. We hooted with laughter to see this national heartthrob squirm at this over-sized lady's attentions. His girlfriend Sherilyn laughed as much as everyone else."
Johnny and his stepfather drank Budweiser beer — Robert had an extra fridge in the garage — while his mom drank rum and cokes. "We all enjoyed the beer, cocktails and soft drinks," said Sandy.
Food was supplied by Betty Sue and her two daughters — nothing catered. "We had hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni and cheese and potato chips. Nothing fancy —just a regular American backyard pool party," Sandy told Star.
The party lasted all day with folks cooling off in the pool while Robert's easy-listening music — Perry Como, Andy Williams and Sinatra — played on a stereo in the background.
"My dad gave Johnny one of his prize possessions as a birthday present. It was a 200-year-old antique violin that he'd cherished. At the time I was pissed off because I'd always loved that violin and thought one day it would be mine. But Johnny got it — and that's okay. I'm finally over it now," said Sandy.
"It was a fun time — Johnny was so easy to be around. But I'll never forget the day an international superstar was shocked and flustered by a belly dancer," said Sandy.
