Johnny Depp’s Siblings: All About the Actor’s Brother Daniel and Sisters Debbie and Christi

Johnny Depp has worked with his siblings throughout his career

Johnny Depp has a lasting bond with his siblings: Daniel, Debbie and Christi.

Before Johnny was born, his mother, Betty Sue Palmer, had already welcomed two children during a previous relationship. When she married Johnny’s father, John Christopher Depp, he adopted her son Daniel and daughter Debbie. Betty Sue and John went on to have another daughter, Christi, before Johnny was born in 1963.

Growing up, the siblings moved around often and had a turbulent upbringing, as they've recalled throughout the years. Their childhood bonded them, however, and to this day, Johnny and his brother and sisters are still incredibly close, although Debbie is the most private out of the siblings.

Speaking about their relationship, Daniel says Johnny has always been encouraging of his dreams, and it was the actor who pushed him to become an author.

“Johnny’s been incredibly supportive and I don't think the book would have got done without him saying, ‘You've got to finally publish something; you're killing me!’ Whatever I wanted to do, he'd be supportive of [it]. We're a very close family. All of us,” Daniel told The Scotsman in March 2009 about his debut novel.

Here’s everything to know about Johnny Depp’s siblings — Daniel, Debbie and Christi — and their relationship with their actor brother.

Johnny and his siblings grew up in Florida

Johnny was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, but when he was 7 years old, his family relocated to the city of Miramar in Florida, where his father found work as a civil engineer.

"We moved every 15 minutes," Daniel told The Guardian in March 2009. "We were this family of chronic malcontents. I worked out once that I lived in 75 different homes. It was pretty awful. You learn to be resourceful, but it's isolating."

Johnny and his three siblings spent the rest of their childhood in the Sunshine State, even after their parents divorced in 1978. The Pirates of the Caribbean star went on to attend Miramar High School but eventually dropped out to pursue music at the age of 16.

Daniel took care of Johnny as a boy

While all of Johnny’s siblings share the same mother, his older brother Daniel and older sister Debbie have a different father than the actor.

According to Daniel, Betty and his biological father divorced when he was 4 years old, and he was “never close” to him. Later, Betty tied the knot with John, and he adopted Daniel and Debbie.

Although Daniel and Debbie are Johnny’s half-siblings, Daniel says he never saw their relationship differently.

“It’s a little irritating, everybody referring to me as John’s half brother. It’s never a term we used. It never occurred to us," he told The Scotsman. "We grew up very closely. I used to take care of John when he was a little boy."

Johnny has launched companies with Daniel and Christi

Johnny and Daniel combined their passions for entertainment and literature and founded the production company Scaramanga Bros. in the early '90s, according to The Bookseller.

Daniel told The Scotsman that one of their first major collaborations kicked off when Johnny asked him for his help working on the original script for the neo-western independent movie The Brave in 1994.

Daniel recalled flying out to Los Angeles, thinking he would be there for just a weekend, and ended up staying for a lot longer.

“I didn’t want to go. I knew what was going to happen. I loved the idea of making a film but I knew it would be a headache," he said. "There’d be this business of being the star’s brother, and I knew I was walking into a heated political situation, with a lot of people who were going to consider me a hayseed, anyway."

Daniel ended up helping revise the script, and in 1997, the project was released, starring Marlo Brando and Elpidia Carrillo. While the title didn’t get a great reception, it was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes that year.

Several years later, Christi helped Johnny establish his production company, Infinitum Nihil, in 2004. She currently serves on the company’s executive team, which has produced several films, including The Rum Diary and City of Lies. According to The New York Times, Christi has also acted as Johnny's personal manager.

Daniel has held several different jobs over the years

While Daniel has worked with Johnny, much of his life has been out of the spotlight. He attended the University of Kentucky, where he studied the classics and European history, but ultimately dropped out of school, per The Scotsman.

Through the years, he’s held a number of jobs, eventually becoming a middle school English teacher in San Jose, California. He taught for a decade before beginning Scaramanga Bros, according to The Guardian.

“I’ve worked digging ditches and as an engineering draftsman. I worked in libraries and bookstores," he shared with The Scotsman. "The job I really liked was managing the art library at night, because I was also studying ceramics and learning how to throw pots."

Johnny encouraged Daniel to publish his novels

Amid his various jobs, Daniel maintained a passion for writing. In his spare time, he worked on poetry and after some time, began writing novels. Through it all, Johnny encouraged his brother to publish his work, and Daniel says it drove the actor “crazy” that he kept his writing to himself.

When he grew disillusioned with working in Hollywood, he finally turned his attention to writing and focused on his debut novel, Loser’s Town, which he primarily penned at Johnny’s home in France. The detective crime thriller about the dark side of fame was published in 2009 — which some readers assumed was based on Johnny’s life.

“He said he liked it. You never quite know,” Daniel said to The Guardian of Johnny’s reaction to the book. “When I first said this was what I wanted to do, I spoke to John and said, ‘People are going to say it’s about you.’ "

Daniel continued. "And he said, ‘Don’t worry about it, just go and do it.’ He was my biggest supporter.”

Since then, Daniel has published several other novels, including Babylon Nights and Devil’s Dance.

Christi was a witness during Johnny’s defamation trial

In 2022, Christi was the first witness to take the stand during Johnny’s defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Christi testified about their difficult home life growing up that allegedly involved domestic violence.

"As I got older, both Johnny and I actually, we decided that once we left, once we had our own home, we were never going to repeat, ever, anything similar in any way to our childhood. We were gonna do it different," she said.

In addition to testifying about their family’s unstable childhood, Christi also refuted claims that Johnny was a violent drug addict — although she did admit to being concerned about pain medications he was taking, per The Guardian.

In text messages to Heard in 2015, Christi wrote that she believed her brother needed help. “I love him so much but he needs help,” she texted to Heard, followed by another message advising her to tell Johnny, “I’m scared and I can’t deal.”

Meanwhile, Christi also testified that she was “devastated” when she heard the couple was getting married, according to The Independent.

She also alleged that Heard had spoken poorly of Johnny, particularly referring to him as “an old, fat man.” Christi added that Heard was allegedly “disgusted” when Johnny was offered a campaign with Dior, claiming that Heard said, “They’re about class and style and you don’t have style.”

Daniel admits it’s hard to see Johnny experience the downsides of fame

Daniel says he’s protective of Johnny, so seeing him experience the negative aspects of being a public figure isn't easy.

“Of course it’s hard. You can’t go out to lunch any more and giggle because you’re worrying about getting breadcrumbs on your tie," he told The Guardian. "The whole idea of being a public figure is a pretty awful thing. I’m very protective of John. We’re protective of each other."

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