RICHARD GERE has become so emblematic of modern male urbanity that it's hard to believe he grew up in a bucolic farm setting in upstate New York. Nurtured by an artistic family, the musically inclined Gere attended the University of Massachusetts on a gymnastic scholarship following his graduation from high school in 1967, but dropped out after two years of philosophy and drama studies to launch an acting career. He acquitted himself well in a number of repertory productions on both coasts (on Cape Cod and in Seattle, to be more precise) over the next couple of years, before opting to strike out as a professional trumpet player. He settled in at a commune of rock musicians in rural Vermont, but once he discovered that musicians were even more temperamental than actors, he left the commune and drifted down to New York City ...