Gerard Depardieu Biography

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, film-maker, businessman and vineyard owner. He is one of the most prolific character actors in film history, having completed approximately 170 movies since 1967. He has twice won the César Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in Green Card. After he garnered huge critical acclaim for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac, which landed him a nomination for an Academy Award, Depardieu acted in many big budget Hollywood movies. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite. He was granted citizenship of Russia in January 2013, made an honorary citizen of Belgium in August 2013, and the same year became a cultural ambassador of Montenegro.

Early life

Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France. He is one of the five children of Anne Jeanne Josèphe (née Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, a metal worker and volunteer fireman.

Depardieu spent more time on the street than in the classroom and left school at 15.

Acting career

At the age of 16, Depardieu left Châteauroux for Paris. There, he began acting in the new comedy theatre Café de la Gare, along with Patrick Dewaere, Romain Bouteille, Sotha, Coluche, and Miou-Miou. His breakout film role came in 1974 playing Jean-Claude in Bertrand Blier's comedy Les Valseuses (Going Places). He studied dancing under Jean-Laurent Cochet, and went on to become one of France's most renowned actors. In 1986, his international fame grew as a result of his performance as a doomed, hunchbacked farmer in the film Jean de Florette. Five years later he won a César for his starring role in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Gerard crossed over into the American film market by co-starring in the 1990 film Green Card. He has since had other roles in other English-language films.

More recently, he has played Obélix in the four live-action Astérix movies in which he is said to have discovered Mélanie Laurent when she was 14.

In 2009 he took part in a rare performance of Sardou's La Haine at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier Languedoc Roussillon, with Fanny Ardant; subsequently broadcast on France Musique.

Personal life

In 1970, Depardieu married "?lisabeth Guignot, with whom he had two children, actor Guillaume (1971"2008) and actress Julie (1973). On 28 January 1992, while separated from "?lisabeth, he had a daughter, Roxanne, with the model Karine Sylla. In 1996 he divorced "?lisabeth and began a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, who was his partner from 1997 to 2005.

On 14 July 2006, he had a son, Jean, with French-Cambodian Hélène Bizot (daughter of François Bizot and not to be confused with actress Hélène Bizot), according to the issue 3089 (31 July 2008) of Paris Match and the Phnom Penh Post. Since 2005, Depardieu has lived with a Harvard-educated novelist, Clémentine Igou.

On 13 October 2008, his son Guillaume, whose health had been severely affected by drugs, a motorbike crash and, most importantly, a hospital infection contracted during the post-accident operations, eventually leading to the amputation of his leg, died at the age of 37 from complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia.

In recent years, Depardieu has attracted attention from the media and legal authorities for his behavior. In August 2012, he was accused of assault and battery for punching a motorist in Paris. In November 2012, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated after he fell from his scooter, and was found to have a blood alcohol level of 1.8 grams per litre, well above the French limit for driving of 0.5.

He has been an official resident of Néchin, Belgium since 7 December 2012. French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault criticised his move. On 15 December 2012, Depardieu publicly stated he was handing back his French passport. On 3 January 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an Executive Order granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu. Depardieu soon returned the favor by attacking Putin's critics. Depardieu was made an honorary citizen of Belgium in August 2013.

Awards

Depardieu has been nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role César 15 times during his career and won it twice, in 1981 and 1991. He was also nominated for an Oscar in 1990 for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac.

• 1981: César Award for Best Actor for his role in The Last Metro (Le dernier métro)
• 1985: Venice Film Festival Award for best actor for his role in Police
• 1985: Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre national du Mérite
• 1990: Cannes Film Festival: Best actor award for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac
• 1991: César Award for Best Actor for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac
• 1991: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in Green Card
• 1996: Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur.
• 2006: Moscow Film Festival: Stanislavsky Award for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting.

Filmography

Year	Film	Cesar nomination	Cesar win	Director
2013	A Farewell to Fools (Condamnat la via"??)			Bogdan Dreyer
2012	The Man Who Laughs(L'homme qui rit)
	Life of Pi			Ang Lee
	Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia			Laurent Tirard
	Le grand soir
2011	Grenouille d'hiver			Slony Sow
	Un baiser papillon			Karine Silla
	Raspoutine			Josée Dayan
2010	Houba ! Le Marsupilami et l'Orchidée de Chicxulub			Alain Chabat
	Une femme d'affaires			Frédéric Schoendoerffer
	Potiche			François Ozon
	La tête en friche			Jean Becker
	Le grand restaurant (TV)			Gérard Pullicino
	Mammuth	Best Actor		Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern
	L'Autre Dumas			Safy Nebbou
2009	Bellamy			Claude Chabrol
	In the Beginning			Xavier Giannoli
	Diamant 13			Mat
2008	Hello Goodbye			Graham Guit
	Mesrine: L'instinct de Mort			Jean-François Richet
	Babylon A.D.			Mathieu Kassovitz
	Disco			Fabien Onteniente
	Asterix at the Olympic Games			Frédéric Forestier and Thomas Langmann
2007	Michou d'Auber			Thomas Gilou
	La Vie en Rose			Olivier Dahan
	Paris, je t'aime			himself (sequence)
2006	Quand j'étais chanteur	Best Actor		Xavier Giannoli
	Last Holiday			Wayne Wang
2005	Olé!			Florence Quentin
	The Accursed Kings			Josée Dayan
	Boudu			Gérard Jugnot
	How Much Do You Love Me?			Bertrand Blier
2004	Les temps qui changent			André Téchiné
	RRRrrrr!!!			Alain Chabat
	36 Quai des Orfèvres			Olivier Marchal
2003	Tais-toi!			Francis Veber
	Nathalie...			Anne Fontaine
	Bon voyage			Jean-Paul Rappeneau
	Crime Spree			Brad Mirman
	Le Pacte Du Silence			Graham Guit
2002	A Loving Father			Jacob Berger
	City of Ghosts			Matt Dillon
	I Am Dina			Ole Bornedal
	Napoléon			Yves Simoneau
	Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra			Alain Chabat
2001	Vidocq			Pitof
	CQ			Roman Coppola
	The Closet			Francis Veber
2000	102 Dalmatians			Kevin Lima
	Les Misérables			Josée Dayan
	The Envy of Gods			Vladimir Menshov
	Tutto l'amore che c'è			Sergio Rubini
	Vatel			Roland Joffé
	Mirka			Rachid Benhadj
1999	Asterix & Obelix vs Caesar			Claude Zidi
1998	The Count of Monte Cristo			Josée Dayan
	The Man in the Iron Mask			Randall Wallace
1996	Bogus			Norman Jewison
	Hamlet			Kenneth Branagh
	Unhook the Stars			Nick Cassavetes
	The Best Job in the World			Gérard Lauzier
1995	Les Anges gardiens			Jean-Marie Poiré
	"?lisa			Jean Becker
1994	A Pure Formality			Giuseppe Tornatore
	My Father the Hero			Steve Miner
	La Machine			Francois Dupeyron
	Le Colonel Chabert	Best Actor		Yves Angelo
1993	Germinal			Claude Berri
1992	Timekeeper			Jeff Blyth
	1492: Conquest of Paradise			Ridley Scott
1991	Merci la vie			Bertrand Blier
	Tous les matins du monde			Alain Corneau
	My Father the Hero			Gérard Lauzier
1990	Green Card			Peter Weir
	Uranus			Claude Berri and Arlette Langmann
	Cyrano de Bergerac		Best Actor	Jean-Paul Rappeneau
1989	Too Beautiful for You	Best Actor		Bertrand Blier
	Le choix des armes			Claude Zidi
	I Want to Go Home			Alain Resnais
1988	Camille Claudel	Best Actor		Bruno Nuytten
	A Strange Place to Meet			François Dupeyron
1987	Under the Sun of Satan	Best Actor		Maurice Pialat
1986	Jean de Florette			Claude Berri
	Manon des Sources			Claude Berri
	Les Fugitifs			Francis Véber
	Tenue de soirée			Bertrand Blier
1985	Une Femme ou Deux			Daniel Vigne
	Police	Best Actor		Maurice Pialat
1984	Le tartuffe			Himself
	Rive droite, rive gauche			Philippe Labro
	Fort Saganne	Best Actor		Alain Corneau
1983	Les Compères	Best Actor		Francis Veber
	Danton	Best Actor		Andrzej Wajda
1982	The Return of Martin Guerre			Daniel Vigne Le choix des armes
1981	La Chèvre			Francis Veber
	Le choix des armes			Alain Corneau
	The Woman Next Door			François Truffaut
1980	The Last Metro		Best Actor	François Truffaut
	Loulou			Maurice Pialat
	Mon oncle d'Amérique			Alain Resnais
	Inspecteur la Bavure			Claude Zidi
1979	Traffic Jam			Luigi Comencini
	Buffet froid			Bertrand Blier
	Temporale Rosy			Mario Monicelli
	The Dogs			Alain Jessua
1978	The Left-Handed Woman			Peter Handke
	Le Sucre	Best Actor		Jacques Rouffio
	Bye Bye Monkey			Marco Ferreri
	Get Out Your Handkerchiefs			Bertrand Blier
1977	Dites-lui que je l'aime	Best Actor		Claude Miller
	The Lorry			Marguerite Duras
1976	La Dernière femme	Best Actor		Marco Ferreri
	1900			Bernardo Bertolucci
	Je t'aime... moi non plus			Serge Gainsbourg
	Maîtresse			Barbet Schroeder
1975	Sept morts sur ordonnance	Best Actor		Jacques Rouffio
1974	Vincent, François, Paul and the Others			Claude Sautet
	Going Places			Bertrand Blier
1973	Au rendez-vous de la mort joyeuse			Luis Buñuel
1972	Le Viager			Pierre Tchernia

See also

• Cinema of France
• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards