Gérard Depardieu (1948 - )
Key films: Maitresse (1973) - Barbet Schroeder - Les Valseuses (1974) Bertrand Blier - Je t'aime, moi non plus (1976) - Serge Gainsbourg
Related: French cinema - actor
Les Valseuses/Going Places (1974) Bertrand Blier [Amazon.com]
Biography
Gérard Depardieu (born December 27, 1948; pronunciation) is a French actor.
He was born in Chateauroux, Centre, France, the son of a sheet metal worker. His acting career started in the 1970s and by the early 1980s, he was one of the leading French actors gaining much attention for his role opposite Fanny Ardant in François Truffaut' film La Femme d'à côté (The Woman Next Door), and winning his first Cesar Award for Best Actor for his role in Le Dernier métro.
He has been nominated a record-setting 14 times for the Cesar Award as Best Actor. After his first win in 1981, he won a second time in 1991 for Cyrano de Bergerac for which he was also nominated for the 1990 Academy Award for Best Actor. In addition he also earned the following:
- 1985: Best Actor Award: Venice Film Festival for his role in Police
- 1990: Best Actor Award: Cannes Film Festival for his role in Camille Claudel
- 1991: winner Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in Green Card
- 1997: Lion d'or: Venice Film Festival
In the 1990s he achieved some fame in North America too. His most significant English-language productions are Green Card with Andie MacDowell and 1492: Conquest of Paradise.
Depardieu is the highest paid actor in France, and one of the most powerful within the French film industry. In addition to the nearly sixty motion-pictures he has appeared in, he has also directed and/or produced several major films through his company, "DD Productions".
He also did "Le Retour de Martin Guerre" in 1982. He married fellow actress Carole Bouquet in 1997. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%E9rard_Depardieu [May 2005]
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