Age: 91
Birthplace: Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Jean-Paul Belmondo (born 9 April 1933) is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.
Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, west of Paris, Belmondo did not perform well in school, but developed a passion for boxing and football. Belmondo made his amateur boxing debut on 10 May 1949 in Paris, France, when he knocked out Rene DesMarais in one round. Belmondo's boxing career was undefeated, but brief. He won three straight first round knockout victories from 1949 to 1950. His breakthrough role was in Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960), which made him a major figure in the French New Wave. Later he acted in Jean-Pierre Melville's philosophical movie Leon Morin, Priest (1961) and in Melville's film noir crime film The Fingerman (Le Doulos, 1963) and Godard again with Pierrot le fou (1965). With That Man From Rio (1965) he switched to commercial, mainstream productions, mainly comedies and action films but did appear in the title role of Alain Resnais' masterpiece Stavisky (1974), which some critics regard as Belmondo's finest performance. Until the mid-1980s, when he ceased to be one of France's biggest box-office stars, Belmondo's typical characters were either dashing adventurers or more cynical heroes. As he grew older, Belmondo preferred concentrating on his stage work, where he encountered success. He suffered a stroke in 2001 and had since been absent from the stage and the screen until 2009 when he appeared in Un homme et son chien (A man and his dog).
He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre national du Mérite, promoted Officier (Officer) in 1986 and promoted Commandeur (Commander) in 1994.
He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur, promoted Officier (Officer) in 1991 and promoted Commandeur (Commander) in 2007.
In 2010 the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards gave him a Career Achievement award. Belmondo attended the ceremony and made appearances in the Los Angeles area.
Belmondo's father, Paul Belmondo, was a Pied-Noir sculptor who was born in Algeria of Italian descent, whose parents were of Sicilian and Piedmontese origin.
In 1959, Belmondo married Élodie Constantin, with whom he had three children: Patricia (1954), Florence (1960) and Paul (1963). Paul became a Formula One driver; his eldest daughter Patricia was killed in a fire in 1994. In 1966, due to a well-publicized affair between Belmondo and actress Ursula Andress, Belmondo and his wife divorced. He has six grandchildren, three from his daughter Florence - Annabelle, Christopher and Nicholas - and three from his son Paul - Alessandro, Victor and Giacomo.
In 1989, Belmondo met Nathalie Tardivel, who was 24 at the time; they officially married in 2002. On 13 August 2003, his fourth child, Stella Eva Angelina, was born. He was 70 at the time. In 2008, Belmondo and Tardivel divorced.
Jean-Paul Belmondo at the
1988 Cannes Film Festival.
Jean-Paul Belmondo's handprint on the pavement in front of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes.
Belmondo at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival.
Jean-Paul Belmondo at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival.
The book "Youth in Revolt" by author C.D. Payne and its sequels refer to Belmondo several times and at one point feature the main character going to Mexico and getting plastic surgery in order to resemble Belmondo.
Year | Title | Role | Director |
---|---|---|---|
1959 | Charlotte et son Jules ("Charlotte and Her Boyfriend") | Jean | Jean-Luc Godard |
À double tour ("Web of Passion") | Laszlo Kovacs | Claude Chabrol | |
1960 | À bout de souffle ("Breathless") | Michel Poiccard | Jean-Luc Godard |
Classe tous risques ("The Big Risk") | Eric Stark | Claude Sautet | |
Moderato cantabile ("Seven Days... Seven Nights") | Chauvin | Peter Brook | |
Lettere di una novizia | Giuliano Verdi | Alberto Lattuada | |
La Ciociara ("Two Women") | Michele de Libero | Vittorio De Sica | |
1961 | La Viaccia ("The Lovemakers") | Amerigo | Mauro Bolognini |
Léon Morin, prêtre ("Léon Morin, Priest") | Léon Morin | Jean-Pierre Melville | |
Une femme est une femme ("A Woman Is a Woman") | Alfred Lubitsch | Jean-Luc Godard | |
Un nommé La Rocca (fr) ("A Man Named Rocca") | Roberto La Rocca | Jean Becker | |
1962 | Le Doulos ("The Finger Man") | Silien | Jean-Pierre Melville |
Cartouche | Louis Dominique Bourguignon | Philippe de Broca | |
Un singe en hiver ("A Monkey in Winter") | Gabriel Fouquet | Henri Verneuil | |
Un cœur gros comme ça (documentary "The Winner") | as himself | François Reichenbach | |
1963 | Mare matto ("Crazy Sea") | Il Livornese | Renato Castellani |
Peau de banane (fr) ("Banana Peel") | Michel Thibault | Marcel Ophüls | |
Dragées au poivre ("Sweet and Sour") | Raymond | Jacques Baratier | |
L'Aîné des Ferchaux ("Magnet of Doom") | Michel Maudet | Jean-Pierre Melville | |
Il giorno più corto ("The Shortest Day") | Erede Siciliano | Sergio Corbucci | |
1964 | L'Homme de Rio ("That Man from Rio") | Adrien Dufourquet | Philippe de Broca |
Cent mille dollars au soleil ("Greed in the Sun") | Rocco | Henri Verneuil | |
Échappement libre (fr) ("Backfire") | David Ladislas | Jean Becker | |
Week-end à Zuydcoote ("Weekend at Dunkirk") | Julien Maillat | Henri Verneuil | |
La Chasse à l'homme (fr) ("Male Hunt", "The Gentle Art of Seduction") | Fernand | Édouard Molinaro | |
1965 | Par un beau matin d'été ("Crime on a Summer Morning") | Francis | Jacques Deray |
Pierrot le fou | Pierrot (Ferdinand Griffon) | Jean-Luc Godard | |
Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine ("Up to His Ears") | Arthur Lempereur | Philippe de Broca | |
1966 | Tendre Voyou (fr) ("Tender Scoundrel") | Antoine Maréchal | Jean Becker |
Paris brûle-t-il? ("Is Paris Burning?") | Pierrelot - Yvon Morandat | René Clément | |
1967 | Casino Royale | French Leggionnaire | Ken Hughes, John Huston and others |
Le Voleur ("The Thief of Paris") | Georges Randal | Louis Malle | |
1968 | Ho! | François Holin | Robert Enrico |
1969 | Le Cerveau ("The Brain") | Arthur Lespinasse | Gérard Oury |
La Sirène du Mississippi ("Mississippi Mermaid") | Louis Mahé | François Truffaut | |
Un homme qui me plaît ("Love Is a Funny Thing") | Henri | Claude Lelouch | |
1970 | Borsalino | François Capella | Jacques Deray |
1971 | Les Mariés de l'an II ("The Married Couple of the Year Two") | Nicolas Philibert | Jean-Paul Rappeneau |
Le Casse ("The Burglars") | Azad | Henri Verneuil | |
1972 | Dr. Popaul | Le docteur Paul Simay | Claude Chabrol |
La Scoumoune | Roberto Borgo | José Giovanni | |
1973 | L'Héritier ("The Inheritor") | Bart Cordell | Philippe Labro |
Le Magnifique | François Merlin / Bob Saint-Clar | Philippe de Broca | |
1974 | Stavisky | Alexandre Stavisky | Alain Resnais |
1975 | L'Incorrigible ("Incorrigible") | Victor Vauthier | Philippe de Broca |
Peur sur la ville ("Fear over the city") | Jean Letellier | Henri Verneuil | |
1976 | L'Alpagueur | Roger Pilard ("L'Alpagueur") | Philippe Labro |
Le Corps de mon ennemi ("Body of My Enemy") | François Leclercq | Henri Verneuil | |
1977 | L'Animal ("Animal") | Mike Gaucher / Bruno Ferrari | Claude Zidi |
1979 | Flic ou voyou ("Cop or Hood") | Antonio Cerutti / Stanislas Borowitz | Georges Lautner |
1980 | Le Guignolo | Alexandre Dupré | Georges Lautner |
1981 | Le Professionnel ("The Professional") | Josselin Beaumont, a.k.a. "Joss" | Georges Lautner |
1982 | L'As des as ("Ace of Aces") | Jo Cavalier | Gérard Oury |
1983 | Le Marginal | Philippe Jordan | Jacques Deray |
1984 | Les Morfalous | Pierre Augagneur | Henri Verneuil |
Joyeuses Pâques ("Happy Easter") | Stéphane Margelle | Georges Lautner | |
1985 | Hold-up | Grimm | Alexandre Arcady |
1987 | Le Solitaire | Stan Jalard | Jacques Deray |
1988 | Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté | Sam Lion | Claude Lelouch |
1995 | Les Cent et Une Nuits de Simon Cinéma ("A Hundred and One Nights") | Professeur Bébel | Agnès Varda |
Les Misérables | Henri Fortin / Jean Valjean | Claude Lelouch | |
1996 | Désiré | Désiré | Bernard Murat |
1998 | Une chance sur deux | Léo Brassac | Patrice Leconte |
1999 | Peut-être | Ako | Cédric Klapisch |
2000 | Les Acteurs | Himself | Bertrand Blier |
2009 | Un homme et son chien ("A Man and His Dog") | Charles | Francis Huster |