Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu, CQ
Gérard Depardieu at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu 27 December 1948 (1948-12-27) (age 62) Châteauroux, Indre, France
Spouse	Élisabeth Guignot (1971-2006)
Partner	Carole Bouquet (1997–2005) Clémentine Igou (2005–present)

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁaʁ dəpaʁdjø]  ( listen); born 27 December 1948) is a French actor and winemaker. He has won a number of honors including a nomination for an Academy Award for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac and the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in Green Card. In addition to a number of American awards, Depardieu is a Chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor.

Early life

Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France. He is one of six children of Anne Jeanne Josèphe "la Liette" (née Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel "le Dédé" Depardieu, a metal worker and volunteer fireman.^[1][2] His mother did not want more children and told Depardieu that she had tried to abort him with knitting needles.^[1][2] He has stated that as a child he would inspect his hands for scars from the needles.^[1][2]

Depardieu spent more time on the street than in the classroom and left school at 13.

Career

At the age of 16, Depardieu left Châteauroux for Paris. There, 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. More recently, he has played Obélix in the three Astérix movies.^[3]

In 2010 Gepardieu signed a contract with Bank Zachodni WBK, a Polish bank, to appear in its commercials.^[4]

Personal life

In 1970 Depardieu married Élisabeth Guignot with whom he had two children, actor Guillaume (1971–2008) and actress Julie (1973). On January 28, 1992, while separated from Élisabeth, he had a daughter, Roxanne, with the model Karine Sylla. In 1996 he divorced Élisabeth and began a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, who was his life partner from 1997 to 2005.^[5] On 14 July 2006, he had a son, Jean, with French-Cambodian Hélène Bizot, according to the issue 3089 (31 July 2008) of Paris Match. Since 2005, Depardieu has lived with a Harvard-educated novelist, Clémentine Igou.

Depardieu with Carole Bouquet at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

On 13 October 2008, his son Guillaume died at the age of 37 from complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia.

Depardieu is co-owner of a winery in Condrieu, in the Northern Rhone, with partner Alain Paret, where the duo make highly-respected wines using the viognier grape. Their Lys de Volan Condrieu frequently receives excellent reviews in the wine press. Depardieu became Paret's partner after tasting the wine in a restaurant. He then called Paret and offered to buy a share of the winemaking operation.^[6]

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.^[7]
• 2006: Moscow International Film Festival: Stanislavsky Award for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting.

Filmography

Depardieu at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.

See also

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

References

External links

• Gérard Depardieu at the Internet Movie Database

César Award for Best Actor 1976 Philippe Noiret · 1977 Michel Galabru · 1978 Jean Rochefort · 1979 Michel Serrault · 1980 Claude Brasseur · 1981 Gérard Depardieu · 1982 Michel Serrault · 1983 Philippe Léotard · 1984 Coluche · 1985 Alain Delon · 1986 Christophe Lambert · 1987 Daniel Auteuil · 1988 Richard Bohringer · 1989 Jean-Paul Belmondo · 1990 Philippe Noiret · 1991 Gérard Depardieu · 1992 Jacques Dutronc · 1993 Claude Rich · 1994 Pierre Arditi · 1995 Gérard Lanvin · 1996 Michel Serrault · 1997 Philippe Torreton · 1998 André Dussollier · 1999 Jacques Villeret · 2000 Daniel Auteuil · 2001 Sergi López · 2002 Michel Bouquet · 2003 Adrien Brody · 2004 Omar Sharif · 2005 Mathieu Amalric · 2006 Michel Bouquet · 2007 François Cluzet · 2008 Mathieu Amalric · 2009 Vincent Cassel · 2010 Tahar Rahim