Gérard Depardieu


Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ is a French actor. He has received acclaim for his performances in The Last Metro, for which he won the César Award for Best Actor, in Police, for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, Jean de Florette, and Cyrano de Bergerac, winning the Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor, his second César Award for Best Actor, and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
He co-starred in Peter Weir's comedy Green Card, winning a Golden Globe Award and later acted in many big budget Hollywood movies including Ridley Scott's , Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, Randall Wallace's The Man in the Iron Mask, and Ang Lee's Life of Pi.
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, and became a cultural ambassador of Montenegro during the same month.

Early life

Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France. He is one of the five children of Anne Jeanne Josèphe and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, a metal worker and volunteer fireman. After leaving school at the age of thirteen, he worked at a printworks. He also became involved in selling stolen goods, and was put on probation.

Acting career

At the age of sixteen, 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. He studied dancing under Jean-Laurent Cochet.
His first film role to gain attention was playing Jean-Claude in Bertrand Blier's comedy Les Valseuses. Other prominent early roles include a starring role in Bernardo Bertolucci's historical epic 1900, with Robert De Niro, and a role in François Truffaut's The Last Metro, with Catherine Deneuve for which he won his first César Award for Best Actor. His international profile rose as a result of his performance as a doomed, hunchbacked farmer in the film Jean de Florette and received notice for his starring role in Cyrano de Bergerac, for which he won his second César Award for Best Actor, the Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor, and received a nomination for an Academy Award.Depardieu co-starred in Peter Weir's English language romantic comedy Green Card, for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He has since had other roles in other English language films, including Ridley Scott's , Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet, and Ang Lee's Life of Pi. He played Obélix in the four live-action Astérix films in which he is said to have discovered Mélanie Laurent when she was fourteen.
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.
In 2013, he starred in an independent film titled A Farewell to Fools.
Depardieu featured as a main character in Antwerp, a play in The Europeans Trilogy by Paris-based UK playwright Nick Awde.

Personal life

In 1970, Depardieu married Élisabeth Guignot, with whom he had two children, actor Guillaume and actress Julie.
On 28 January 1992, while separated from Guignot, he had a daughter, Roxanne, with the model Karine Silla. In 1996, he divorced Guignot and began a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, who was his partner from 1997 to 2005.
, Russia, 5 January 2013|198x198px
On 14 July 2006, he had a son, Jean, with French-Cambodian Hélène Bizot. Since 2005, Depardieu has lived with Clémentine Igou. He underwent heart surgery in July 2000.
On 13 October 2008, Depardieu's son Guillaume died from pneumonia at the age of 37. Guillaume's health had been adversely affected by drug addiction and by a 1995 motorcycle crash that eventually required the amputation of his right leg in 2003. Depardieu and Guillaume had a turbulent relationship, but had reconciled prior to Guillame's death.

Legal issues

On 16 August 2011, he urinated in a bottle while on board a CityJet flight bound for Dublin as it taxied in Paris. The incident was attributed to urinary incontinence caused by a prostate problem with the flight attendant not allowing him to get up from his seat to go to the toilet because the aircraft was already moving. 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. After claiming in 2014 that he could drink up to 14 bottles of wine a day, in 2016 he declared that he had given up alcohol.
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. In his first interview thereafter, Depardieu attacked Putin's critics for "lacking vision". In his autobiography, Depardieu said Putin "immediately liked my hooligan side." In February 2013, he registered as a resident of Saransk. Also in January 2013, he was appointed a cultural ambassador for Montenegro. During the summer of 2015, due to remarks Depardieu made about Russian-Ukrainian political issues, his films were banned from television and cinemas in Ukraine.
In August 2018, Depardieu was accused of sexual assault and rape by a 22-year-old actress and dancer. The actress reported being assaulted twice by Depardieu in his home during rehearsal sessions. The unnamed actress made her statement to police in Lambesc, southern France, after which the case was passed to prosecutors in the capital. Depardieu denied the allegations. In 2019 the charges were dropped after a nine month police investigation.

Awards

Depardieu has been nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role César 17 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.
AssociationYearCategoryNominated WorkResult
7 d'Or Night1999Audience Vote: Best Actor – FictionLe Comte de Monte Cristo
20/20 Awards2011Best ActorCyrano de Bergerac
Academy Awards1991Best ActorCyrano de Bergerac
BAFTA Awards1988Best Actor in a Leading RoleJean de Florette
BAFTA Awards1992Best Actor in a Leading RoleCyrano de Bergerac
British Film Institute1989BFI Fellowship—
Cesar Awards1976Best Actor7 morts sur ordonnance
Cesar Awards1977Best ActorLa dernière femme
Cesar Awards1978Best ActorDites-lui que je ľaime
Cesar Awards1979Best ActorLe sucre
Cesar Awards1981Best ActorLe dernier metro
Cesar Awards1983Best ActorDanton
Cesar Awards1984Best ActorLes compères
Cesar Awards1985Best ActorFort Saganne
Cesar Awards1986Best ActorPolice
Cesar Awards1988Best ActorSous le soleil de Satan
Cesar Awards1989Best ActorCamille Claudel
Cesar Awards1990Best ActorTrop belle pour toi
Cesar Awards1991Best ActorCyrano de Bergarac
Cesar Awards1995Best ActorLe colonel Chabert
Cesar Awards2007Best ActorQuand j'étais chanteur
Cesar Awards2011Best ActorMammuth
Cesar Awards2016Best ActorValley of Love
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association1991Best ActorCyrano de Bergerac
David di Donatello Awards1991Best Foreign ActorCyrano de Bergerac
European Film Awards1990European Actor of the YearCyrano de Bergerac
European Film Awards1998Outstanding European Achievement in World CinemaThe Man in the Iron Mask
Étoiles ďOr2011Best ActorMammuth
Globes de Cristal Awards2007Best ActorQuand j'étais chanteur
Globes de Cristal Awards2011Best ActorMammuth
Golden Camera Awards1996Best International ActorLes anges gardiens
Golden Globe Awards1991Best Actor – Motion Picture, Musical or ComedyGreen Card
Hamburg Film Festival2006Douglas Sirk Award—
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival2011Award of ExcellenceGrenouille d'hiver
I've Seen Films – International Film Festival2012Best ActorGrenouille d'hiver
Jules Verne Awards2009Jules Verne Lifetime Achievement Award—
London Critics Circle Film Awards1992Actor of the YearCyrano de Bergerac
Green Card
Uranus
Lumiere Awards2007Best ActorQuand j'étais chanteur
Lumiere Awards2016Best ActorValley of Love
Lumiere Awards2017Best ActorThe End
Montréal World Film Festival1983Best ActorDanton
Montréal World Film Festival1995Grand Prix Special des Amériques—
Montréal World Film Festival1999Grand Prix des AmériquesUn pont entre deux rives
National Society of Film Critics Awards1977Best ActorLa derniére femme
National Society of Film Critics Awards1984Best ActorLe retour de Martin Guerre
Danton
New York Film Critics Circle Awards1983Best ActorLe retour de Martin Guerre
Danton
Primetime Emmy Awards2003Outstanding MiniseriesNapoleon
San Francisco International Film Festival1994Piper-Heidsieck Award—
Telluride Film Festival1990Silver Medallion Award—
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards2000Worst Supporting Actor102 Dalmatians
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards2000Worst On-Screen Couple 102 Dalmatians
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards2000Worst On-Screen Hairstyle102 Dalmatians
Venice Film Festival1997Career Golden Lion—
Verona Love Screens Film Festival2000Best ActorUn pont entre deux rives

Filmography