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Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (French; born 27 December 1948), CQ is a French actor. He has received acclaim for his performances in The Last Metro (1980), for which he won the César Award for Best Actor, in Police (1985), for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, Jean de Florette (1986), and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), 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 (1991), winning a Golden Globe Award and later acted in many big budget Hollywood movies including Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996), Randall Wallace’s The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012). 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 (officially adopted name in Russian: Жерар Депардьё, romanized: Zherar Depardyo), and became a cultural ambassador of Montenegro during the same month.
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.
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.
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.[8] 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 (Going Places, 1974).[9] Other prominent early roles include a starring role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s historical epic 1900 (1976), with Robert De Niro, and a role in François Truffaut’s The Last Metro (1980), 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 (1986) and received notice for his starring role in Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), 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 (1991), for which he won a Golden Globe Award. He has since had other roles in other English language films, including Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996), and Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (2012). He played Obélix in the four live-action Astérix films in which he is said to have discovered Mélanie Laurent when she was fourteen.[10] 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.[11] In 2013, he starred in an independent film titled A Farewell to Fools.[12] Depardieu featured as a main character in Antwerp (Edinburgh Festival 2014), a play in The Europeans Trilogy (Bruges, Antwerp, Tervuren) by Paris-based UK playwright Nick Awde.
In 1970, Depardieu married Élisabeth Guignot, with whom he had two children, actor Guillaume (1971–2008) and actress Julie (born 1973). On 28 January 1992, while separated from Guignot, he had a daughter, Roxanne, with the model Karine Silla (sister of producer Virginie Besson-Silla).
In 1996, he divorced Guignot 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).[14][15] 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 Guillaume’s death.[17]
In September 2020 Depardieu converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Paris.
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.[20] In August 2012, he was accused of assault and battery for punching a motorist in Paris.[21] 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.[citation needed] 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.[22]
He has been an official resident of Néchin, Belgium, since 7 December 2012.[23] French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault criticised his move.[24] On 15 December 2012, Depardieu publicly stated he was handing back his French passport.[25][26] On 3 January 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an Executive Order granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu.[27] In his first interview thereafter, Depardieu attacked Putin’s critics for “lacking vision”.[28] In his autobiography, Depardieu said Putin “immediately liked my hooligan side.”[29] In February 2013, he registered as a resident of Saransk. Also in January 2013, he was appointed a cultural ambassador for Montenegro.[30] 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.[31]
In August 2018, Depardieu was accused of sexual assault and rape by a 22-year-old actress and dancer.[32] 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.[33] In 2019 the charges were dropped after a nine month police investigation.[34] But, in October 2020 the case was reopened after his accuser refiled the complaint.
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.
1985: Volpi Cup 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
1996: Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d’honneur[36]
2006: Moscow Film Festival: Stanislavsky Award for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting[37]
Association Year Category Nominated Work Result[citation needed]
7 d’Or Night 1999 Audience Vote: Best Actor – Fiction Le Comte de Monte Cristo Won
20/20 Awards 2011 Best Actor Cyrano de Bergerac Nominated
Academy Awards 1991 Best Actor Cyrano de Bergerac Nominated
BAFTA Awards 1988 Best Actor in a Leading Role Jean de Florette Nominated
1992 Best Actor in a Leading Role Cyrano de Bergerac Nominated
British Film Institute 1989 BFI Fellowship — Won
Cesar Awards 1976 Best Actor 7 morts sur ordonnance Nominated
1977 Best Actor La dernière femme Nominated
1978 Best Actor Dites-lui que je ľaime Nominated
1979 Best Actor Le sucre Nominated
1981 Best Actor Le dernier metro Won
1983 Best Actor Danton Nominated
1984 Best Actor Les compères Nominated
1985 Best Actor Fort Saganne Nominated
1986 Best Actor Police Nominated
1988 Best Actor Sous le soleil de Satan Nominated
1989 Best Actor Camille Claudel Nominated
1990 Best Actor Trop belle pour toi Nominated
1991 Best Actor Cyrano de Bergarac Won
1995 Best Actor Le colonel Chabert Nominated
2007 Best Actor Quand j’étais chanteur Nominated
2011 Best Actor Mammuth Nominated
2016 Best Actor Valley of Love Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association 1991 Best Actor Cyrano de Bergerac Nominated
David di Donatello Awards 1991 Best Foreign Actor Cyrano de Bergerac Nominated
European Film Awards 1990 European Actor of the Year Cyrano de Bergerac Nominated
1998 Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema The Man in the Iron Mask Nominated
Étoiles ďOr 2011 Best Actor Mammuth Won
Globes de Cristal Awards 2007 Best Actor Quand j’étais chanteur Nominated
2011 Best Actor Mammuth Nominated
Golden Camera Awards 1996 Best International Actor Les anges gardiens Won
Golden Globe Awards 1991 Best Actor – Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy Green Card Won
Hamburg Film Festival 2006 Douglas Sirk Award — Won
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival 2011 Award of Excellence Grenouille d’hiver Won
I’ve Seen Films – International Film Festival 2012 Best Actor Grenouille d’hiver Won
Jules Verne Awards 2009 Jules Verne Lifetime Achievement Award — Won
London Critics Circle Film Awards 1992 Actor of the Year Cyrano de Bergerac
Green Card
Uranus Won
Lumiere Awards 2007 Best Actor Quand j’étais chanteur Won
2016 Best Actor Valley of Love Nominated
2017 Best Actor The End Nominated
Montréal World Film Festival 1983 Best Actor Danton Won
1995 Grand Prix Special des Amériques — Won
1999 Grand Prix des Amériques Un pont entre deux rives Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards 1977 Best Actor La derniére femme Nominated
1984 Best Actor Le retour de Martin Guerre
Danton Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards 1983 Best Actor Le retour de Martin Guerre
Danton Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards 2003 Outstanding Miniseries Napoleon Nominated
San Francisco International Film Festival 1994 Piper-Heidsieck Award — Won
Telluride Film Festival 1990 Silver Medallion Award — Won
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2000 Worst Supporting Actor 102 Dalmatians Nominated
2000 Worst On-Screen Couple (shared with Glenn Close) 102 Dalmatians Nominated
2000 Worst On-Screen Hairstyle 102 Dalmatians Nominated
Venice Film Festival 1997 Career Golden Lion — Won
Verona Love Screens Film Festival 2000 Best Actor Un pont entre deux rives Won
