Jean-Paul Belmondo is a French actor initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s.
Career 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, which made him a major figure
in the French New Wave.
Later he acted in Jean-Pierre Melville's philosophical movie Leon Morin, Priest and in Melville's
film noir crime film The Fingerman and Godard again with Pierrot le fou.
With That Man From Rio he switched to commercial, mainstream productions, mainly comedies and
action films but did appear in the title role of Alain Resnais' masterpiece Stavisky, 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.
He was made Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite, promoted Officier in 1986 and
promoted Commandeur in 1994.
He was made Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, promoted Officier in 1991 and promoted Commandeur
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.
Personal life Belmondo's father, Paul Belmondo, was a sculptor
who was born in Algeria of Italian descent.
In 1953, Belmondo married Élodie Constantin, with whom he had three children: Patricia,
Florence and Paul.
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.
Gallery
Cultural references Belmondo is saluted in a 1967 episode of the
U.S. television sitcom Get Smart.
In the episode "The Spirit is Willing" a top agent of the sinister spy agency KAOS is named
Paul John Mondebello, an obvious alteration of Belmondo's name.
He is also mentioned in a song about "Masculinity" in the play La Cage Aux Folles, and is mentioned
in the Donovan song "Sunny South Kensington" on the Mellow Yellow album.
A poster of him as "A bad guy, a good-looking bad guy" is in Rachel's apartment in "The
Light of Day" by Graham Swift.
Selected filmography See also
Cinema of France References
External links Jean-Paul Belmondo’s fans forum
Jean-Paul Belmondo at the Internet Movie Database Belmondo Biography on newwavefilm.com
Jean-Paul Belmondo at AllMovie Jean-Paul Belmondo at filmsdefrance.com
Unknown Belmondo at Facebook