BELMONDO, JEANPAUL

Belmondo, Jean-Paul: translation

(1933- )

Actor and producer. Jean-Paul Belmondo is an internationally recognized film celebrity and an icon of the FrenchNouvelle Vagueor New Wave. He once aspired to a career in boxing before turning to acting at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique in Paris from 1952 to 1956. He debuted in film in the 1956 shortMolière, by Norbert Tildian. In 1957, he began his career in feature-length films such as Henri Aisner'sLes copains du dimancheand Maurice Belbez'sÀ pied,à cheval,et en voiture. He later played memorable roles forMarc AllégretinSois belle et tais-toi(1958), where he worked alongside fellow iconAlain Delonfor the first time. He also appeared in Allégret'sUn drôle de dimanche(1958).

Belmondo subsequently landed a supporting role inMarcel Carné's dramaLes Tricheurs(1958). He went on to work withJean-Luc Godardin the shortCharlotte et son Jules(1958), then launched into stardom through his portrayal of the internationally famous character Michel Poiccard in Godard's benchmark New Wave film,A bout de souffle(1960). He worked with New Wave directors on several important films:Claude Chabrol'sA double tour(1959) andDocteur Popaul(1972), Godard'sUne femme est une femme(1961) andPierrot le fou(1965), andFrançois Truffaut'sLa Sirène du Mississipi(1969). He also costarred with one of the New Wave's most prominent actresses,Jeanne Moreau, inMarcel Ophiils'sPeau de banane(1963). Belmondo developed a film persona that seemed to embody the insouciant, rebellious, cinematic antihero of the 1960s.The term "Belmondo style" immediately recalls this image. Indeed, Belmondo's face is displayed on the cover of several books about film.

Belmondo's celebrity stretches beyond his status as a New Wave icon. He played eclectic roles in both art and commercial cinema. In the 1960s and up until the mid-1980s, he was one of France's biggest box-office attractions, often starring in thrillers likeClaude Sautet'sClasse tous riques(1960),Jean-Pierre Melville'sLe Doulos(1962),Jacques Deray'sBorsalino(alongside Alain Delon), andGeorges Lautner'sLe Professionel(1981). He frequently led in comedy-adventure films such asPhillipe de Broca'sCartouche(1962) andL'Homme de Rio(1964), Gérard Oury'sLe cerveau(1968) andL 'As des as(1982),Jean-Paul Rappeneau'sLes Mariés de l'an II(1971), and Deray'sLe solitaire(1987). He was also featured in parodies of spy films, including the cosmopolitan James Bond spoofCasino Royale(1967) and de Broca'sLe Magnifique(1973). His range was further demonstrated in his roles as a priest in Melville'sLéon Morin:Prêtre(1961), a Resistance fighter inRené Clement's war dramaParis Brûle-t-il?(1966), and as Henri Fortin inClaude Lelouch'sLes Miserables(1995), a loose adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel. He paired up with Delon again inPatrice Leconte'sUne chance sur deux(1998), then starred inCédricKlapisch's science-fiction filmPeut-être(1999). He won aCésarin 1989 for Best Actor for his role inClaude Lelouch'sItinéraire d'un enfant gâté. In 2000, he played himself inBertrand Blier'sLes Acteurs, and starred again for de Broca in 2000 in the science-fiction filmAmazone.