Belmondo, Jean-Paul

Belmondo, Jean-Paul
born April 9, 1933, Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France

French film actor.

After studying in Paris and performing with provincial stage companies, he appeared in minor film roles before achieving international fame in Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1960). Though not conventionally handsome, he became the leading antihero of New Wave cinema, acting in 25 films by 1963, then went on to appear in such acclaimed films as Pierrot le Fou (1965), Mississippi Mermaid (1969), and Les Misérables (1995).

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▪ French actor
born April 9, 1933, Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France

      French motion picture actor who embodied the antiheroic spirit of the French New Wave in his early performances and later starred in and produced many commercially successful films that highlighted his graceful agility and easygoing charm.

      The son of sculptor Paul Belmondo, Jean-Paul spent his childhood in close contact with the arts. After a turbulent education in which he often played the class clown, he had a brief stint as an amateur boxer, but he abandoned the ring to study acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art in Paris. Despite his obvious talent, the irreverent attitude he adopted toward his instructors prevented him from winning the highest honours when he graduated in 1956.

      Belmondo soon made the transition from stage to screen with a series of minor roles in films by established directors. His commanding screen presence caught the attention of other major directors, although his unconventional looks limited the number of offers he received. He was usually cast as a discontented rebel or a common criminal, as in Claude Chabrol (Chabrol, Claude)'s A double tour (1959; Web of Passion).

      It was with a similar role in Jean-Luc Godard (Godard, Jean-Luc)'s seminal debut feature A bout de souffle (1959; Breathless) that Belmondo delivered his landmark performance. His portrayal of a disaffected, amoral street punk combined the cynical world-weariness of Humphrey Bogart (Bogart, Humphrey) with the naïveté of a bumbling crook, incorporating a compelling mixture of toughness, spontaneity, and comic timing. The film and the character he played created an entire myth around Belmondo, earning him comparisons in the French media to the American actor James Dean (Dean, James).

 Belmondo soon showed a willingness to destroy this myth by taking roles that contrasted sharply with his established screen persona, including a worker involved in an impossible love affair in Peter Brook (Brook, Peter)'s screen adaptation of Marguerite Duras (Duras, Marguerite)'s Moderato cantabile (1960; Seven Days…Seven Nights), a gentle intellectual in Vittorio De Sica (De Sica, Vittorio)'s La ciociara (1961; Two Women), and a morally resolute priest in Jean-Pierre Melville (Melville, Jean-Pierre)'s Léon Morin, prêtre (1961; Léon Morin, Priest). These roles demonstrated that, despite his hardened exterior, Belmondo was capable of great nuance and sensitivity.

      Not only was Belmondo able to work across different character types, he moved successfully among different types of films. He made the transition from artistic films to popular cinema with his appearance in several works directed by Philippe de Broca, including the action-comedy Cartouche (1962; Sword of Blood), in which he masterfully portrayed a Robin Hood figure, and the engaging L'Homme de Rio (1964; That Man from Rio), a fast-moving, fantasy-filled spoof of chase films. Known for performing his own stunts, Belmondo continued to star in entertaining action films and comedies that proved immensely popular with European audiences.

      In the late 1980s and '90s Belmondo again changed his image, this time from action hero to mature dramatic actor, giving notable performances in Claude Lelouch (Lelouch, Claude)'s Itinéraire d'un enfant gâté (1988; “Itinerary of a Spoiled Child”), for which he won a César (France's top film award), and Les Misérables (1995), playing multiple roles as the hero in Lelouch's reworking of the Victor Hugo (Hugo, Victor) classic. He also returned to the theatre, starring in productions of Edmond Rostand (Rostand, Edmond)'s Cyrano de Bergerac and Jean-Paul Sartre (Sartre, Jean-Paul)'s Kean. Belmondo's later films include Amazone (2000; Amazon). In 2001 he suffered a stroke that left him unable to work for several years. Belmondo returned to the screen in 2008 in Un homme et son chien (A Man and His Dog). At his insistence, the role showcased rather than concealed his disabilities.

      Belmondo's autobiography, Trente ans et vingt-cinq films (“Thirty Years and Twenty-five Films”), was published in 1963.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Belmondo, Jean-Paul — (1933 )    Actor and producer. Jean Paul Belmondo is an internationally recognized film celebrity and an icon of the French Nouvelle Vague or New Wave. He once aspired to a career in boxing before turning to acting at the Conservatoire d art… …   Guide to cinema

  • Belmondo, Jean-Paul — (1933 )    Actor and producer. Jean Paul Belmondo is an internationally recognized film celebrity and an icon of the French Nouvelle Vague or New Wave. He once aspired to a career in boxing before turning to acting at the Conservatoire d art… …   Historical Dictionary of French Cinema

  • Belmondo, Jean-Paul — (1933 )    actor    A leading actor of the New Wave (Nouvelle Vague) genre, Jean Paul Belmondo was born near Paris in Neuilly sur seine. He made his debut in the first feature film of jean luc godard, À bout de soufflé (1960), and later Pierrot… …   France. A reference guide from Renaissance to the Present

  • Belmondo, Jean-Paul — • БЕЛЬМОНДО (Belmondo) Жан Поль (p. 9.4.1933)    франц. актёр. Учился на курсах драм, иск ва у П. Дюкса и Р. Жирара. Работал в парижских т рах. В кино с 1956 (ф. Воскресенье... Мы будем воровать ). Известность приобрёл после исполнения гл. роли в …   Кино: Энциклопедический словарь

  • Belmondo, Jean-Paul — ► (n. 1933) Actor cinematográfico francés. Se caracteriza por un estilo fresco y espontáneo. Entre sus filmes destacan Al final de la escapada (1959) y El hombre de Río (1964). * * * (n. 9 abr. 1933, Neuilly sur Seine, cerca de París, Francia).… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Jean-paul belmondo — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Belmondo. Jean Paul Belmondo Nom de naissance Jean Paul Belmondo Surnom Bébel Naissance 9 avril 1933 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Jean Paul Belmondo — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Belmondo. Jean Paul Belmondo Nom de naissance Jean Paul Belmondo Surnom Bébel Naissance 9 avril 1933 …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • Jean-Paul Belmondo — Infobox actor name = Jean Paul Belmondo imagesize = othername = Bebel birthdate = birth date and age|df=yes|1933|4|9 birthplace = Neuilly sur Seine, France spouse = Elodie Constantin (1953 1965) Natty Belmondo (2002 2008) cesarawards = Best Actor …   Wikipedia

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