Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu
Depardieu at the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival
Born
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu

(1948-12-27) 27 December 1948
Châteauroux, France
Other namesЖерар Ксавие Депардьё
Citizenship
  • France
  • Russia
  • United Arab Emirates
OccupationActor
Years active1966–present
Spouse
Élisabeth Depardieu
​
​
(m. 1970; div. 2006)​
Partners
  • Karine Silla (1992–1996)
  • Carole Bouquet (1996–2005)
  • Clémentine Igou (2005–2023)
  • Magda Vavrusova (2024–present)
Children4, including
Guillaume Depardieu
Julie Depardieu
RelativesDelphine Depardieu (niece)
AwardsFull list

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (UK: /ˈdɛpɑːrdjɜː, ˌdɛpɑːrˈdjɜː/,[1][2] US: /-ˈdjʌ, ˌdeɪpɑːrˈdjuː/,[1][3][4] French: [ʒeʁaʁ ɡzavje maʁsɛl dəpaʁdjø] ⓘ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as a lead actor.[5] He is also a film producer, businessman, vineyard owner, and occasional director. Depardieu has worked with over 150 film directors including François Truffaut,[6] Bertrand Blier,[7] Maurice Pialat,[8] Alain Resnais,[9] Claude Chabrol,[10] Ridley Scott,[11][12] Jean-Luc Godard,[13] and Bernardo Bertolucci.[14] He is the second highest-grossing actor in the history of French cinema behind Louis de Funès.[15][16][17] His body of work also includes many television productions, several records and, as of 2025, 19 stage plays and 9 books.[18][19][20] He is known for having portrayed numerous leading historical and fictitious figures including Cyrano de Bergerac, Georges Danton, Honoré de Balzac, Alexandre Dumas, Auguste Rodin, Christopher Columbus, Jean Valjean, Edmond Dantès, Porthos, commissioner Maigret, Joseph Stalin and Grigori Rasputin, as well as Obelix in four of the live action Asterix films.[21]

Growing up in poverty in Châteauroux, central France, Depardieu had a difficult youth before settling in Paris where he became an actor. In 1974, he had his breakthrough role in Going Places, becoming an overnight star. Depardieu quickly established himself as a leading actor in European cinema and proved himself a versatile performer by appearing in a wide variety of productions, including drama, comedy, crime and avant-garde films. 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), for which he won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival and his second César Award for Best Actor as well as garnering a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He starred in Peter Weir's romantic comedy Green Card (1990), winning a Golden Globe Award, and later appeared in several big-budget Hollywood films, including Ridley Scott's 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), Randall Wallace's The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), and Ang Lee's Life of Pi (2012).

Depardieu 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 Ксавие Депардьё, romanized: Zherar Ksavie Depardyo), and became a cultural ambassador of Montenegro during the same month. During the early 2010s, his tax exile in Russia and his support of Vladimir Putin caused controversy in France.

Depardieu was accused of sexual misconduct as early as the 1990s, though this did not develop into formal complaints until the late 2010s.[22] In December 2020, French authorities charged him with rape. Depardieu denied any wrongdoing, but a number of controversies since 2020, not limited to the accusations of rape, damaged his popularity in France and abroad, resulting in his being stripped in 2023 of the National Order of Quebec.[23] In May 2025, he was convicted of sexual assault against two women in a separate case. He has appealed his sentencing.

  1. ^ a b Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  2. ^ "Depardieu, Gérard". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Depardieu, Gérard". Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Longman. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  4. ^ Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010). "Depardieu, Gérard". New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press (published 2011). ISBN 9780195392883. Retrieved 20 September 2019 – via Oxford Reference.
  5. ^ "Gérard Depardieu : le recordman du box-office français". Premiere.fr (in French). 27 December 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  6. ^ Cahoreau, Gilles (1 January 1989). François Truffaut: 1932-1984 (in French). (Julliard) réédition numérique FeniXX. ISBN 978-2-260-03955-6.
  7. ^ Dupuy, Aurélie (18 July 2020). "Bertrand Blier : "Depardieu est le meilleur acteur d'Europe"". Europe 1 (in French).
  8. ^ Mérigeau, Pascal (8 January 2003). Maurice Pialat l'imprécateur (in French). Grasset. ISBN 978-2-246-61539-2.
  9. ^ Thomas, François (5 October 2016). Alain Resnais, les coulisses de la création: Entretiens avec ses proches collaborateurs (in French). Armand Colin. ISBN 978-2-200-61623-6.
  10. ^ Baecque, Antoine de (22 September 2021). Chabrol: Biographie (in French). Stock. ISBN 978-2-234-07865-9.
  11. ^ Raw, Laurence (28 September 2009). The Ridley Scott Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6952-3.
  12. ^ LoBrutto, Vincent (17 May 2019). Ridley Scott: A Biography. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-7710-6.
  13. ^ Dixon, Wheeler W. (1 January 1997). The Films of Jean-Luc Godard. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-3285-3.
  14. ^ Zimmerman 2013, p. 46-47.
  15. ^ Dicale, Bertrand (10 June 2009). Louis de Funès (in French). Grasset. ISBN 978-2-246-63669-4.
  16. ^ Mignard, Frédéric (24 July 2023). "Les champions du Box-office 2 : Gérard Depardieu". Cinedweller (in French). Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  17. ^ Romain (12 September 2016). "Film Culte avec Depardieu". The Culte (in French). Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Gérard Depardieu de retour au théâtre". Le Figaro (in French). 6 December 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Gérard Depardieu Biographie, spectacles, films, théâtre et photos". Théâtres et Producteurs Associés (in French). Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  20. ^ ""Monstre" de Gérard Depardieu : extraits de son livre de confidences". Franceinfo (in French). 25 October 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  21. ^ Lombard, Philippe (26 February 2015). Petit Livre de – Les 100 films les plus populaires du cinéma français (in French). edi8. ISBN 978-2-7540-7408-7.
  22. ^ "French actor Gérard Depardieu stands trial in Paris for alleged sexual assaults on film set". PBS News. 24 March 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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