Biography

Gérard Depardieu

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Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France, to Anne Jeanne Josèphe (Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, who was a metal worker and fireman. Young delinquent and wanderer in the past, Depardieu started his acting career at the small traveling theatre "Café de la Gare", along with Patrick Dewaere and Miou-Miou. After minor roles in cinema, at last, he got his chance in Bertrand Blier's Going Places (1974). That film established a new type of hero in the French cinema and the actor's popularity grew enormously. Later, he diversified his screen image and became the leading French actor of the 80s and 90s. He was twice awarded a César as Best Actor for The Last Metro (1980) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), also received an Oscar nomination for "Cyrano" and a number of awards at international film festivals. In 1996, he was distinguished by the highest French title of "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur". He married Elisabeth Depardieu in 1971, and they divorced in 1996; she appeared with him in Jean de Florette (1986) and Manon of the Spring (1986); their children Guillaume Depardieu and Julie Depardieu are both actors.
- IMDb mini biography by: Yuri German <blsidt1@imf.org>

A friend of John Travolta, he was asked by Travolta to be his French voice in the dubbed version of Brian De Palma's movie Blow Out (1981).
In December 2012 Gérard Depardieu moved to Belgium as a self-exile to avoid French taxes. Depardieu has surrendered his French passport and social security card. In an open letter to the prime minister, Depardieu wrote he had "nothing to do in France," and moreover accused the current government of wanting to "punish" success. As of December 2012 about 500 French citizens are said to be waiting to be naturalized in Belgium mainly due to financial reasons.
Speaks Italian fluently.
Is an accomplished winemaker.
Underwent emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery in Paris, France, following a heart attack (10 July 2000).

I never really like the characters I play. I only come to love them afterwards.
The relationship between an actor and a director is like a love story between a man and a woman. I'm sure sometimes I'm the woman.
I'm happy with very little on this earth, but I do like to have a lot in my glass. [on his love for wine]
I want to get more involved with the vineyards I have all over the world and to spend more time with the people who work in them. You need to be there to make yourself understood; you can't just tell people what to do from the end of a telephone line. My unrealized ambition is to tend my vines, produce wine and work like an artisan. I dream of rediscovering the old traditions and customs of wine growing, not necessarily to deny the technology which we have today, but to harness it and work in harmony with nature.
Authenticity is the ability to listen to what nature tells us. Listening isn't the same thing as never making a mistake, but the important thing is to learn.