By Georges Biard – Wikimedia

Top fun 10 facts about French actor Gerard Depardieu


 

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor said to be one of the most excellent and adaptable actors in film history. He was born on December 27, 1948, and is famous for his mix of mildness and masculinity in films he featured in.

He has starred in a total of 170 films and his most famous movies include The Last Metro (1980) Police (1985) Jean de Florette (1986) Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) and Green Card (1990) from which won two nominations and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Gerard was quite graceful in all the movies he featured in and became popular and loved by fans from all over the globe. He also received praise from several movie critics and filmmakers that worked with him.

Today I will be sharing some of the top facts about Gerard Depardieu. Check out our previous blogs on Gerard and other French actors.

1. Gerard Depardieu started acting at 16

Gerard chose acting after developing interest while working as a beach boy in Cannes. This was during the annual Cannes film festival, he left his job, packed his bag and headed to Paris for training.

He was 16 years old then. During his stay in Paris, he debuted in several plays at comedy theatre café de la Gare. He worked alongside some notable names in Paris acting scene such as were Robert de Niro, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Sotha, Coluche, and Romain Bouteille.

Additionally, Gerard signed up for a dancing class and was trained by Jean-Laurent Cochet. He continued to feature in local films and had his first breakthrough in 1974. He had been featured in the movie Jean-Claude un Les Valseuses as a young thug.

2. Gerard Depardieu won an Oscar for his performance

Being an exceptionally talented actor, it is no surprise then that Gerard won an Oscar, the most prestigious award in film.

The Oscar he won was from his leading role as Cyrano de Bergerac. This was the first time that an actor got nominated for playing a similar role in a different film.

Gerard also got nominated twice for the Oscar, won two Cesar awards and has several other nominations. He became the first French actor to get several   Cesar nominations.

Gerard was further honoured with the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1989 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Then in 2006, he received the Stanislavsky Award at the Moscow International Film Festival for his outstanding achievement in the career of acting.

3. Gerard Depardieu is a businessman

Many may identify Gerard as an actor but he is also a businessman. He has built his winery. He is also the owner of a winery, he also owned two restaurants.

He has two restaurants are “L’Ecaille de la Fontaine” and “La Fontaine Gaillon”. His wine is enjoyed by people all over the world.

Apart from acting Gerard Depardieu has also established his winery, which is hugely popular. He harvests from the best crops in collaboration with wine connoisseurs from France, Italy, Argentina, Morocco and Algeria. He loves both bottles of red wine a day.

4. Gerard Depardieu and John Travolta are best buddies

Gerard Depardieu is believed to be close friends with John Travolta. This friendship is so deep such that, Travolta asked him to do his French voice in the French dubbing of his film Blow Out.

5. Gerard Depardieu has dual citizenship

By Kremlin.ru,- Wikimedia

Gerard enjoyed being born and raised in France. His love for the country came to a bitter end in 2012 when the then President imposed high taxes (75%) on anyone earning more than a million.

He left France and was a resident in Belgium for a short while before heading to Russia.  This was after surrendering his French passport to the French authorities.

In 2013, Gerard received his Russian passport after Vladimir Putin signed an executive order offering him permanent citizenship.

He met with the Russian President at the Black, Sea and Sochi.

6. Gerard Depardieu love life and children

Gerald Depardieu married his first wife Elisabeth Guignot in 1970. They had two children Julie Depardieu, who is an actress, and actor Guillaume Depardieu who sadly died of pneumonia in 2008.

They later separated in the mid-1990s followed by a divorce in 1996. While separated from his wife, Gerard dated model Karine Silla and the two had a daughter Roxanne.

In 1997, he fell in love with a fellow actress, Carol Bouquet and their relationship lasted 8 years. In the meantime, he was also involved with Helen Bizot and they got a son in 2006.

7. The movie Green Card was the peak of his career

Gerard had the biggest break in his acting career after he played a leading role in the movie Green Card. From his role, he won the Cesar Award and the Golden Globe Award for best actor.

He got the leading role after his impressive performance in the 1983 film Danton. The producer of Green Card assigned him the leading role. However, the production of the film was delayed for a year since Gerard was not available.

As they waited for his availability, the producer, rewrote the script to fit his new role. This was Gerard’s first film in the English language.

8. Gerard Depardieu was once the highest-paid French actor

By Georges Biard- Wikimedia

In 2013 Gerard was still the highest-paid French actor.  He became the best-paid actor in 2005 while earning over EUR 800,000 per movie. He had three movies that paid him handsomely that year.

9. Gerard Depardieu suffered a heart attack

In the year 2000, Gerard suffered a heart attack and had to undergo quintuple heart bypass surgery. He recovered quickly. Gerard confessed that he went to the hospital on a motorbike.

A few years later he announced his retirement from active acting career. He was pleased with his long career and needed to retire in style. In 2006, he was rumoured to have featured in a biographical film depicting the life of Antonio Vivaldi.

10. Gerard Depardieu once got kicked out of a plane

By Quintin Soloviev – Wikimedia

Gerard’s life has not been short of drama. In 2012, he got kicked off a plane after he became intoxicated and misbehaved on the flight while it was taxing on the runway. He tried to save his face by fighting the airline for weeks, negating the accusation. He later admitted to having behaved badly.

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