Detailed Biography

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu ) is a French actor and winemaker. He has won a number of honors including a nomination for an Academy Award for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac and the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in Green Card.

Biography

Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France. He is one of six children of Anne Jeanne Josèphe "la Liette" and René Maxime Lionel "le Dédé" Depardieu, a metal worker and volunteer fireman. Depardieu spent more time in the street than in the classroom and left school at 13. At the age of 16, Depardieu left Châteauroux for Paris. There, he studied dancing under Jean-Laurent Cochet, and went on to become one of France's most renowned actors. In 1986, his fame grew as a result of his performance as a doomed, hunchbacked farmer in the film Jean de Florette. Five years later he won a César for his starring role in Cyrano de Bergerac. More recently, he has played Obélix in the three Astérix movies.

In 1970 Depardieu married Élisabeth Guignot with whom he had two children, actor Guillaume and actress Julie . In 1992, while separated from Élisabeth, he had a daughter, Roxane, with the model Karine Sylla. In 1996 he divorced Élisabeth and began a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, to whom he was married from 1997 to 2005. On 14 July 2006, he had a son, Jean, with French-Cambodian Hélène Bizot, according to the issue 3089 of Paris Match. Since 2005, Depardieu has lived with a Harvard-educated novelist, Clémentine Igou.

On 13 October 2008, his son Guillaume died at the age of 37 from complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia.

Depardieu is co-owner of a winery in Condrieu, in the Northern Rhone, with partner Alain Paret, where the duo make highly-respected wines using the viognier grape. Their Lys de Volan Condrieu frequently garners excellent reviews in the wine press. Depardieu became Paret's partner after tasting the wine in a restaurant. He then called Paret and offered to buy a share of the winemaking operation.

Awards

Depardieu has been nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role César 15 times during his career and won it twice, in 1981 and 1991. He was also nominated for an Oscar in 1990 for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac. 1981: César Award for Best Actor for his role in The Last Metro
1985: Venice Film Festival Award for best actor for his role in Police
1985: Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite
1990: Cannes Film Festival: Best actor award for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac
1991: César Award for Best Actor for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac
1991: Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in Green Card
1996: Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.
2006: Moscow International Film Festival: Stanislavsky Award for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting.