Born on December 27, 1948, in Châteauroux, Indre, France, Gérard Depardieu emerged from humble beginnings as the son of a metal worker and fireman, René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, and Anne Jeanne Josèphe (Marillier). His journey from a young delinquent to an iconic figure in French cinema is a tale of remarkable transformation. Depardieu began his acting career in small traveling theaters, eventually landing roles that redefined the hero in French cinema. His outstanding contributions, including a César award for Best Actor and an Oscar nomination, highlight his diverse and influential presence in the entertainment industry.
Early Life and Career
Gérard Depardieu's rise from a challenging childhood, marked by delinquency, to a celebrated actor is a story of determination and talent. His passion for acting was evident from a young age. He started in the theater, where his raw, powerful performances quickly garnered attention.
Depardieu’s first notable film role was in the 1970 film "Le Beatnik et le Minet," but it was his performance in "Les Valseuses" (1974) that really put him on the map. This role showcased his unique ability to bring complex characters to life, setting the stage for a prolific career.
The film that truly catapulted Depardieu into international stardom was "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1990). His portrayal of the title character earned him an Oscar nomination and solidified his status as one of France's greatest actors. Throughout his career, Depardieu has won numerous awards, including two César Awards for Best Actor for his performances in "The Last Metro" (1980) and "Cyrano de Bergerac."
Off-screen, Depardieu's life has been equally colorful. He married Élisabeth Guignot in 1970, and they had two children, including Guillaume Depardieu, who also became an actor. The couple divorced in 1996. Apart from acting, Depardieu is known for his interest in winemaking, owning vineyards in several countries.
His life hasn’t been without controversy. He made headlines for his decision to move to Belgium and then Russia, reportedly for tax reasons. Depardieu is also known for his outspoken nature and occasional legal troubles.
Despite these controversies, Depardieu’s impact on the film industry is undeniable. He has been a significant figure in French cinema for decades and is respected internationally for his work. His ability to continuously reinvent himself and take on diverse roles has made him an icon in the acting world. His legacy is characterized by his versatility, depth of character portrayal, and a career that spans decades and genres. Whether he is playing a tender-hearted giant or a complex historical figure, Depardieu’s performances leave a lasting impression, both in Hollywood and the international film community.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Le Late avec Alain Chabat (TV Series) | Participation vocale (voice) |
| 2022 | The King's Favorite (TV Mini Series) | Nostradamus |
| 2022 | The Green Shutters | Jules Maugin |
| 2022 | Maigret | Jules Maigret |
| 2022 | Umami | Gabriel Carvin |
| 2022 | Maison de retraite | Lino Vartan |
| 2022 | Irréductible | Gérard Depardieu |
| 2021 | Adieu Paris | Michaël |
| 2021 | Lost Illusions | Dauriat |
| 2021 | Do You Do You Saint-Tropez | Maurice Lefranc, le directeur général de la P.J. |
| 2021 | Robust | Georges |
| 2021 | Your Honor (TV Mini Series) | Bruno Riva |
| 2020 | Home Front | Bernard, dit Feu-de-Bois |
| 2019 | Fahim | Sylvain Charpentier |
| 2019 | Thalasso | Gérard Depardieu |
| 2019 | Creators: The Past | Master of Faith |
| 2019 | Grenouille de cristal (Short) | Benjamin |
| 2019 | Heavy Duty | Raoul Taupin |
| 2018 | Aladdin 2 | Christophe Colomb |
| 2018 | Saving My Pig | Vania |
| 2018 | Private Eye (Short) | Camionneur |
| 2018 | To the Ends of the World | Saintonge |
| 2018 | Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero | Gaston Baptiste (voice) |
| 2018 | The Other Woman | Patrick |
| 2018 | Twins | Bishop Tarcisi |
| 2016–2018 | Marseille (TV Series) | Robert Taro |
| 2017 | Carbon | Aron Goldstein |
| 2017 | Nobody's Perfect! | Gérard Morlet |
| 2017 | You Only Live Once | Duges |
| 2017 | Let the Sunshine In | Denis, le voyant |
| 2016–2017 | Mata Hari (TV Series) | Father Bernard |
| 2016 | Stalin's Couch | Joseph Staline |
| 2016 | Tour de France | Serge Desmoulins |
| 2016 | La Dream Team | Jacques Belloc |
| 2016 | Saint Amour | Jean |
| 2016 | The End | L'homme |
| 2016 | Rhapsody (Short) | Gérard |
| 2015 | Le magicien et les siamois (TV Movie) | Borach |
| 2015 | Le rustre et le juge (TV Short) | Charpentevich |
| 2015 | Agafia (TV Short) | Savka |
| 2015 | Big House | Big |
| 2015 | Capitain Marleau (TV Series) | Philippe Muir |
| 2015 | Valley of Love | Gérard (as Depardieu) |
| 2014 | Zaytsev+1 (TV Series) | Zhora |
| 2014 | Sex, kofe, sigarety | He (segment "Two", "Deux") |
| 2014 | Viktor | Victor Lambert |
| 2014 | La voix des steppes | Anatole |
| 2014 | United Passions | Jules Rimet |
| 2014 | Welcome to New York | Devereaux |
| 2013 | Obsessive Rhythms | Père Villedieu |
| 2013 | Le tourbillon de Jeanne (TV Series) | Jacques |
| 2013 | Les invincibles | Jacky Camboulaze |
| 2013 | The Mark of the Angels - Miserere | Lionel Kasdan |
| 2013 | Niente può fermarci | Il contadino francese |
| 2013 | A Farewell to Fools | Ipu |
| 2013 | Turf | M. Paul |
| 2012 | My Sinful Angel | Unknown |
| 2012 | Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia | Obélix |
| 2012 | Life of Pi | Cook |
| 2012 | Gabin le mime (Short) | Tocqueboeuf |
| 2012 | The Man Who Laughs | Ursus |
| 2012 | Frank-Étienne Towards Grace (Short) | Frank-Étienne Boulard |
| 2012 | Not Dead | Juvénal, l'homme qui lit l'avenir dans le verre de saké |
| 2011 | Rasputin | Raspoutine |
| 2011 | A Butterfly Kiss | Le médecin de Manon |
| 2011 | Winter Frog (Short) | Benjamin |
| 2010 | Small World | Konrad Lang |
| 2010 | Late Love | Gueorgui |
| 2010 | Potiche | Maurice Babin |
| 2010 | My Afternoons with Margueritte | Germain Chazes |
| 2010 | Glenn, the Flying Robot | TV reporter |
| 2010 | Le grand restaurant (TV Series) | Gérard - un client du restaurant |
| 2010 | Mammuth | Serge Pilardosse, dit Mammuth |
| 2010 | Dumas | Alexandre Dumas |
| 2009 | Groland magzine (TV Series) | Le gros monsieur |
| 2009 | In the Beginning | Abel |
| 2009 | Inspector Bellamy | Le commissaire Paul Bellamy |
| 2009 | Coco | Le cardiologue |
| 2009 | Diamant 13 | Mat |
| 2008 | Trouble at Timpetill | Le général Igor |
| 2008 | Hello Goodbye | Alain Gaash |
| 2008 | Bouquet final | Hugo |
| 2008 | L'abolition (TV Series) | Henry Torrès |
| 2008 | Mesrine: Killer Instinct | Guido |
| 2008 | Babylon A.D. | Gorsky |
| 2008 | Sans arme, ni haine, ni violence | Le parrain des truands marseillais |
| 2008 | Disco | Jean-François |
| 2008 | Vsyo mogut koroli | Unknown |
| 2008 | Asterix at the Olympic Games | Obélix |
| 2007 | Michou d'Auber | Georges |
| 2007 | La Vie En Rose | Louis Leplée |
| 2006 | Quand j'étais chanteur | Alain Moreau |
| 2006 | Paris, I Love You | Le patron (segment "Quartier Latin") |
| 2006 | Last Holiday | Chef Didier |
| 2005 | Olé! | François Veber |
| 2005 | Les rois maudits (TV Mini Series) | Jacques de Molay |
| 2005 | How Much Do You Love Me? | Charly |
| 2005 | Boudu | Boudu |
| 2005 | Let's Be Friends | Serge |
| 2005 | La vie de Michel Muller est plus belle que la vôtre | Gérard Depardieu |
| 2004 | Changing Times | Antoine Lavau |
| 2004 | 36th Precinct | Denis Klein |
| 2004 | Battle of the Brave | Father Thomas Blondeau |
| 2004 | San Antonio | Bérurier |
| 2004 | La Femme Musketeer (TV Series) | Cardinal Mazarin (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 2004 | RRRrrrr!!! | Le chef des Cheveux Sales |
| 2003 | Uboynaya sila (TV Series) | Cannes City Police Commissioner |
| 2003 | Volpone (TV Movie) | Volpone |
| 2003 | Les clefs de bagnole | Le fromager |
| 2003 | Ruby & Quentin | Quentin |
| 2003 | Nathalie... | Bernard |
| 2003 | Bon Voyage | Jean-Étienne Beaufort |
| 2003 | Crime Spree | Daniel Foray |
| 2003 | The Pact of Silence | Joachim |
| 2002 | Napoléon (TV Mini Series) | Joseph Fouché |
| 2002 | Ruy Blas (TV Movie) | Don Salluste |
| 2002 | Blanche | D'Artagnan |
| 2002 | City of Ghosts | Emile (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 2002 | Between Strangers | Max |
| 2002 | A Loving Father | Leo Shepherd |
| 2002 | I Am Dina | Jacob |
| 2002 | Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra | Obélix |
| 2001 | Streghe verso nord | Depardieu |
| 2001 | Vidocq | Vidocq |
| 2001 | CQ | Andrezej |
| 2001 | Concorrenza sleale | Professor Angelo |
| 2001 | The Closet | Félix Santini |
| 2000 | 102 Dalmatians | Jean-Pierre Le Pelt (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 2000 | Zavist bogov | Bernard |
| 2000 | Les misérables (TV Mini Series) | Jean Valjean |
| 2000 | Bérénice (TV Movie) | Titus |
| 2000 | Vatel | François Vatel |
| 2000 | Les acteurs | Gérard Depardieu |
| 2000 | Tutto l'amore che c'è | Molotov |
| 2000 | Mirka | Strix |
| 1999 | Balzac: A Passionate Life (TV Movie) | Honoré de Balzac |
| 1999 | The Bridge | Georges |
| 1999 | Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar | Obélix |
| 1998 | Bimboland | Laurent Gaspard (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 1998 | The Count of Monte Cristo (TV Mini Series) | Abbé Busoni | Edmond Dantès | Lord Wilmore ... |
| 1998 | Notes of Love | Avv. Levi |
| 1998 | The Man in the Iron Mask | Porthos (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 1997 | XXL | Jean Bourdalou |
| 1996 | Hamlet | Reynaldo |
| 1996 | Le plus beau métier du monde | Laurent Monier |
| 1996 | The Secret Agent | Ossipon |
| 1996 | Bogus | Bogus (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 1996 | Unhook the Stars | Big Tommy (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 1995 | The Son Of... | Gerard |
| 1995 | Les anges gardiens | Antoine Carco | Son ange gardien |
| 1995 | The Horseman on the Roof | Commissaire de Police à Manosque (uncredited) |
| 1995 | Élisa | Jacques 'Lébovitch' | Marie's father |
| 1995 | One Hundred and One Nights | Gérard Depardieu, en visite |
| 1994 | La machine | Dr. Marc Lacroix |
| 1994 | Colonel Chabert | Le colonel-comte Amédé Chabert |
| 1994 | A Pure Formality | Onoff |
| 1994 | My Father the Hero | Andre |
| 1993 | Barilla: Cafè (Video) | Gérard Depardieu |
| 1993 | Germinal | Toussaint Maheu |
| 1993 | Oh, Woe Is Me | Simon Donnadieu |
| 1992 | 1492: Conquest of Paradise | Columbus |
| 1992 | The Timekeeper (Short) | Paris Airport Employee |
| 1991 | Tous les matins du monde | Marin Marais |
| 1991 | Mon père, ce héros. | André Arnel |
| 1991 | Merci La Vie | Doctor Marc Antoine Worms |
| 1990 | Green Card | Georges |
| 1990 | Uranus | Léopold Lajeunesse |
| 1990 | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano De Bergerac |
| 1989 | I Want to Go Home | Christian Gauthier |
| 1989 | Too Beautiful for You | Bernard Barthélémy (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 1989 | Deux | Marc Lambert |
| 1988 | Camille Claudel | Auguste Rodin |
| 1988 | Strange Place for an Encounter | Charles |
| 1987 | Under the Sun of Satan | Donissan |
| 1986 | The Fugitives | Jean Lucas |
| 1986 | Rue du Départ | Clara's father |
| 1986 | I Hate Actors | Un détenu au commissariat (uncredited) |
| 1986 | Jean de Florette | Jean de Florette (as Gerard Depardieu) |
| 1986 | Ménage | Bob |
| 1985 | One Woman or Two | Julien Chayssac |
| 1985 | Police | Louis Vincent Mangin |
| 1984 | Rive droite, rive gauche | Paul Senanques |
| 1984 | Le tartuffe | Tartuffe |
| 1984 | Fort Saganne | Charles Saganne |
| 1983 | The ComDads | Jean Lucas |
| 1983 | The Moon in the Gutter | Gérard Delmas - un docker hanté par le suicide de sa soeur |
| 1983 | Danton | Danton |
| 1982 | Le grand frère | Bernard Vigo | Gérard Berger |
| 1982 | The Return of Martin Guerre | Arnaud du Tihl dit Pansette |
| 1981 | La Chèvre | Campana |
| 1981 | The Woman Next Door | Bernard |
| 1981 | Choice of Arms | Mickey |
| 1980 | I Love You All | Patrick |
| 1980 | Inspector Blunder | Roger Morzini - l'ennemi public N°1 (as Depardieu) |
| 1980 | The Last Metro | Bernard Granger |
| 1980 | Loulou | Loulou |
| 1980 | My American Uncle | René Ragueneau |
| 1980 | Temporale Rosy | Raoul Lamarre | Spaccaporte |
| 1979 | Buffet Froid | Alphonse Tram |
| 1979 | The Dogs | Morel |
| 1979 | Traffic Jam | Franco |
| 1978 | Le sucre | Raoul-Renaud Homecourt |
| 1978 | Bye Bye Monkey | Gerard Lafayette |
| 1978 | Get Out Your Handkerchiefs | Raoul |
| 1977 | La nuit, tous les chats sont gris | Philippe Larcher |
| 1977 | The Left-Handed Woman | Mann mit dem T-Shirt |
| 1977 | Tell Her That I Love Her | David Martinaud |
| 1977 | Violanta | Fortunat |
| 1977 | Baxter, Vera Baxter | Michel Cayre |
| 1977 | Le camion | Lui |
| 1977 | René la canne | René Bornier |
| 1976 | Barocco | Samson | Samson's Killer |
| 1900 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 1976 | Olmo Dalcò (as Gerard Depardieu) | Unknown |
| 1976 | The Last Woman | Gerard |
| 1976 | Je t'aime moi non plus | Le paysan au cheval |
| 1976 | Maîtresse | Olivier |
| 1975 | 7 morts sur ordonnance | Doctor Jean-Pierre Berg |
| 1975 | The Wonderful Crook | Pierre Vaucher |
| 1974 | La chevauchée sur le lac de Constance (TV Movie) | Heinrich George |
| 1974 | Vincent, François, Paul and the Others | Jean Lavallee |
| 1974 | Stavisky | Le jeune inventeur |
| 1974 | Woman of the Ganges | L'homme de la plage |
| 1974 | Going Places | Jean-Claude |
| 1974 | The Down-in-the-Hole Gang | Le facteur | The postman |
| 1973 | L'inconnu (TV Movie) | Gérard |
| 1973 | Rude journée pour la reine | Fabien |
| 1973 | Two Men in Town | Un jeune truand |
| 1973 | Un monsieur bien rangé (TV Mini Series) | Jean-Joseph Jenk |
| 1973 | Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (TV Series) | De Greef |
| 1973 | L'affaire Dominici | Zeze Perrin |
| 1973 | L'an 01 | Un voyageur qui ne prend pas le train |
| 1973 | Expulsion of the Devil | Beretti |
| 1972 | Scoumoune | Burglar | Un homme de main |
| 1972 | Nathalie Granger | Salesman |
| 1972 | Le tueur | Frédo Babasch, le 'mouton' de la Santé |
| 1972 | Le viager | Victor, le complice de Jo |
| 1971 | La vie sentimentale de Georges le tueur (Short) | 33 y-o Father |
| 1971 | Nausicaa (TV Movie) | Le voleur de livres |
| 1971 | A Few Hours of Sunlight | Pierre |
| 1971 | Le cri du cormoran, le soir au-dessus des jonques | Henri |
| 1970 | Rendez-vous à Badenberg (TV Series) | Eddy Belmont |
| 1970 | Les aventures de Zadig (TV Movie) | Zadig |
| 1970 | La pomme de son oeil (TV Movie) | Hamid |
| 1970 | Le cyborg ou Le voyage vertical (TV Movie) | Gabriel |
| 1970 | Tango (TV Movie) | Edek |
| 1967 | Le beatnik et le minet (Short) | Le beatnik (as G. de Pardieu) |
| 1966 | Christmas Carole (Short) | Igor |
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