Christopher Lambert

Born: 29 March 1957
Where: Long Island, New York

Born in New York, Lambert moved away when he was only two years old. His father was a United Nations diplomat working in Switzerland and, as a result, Lambert was educated at private boarding schools in Geneva.

He went to France to study at the Paris Conservatoire where he remained for two years before being expelled. He made his screen debut in 1980 in the small French production The Telephone Bar, followed by Legitimate Violence.

Lambert landed his first English-language role in 1984, as the lead in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.

Opting to return to France, Lambert starred in Luc Besson's Subway, which bolstered his international star status and won him a French Cesar for Best Actor.

He went on to co-star with Sean Connery in the supernatural adventure Highlander, proving himself an action star. Unfortunately, the US version suffered from severe editing; with 17 minutes of footage removed, the film was perceived as muddled and stalled Lambert's career stateside. Lambert also starred in the sequels, Highlander 2: The Quickening, Highlander: The Final Dimension, and Highlander: Endgame.

He was married to actress Diane Lane, with whom he co-starred in Priceless Beauty and Knight Moves, before they got divorced in 1994.

The latter marked his debut as a producer, after which he went on to produce several more films like comedy Neuf mois and its American remake, Nine Months; Dead Beat; When Saturday Comes, and Northstar.

Lambert played Lord Rayden in the 1995 film Mortal Kombat, a role he reprised nearly ten years later for Mortal Kombat: Domination. He similarly appeared in Fortress and its sequel Fortress 2.