Gerard Depardieu

Born: December 27th 1948
Where: Chateauroux, France

One of the most famous tales related to this distinguished French actor's life was the he dropped out of school at the age of twelve and moved in with two prostitutes.

His teenage years were accordingly wild. He lived as a beach boy in the South of France and reputedly stole cars and sold black-market cigarettes and alcohol, eventually landing in prison for brief spells.

At the age of sixteen Gerard decided that he needed a get-out from this aimless existence. He began attending drama classes at the Theatre National Populaire and eventually joined the famous theatre troupe Cafe de la Gare.

Gerard's screen acting debut came in Le Beatnik Et Le Minet, directed by Roger Leenhardt, which almost immediately led to a regular role in the French TV series Rendez-vous a Badenberg.

The late 60s and early 70s saw Gerard on the French stage and screen including Gerard's feature debut The Killer.

In the 80's Gerard's career continued to blossom. He won the Best Actor Cesar for his performance in Le Derniere Metro/The Last Metro, directed by Francois Truffaut, and spent much of that decade working with the same director on many successful projects.

In 1990 Gerard was brought to international attention with his English-language acting debut in the romantic comedy Green Card.

The following year he received an Academy Award nomination and a Cesar Award for Best Actor for portrayal of Cyrano de Bergerac, and spent the next couple of years working on French films once more.

Many major French films later, Gerard took the role of Obelix in the live-action version of the popular comic book Asterix and Obelix.

Recent work includes the role of a government minister in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's brisk farce Bon Voyage.