Gérard Depardieu

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Gérard Depardieu

French actor

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: May 16, 2025 • Article History

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Born:: December 27, 1948, Châteauroux, France (age 76)

Married To:: Elisabeth Depardieu (1970–1996)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Between Strangers" (2002); "La dernière femme" (1976); "Bouquet final" (2008); "Uboynaya sila" (2003); "Police" (1985); "Le grand frère" (1982); "Inspecteur la Bavure" (1980); "La Femme Musketeer" (2004); "Thalasso" (2019); "Le dernier métro" (1980); "Trop belle pour toi" (1989); "CQ" (2001); "Tais-toi!" (2003); "Bogus" (1996); "Élisa" (1995); "L'ennemi public n°1" (2008); "La Dream Team" (2016); "A Farewell to Fools" (2013); "Baxter, Vera Baxter" (1977); "Je n'ai rien oublié" (2010); "Le tueur" (1972); "Napoléon" (2002); "RRRrrrr!!!" (2004); "Rue du Départ" (1986); "L'ingorgo" (1979); "Danton" (1983); "7 morts sur ordonnance" (1975); "Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres" (1974); "I Am Dina" (2002); "Life of Pi" (2012); "Cadences obstinées" (2013); "My Father the Hero" (1994); "San Antonio" (2004); "Les rois maudits" (2005); "Ciao maschio" (1978); "Le divan de Staline" (2016); "Astérix & Obélix contre César" (1999); "1492: Conquest of Paradise" (1992); "Dites-lui que je l'aime" (1977); "La voix des steppes" (2014); "Tour de France" (2016); "Sous le soleil de Satan" (1987); "Convoi exceptionnel" (2019); "Pozdnyaya lyubov" (2010); "Le garçu" (1995); "Violanta" (1977); "Jean de Florette" (1986); "Diamant 13" (2009); "Babylon A.D." (2008); "Un monsieur bien rangé" (1973); "Last Holiday" (2006); "Paris, je t'aime" (2006); "Maîtresse" (1976); "Boudu" (2005); "Quand j'étais chanteur" (2006); "Olé!" (2005); "Vidocq" (2001); "Die linkshändige Frau" (1978); "La nuit, tous les chats sont gris" (1977); "Mammuth" (2010); "Unhook the Stars" (1996); "Une femme ou deux" (1985); "Rasputin" (2011); "Turf" (2013); "The End" (2016); "Glenn, the Flying Robot" (2010); "Le viager" (1972); "Je t'aime moi non plus" (1976); "Tutto l'amore che c'è" (2000); "Germinal" (1993); "Aime ton père" (2002); "Le colonel Chabert" (1994); "Temporale Rosy" (1980); "La tête en friche" (2010); "Drôle d'endroit pour une rencontre" (1988); "Les anges gardiens" (1995); "Una pura formalità" (1994); "Mon oncle d'Amérique" (1980); "Un peu de soleil dans l'eau froide" (1971); "Blanche" (2002); "United Passions" (2014); "Saving My Pig" (2018); "La lune dans le caniveau" (1983); "Rendez-vous à Badenberg" (1970); "Hello Goodbye" (2008); "Welcome to New York" (2014); "Green Card" (1990); "Astérix & Obélix: Au service de sa Majesté" (2012); "La femme d'à côté" (1981); "Michou d'Auber" (2007); "L'homme qui rit" (2012); "Les fugitifs" (1986); "Marseille" (2016–2018); "Rive droite, rive gauche" (1984); "The Secret Agent" (1996); "Les gaspards" (1974); "Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma" (1995); "Le retour de Martin Guerre" (1982); "La parola amore esiste" (1998); "Valley of Love" (2015); "City of Ghosts" (2002); "Les chiens" (1979); "La marque des anges - Miserere" (2013); "Rude journée pour la reine" (1973); "Le cri du cormoran, le soir au-dessus des jonques" (1971); "Le camion" (1977); "Le choix des armes" (1981); "Deux" (1989); "Le sucre" (1978); "Hélas pour moi" (1993); "Moy greshnyy angel" (2012); "Buffet froid" (1979); "Le tartuffe" (1984); "Les enfants de Timpelbach" (2008); "Bon voyage" (2003); "L'autre Dumas" (2010); "Nathalie..." (2003); "Novecento" (1976); "Tous les matins du monde" (1991); "Astérix aux jeux olympiques" (2008); "Les temps qui changent" (2004); "Zavist bogov" (2000); "Les invincibles" (2013); "102 Dalmatians" (2000); "Tenue de soirée" (1986); "Barocco" (1976); "Potiche" (2010); "Saint Amour" (2016); "Préparez vos mouchoirs" (1978); "Le grand soir" (2012); "Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret" (1973); "Mata Hari" (2016–2017); "Les acteurs" (2000); "Sex, kofe, sigarety" (2014); "Le tourbillon de Jeanne" (2013); "Deux hommes dans la ville" (1973); "La scoumoune" (1972); "Je vous aime" (1980); "Fahim" (2019); "XXL" (1997); "Les clefs de bagnole" (2003); "Amoureux de ma femme" (2018); "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1990); "La femme du Gange" (1974); "Crime Spree" (2003); "Le pacte du silence" (2003); "Bonne pomme" (2017); "La machine" (1994); "Sans arme, ni haine, ni violence" (2008); "Le plus beau métier du monde" (1996); "Vsyo mogut koroli" (2008); "Stavisky..." (1974); "Nathalie Granger" (1972); "Le placard" (2001); "Camille Claudel" (1988); "Pas si méchant que ça" (1975); "Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero" (2018); "Viktor" (2014); "Vatel" (2000); "Coco" (2009); "Mon père, ce héros." (1991); "Alad'2" (2018); "Les misérables" (2000); "L'an 01" (1973); "Je préfère qu'on reste amis" (2005); "Un baiser papillon" (2011); "Les confins du monde" (2018); "Nouvelle-France" (2004); "Merci la vie" (1991); "L'affaire Dominici" (1973); "Streghe verso nord" (2001); "Uranus" (1990); "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998); "Carbone" (2017); "Disco" (2008); "Un beau soleil intérieur" (2017); "Fort Saganne" (1984); "Bellamy" (2009); "Bimboland" (1998); "Capitaine Marleau" (2015); "Concorrenza sleale" (2001); "Combien tu m'aimes?" (2005); "36 Quai des Orfèvres" (2004); "Sólo se vive una vez" (2017); "Groland magzine" (2009); "I Want to Go Home" (1989); "Niente può fermarci" (2013); "Mirka" (2000); "Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre" (2002); "Le Comte de Monte Cristo" (1998); "Loulou" (1980); "À l'origine" (2009); "Les compères" (1983); "L'instinct de mort" (2008); "La vie de Michel Muller est plus belle que la vôtre" (2005); "Au rendez-vous de la mort joyeuse" (1973); "La môme" (2007); "Un pont entre deux rives" (1999); "Hamlet" (1996); "René la canne" (1977); "La chèvre" (1981); "Les valseuses" (1974)

Movies/Tv Shows (Directed):: "Paris, je t'aime" (2006); "La voix des steppes" (2014); "Le tartuffe" (1984); "Un pont entre deux rives" (1999)

Movies/Tv Shows (Writing/Creator):: "Le tartuffe" (1984)

News •

What Depardieu's conviction and Cannes' response means for #MeToo in France • May 16, 2025, 1:09 PM ET (AP)

Cannes bars actor from premiere over sexual assault allegations in a shift for the festival • May 15, 2025, 8:51 AM ET (AP)

At Cannes opening, Robert De Niro calls Trump 'America's philistine president' • May 13, 2025, 7:13 PM ET (AP)

French actor Gérard Depardieu convicted of sexual assault and given 18-month suspended sentence • May 13, 2025, 12:52 PM ET (AP)

Gérard Depardieu (born December 27, 1948, Châteauroux, France) is a French actor who earned worldwide acclaim for his versatility and for his unusual combination of gentleness and physicality. Depardieu’s notable films include 1900 (1976), The Last Metro (1980), Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), and La Vie en rose (2007). The actor also garnered headlines for his larger-than-life personality and various controversies. During his career, Depardieu faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, and in 2025 he was convicted of sexually assaulting two women during the filming of a movie.

Stardom: 1990 to Cyrano de Bergerac

The son of migrant laborers, Depardieu received little formal education and at age 15 went to Paris, where he studied acting. He made his screen debut in the short film Le Beatnik et le minet (1965) and began to appear as a bit player in full-length films in the early 1970s. His performance as a young thug in Les Valseuses (1973; Going Places) brought him his first real notice, and he subsequently appeared in such major films as Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 (1976), François Truffaut’s Le Dernier Métro (1980; The Last Metro), Loulou (1980), Le Retour de Martin Guerre (1981; The Return of Martin Guerre), Andrzej Wajda’s Danton (1983), Jean de Florette (1986), and its sequel, Manon des Sources (1986; Manon of the Spring). He starred in Camille Claudel (1989), and in 1990 he won the best actor award at the Cannes film festival for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac (1990).

Depardieu played a wide variety of roles, including both historical figures (from peasants to the French Revolutionary leader Georges Danton and artist Auguste Rodin) and contemporary figures (from composers to thugs). He was notable for projecting a screen image of masculine strength that was nevertheless imbued with gentleness and sensitivity. He acted in as many as six films a year, and by the late 1980s he had become the most popular actor in France and had achieved an international reputation.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood

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Later films

Throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century, Depardieu continued his prolific acting career. His performances in the French films Le Colonel Chabert (1994; Colonel Chabert), about a soldier who returns home from war to find his wife married to another man, and Quand j’étais chanteur (2006; The Singer), were well received in France. In La Môme (2007; also released as La Vie en rose) he portrayed the nightclub impresario who discovered Edith Piaf. He later appeared as a crime boss in the true-life gangster movie L’Instinct de mort (2008; Mesrine: Killer Instinct), as the titular police detective in Claude Chabrol’s thriller Bellamy (2009; Inspector Bellamy), and as a labour activist opposite frequent costar Catherine Deneuve in the comedy Potiche (2010).

Depardieu also took the title role in several biopics, including L’Autre Dumas (2010; Dumas), about Alexandre Dumas père, and Rasputin (2011). Other movies included Mammuth (2010), Valley of Love (2015), Un Beau Soleil intérieur (2017; Let the Sunshine In), and Mon cochon et moi (2018; Saving My Pig). From 2016 to 2018 Depardieu appeared in the Netflix TV series Marseille, a French-language drama about corruption and politics. He also starred in a number of American films, including Green Card (1990), My Father the Hero (1994), Crime Spree (2003), Last Holiday (2006), and Life of Pi (2012).

Controversies

Seeking to avoid a proposed tax increase in France, Depardieu became a Russian citizen in 2013. Throughout his career, the actor had faced sexual abuse allegations, and in March 2025 he went on trial for the alleged sexual assault of two women during the filming of Les Volets Verts (2022; The Green Shutters). In May he was found guilty. Depardieu, who said that he would appeal the verdict, received a suspended sentence of 18 months. He also was ordered to pay damages to the two women. The ruling was considered a major victory for the Me Too Movement in France.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.