Belmondo, Jean-Paul

Belmondo, Jean-Paul (zhäN-pōl belmôNdō') [key], 1933–, French film actor, b. Neuilly-sur-Seine, studied Paris Conservatory. Belmondo made his film debut in 1957, but first gained fame in Breathless (1960), playing a restless, flippant young hoodlum. His particularly disengaged style appealed to young audiences of the day, making him France's most popular male film star throughout the 1960s. This antiheroic demeanor also made him one of the most important actors in the nouvelle vague (new wave) films of such filmmakers as Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Louis Malle. In later years, Belmondo starred in an immensely popular series of action movies. His other films include Moderato Cantabile (1960), That Man from Rio (1964), Pierrot le Fou (1965), The Mississippi Mermaid (1968), Borsolino (1970), Stavisky (1974), and L'Animal (1977). Among his later films are Joyeuses Pâques (1984), L'Inconnu dans la maison (1992), Désiré (1996), Peut-être (1999), and Amazon (2000). In the 1960s, Belmondo founded his own film company, and in 1990 he established another, Annabel Productions.