Depardieu, Gérard [key], 1948–, French actor, b. Châteauroux. He is a versatile, highly successful actor, who has performed on stage and screen in France and also has made a number of English-language films in the United States. A powerfully built leading man, he often portrays characters who combine great physical strength with a gentle nature. His highly acclaimed films include Le Dernier Métro (1980), Mon Oncle d'Amérique (1980), Le Retour de Martin Guerre (1981), Jean de Florette (1986), Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), Tous les Matins du Monde (1992), Colonel Chabert (1994), and Changing Times (2006). Among his films in English are 1900 (1977), Green Card (1990), and 102 Dalmatians (2000). Since the 1980s, Depardieu has also been a film director and producer. He renounced his French citizenship for Russian in 2013 in anger over French tax hikes.
See biographies by M. Gray (1991) and P. Chutkow (1994).
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