Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu was born on 27 December 1948 in Châteauroux, Indre, France. He is an Academy Award-nominated French actor.

He is one of the world's most respected and well-known actors. He has been in 114 films, including seven in the year 2000. He has starred in French, British, American, Italian and German productions, and has been called "France's gift to world cinema," "the French De Niro," and the "Gallic giant."

Gérard's film debut came in a small way in Le Beatnik et le Minet (1965). A succession of bit parts followed in the early 1970's. His breakthrough role was his 1973 performance as one of a pair of young louts in Bertrand Blier's Going Places.

Depardieu went on to star in five other films for Blier: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, Buffet Froid, Menage, Too Beautiful For You and Merci la Vie. He also teamed regularly with other French directors: with Marguerite Duras (Nathalie Granger), Francis Weber (La Chevre, Le Plaçard), Alain Resnais (Mon Oncle D'Amerique), Maurice Pialat (Loulou, Police, Le Garçu) and Claude Berri (Jean de Florette, Germinal, Uranus).

His role in Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Cyrano de Bergerac won Depardieu numerous accolades, including a César as Best Actor, a Best Actor award at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award® nomination as Best Actor.

In recent years, Depardieu has become an active film producer, and he also occasionally directs. He has formed a liaison with the French production company GMT, and together they produced The Count of Monte Cristo, a mini-series for French television with Depardieu in the title role. Count was a great success in Europe and was imported to the US (with subtitles) by Bravo. Thus began a number of French/US TV mini-series projects including Balzac (1999) and Les Misérables (2000). Scripts for Napolean, The Three Muskateers and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are being prepared for future productions. French literature -- done by the French, and done very well, thank you -- is a dream that might not have been possible without the purse and the International cache of Depardieu.

In recent years, Depardieu has the title role in the Cannes 2000 opening film Vatel and was Obélix the European smash hit Astérix and Obélix (1999). He also works regularly in America. In fact, he works regularly everywhere. A simple glance at his roster of films for the years 2000 and 2001 alone demonstrates his place in world cinema: I Am Dina (Norway), Concorrenza sleale (Italy), Zavist Bogov (Russia), CQ (US), Beneath the Banyon Trees (US), Le Plaçard (France), Berenice (France TV), Le Acteurs (France), All the Love There Is (Italy), 102 Dalmatians (US), Les Misérables (France/US/Italy/Germany TV), Vidocq (France), Asterix: Mission Cleopatra (France).

Filmography

• Petite fille de Monsieur Linh, La (2008)
• Knights of Manhattan (2007)
• Vivaldi (2008)
• Only in New York (2008)
• Instinct de mort, L' (2008)
• Ennemi public n° 1, L' (2007)
• Babylon A.D. (2008)
• Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008)
• Enfants de Timpelbach, Les (2007)
• Disco (2007)
• Abbuffata, L' (2007)
• Bastardi (2007)
• Michou d'Auber (2007)
• Môme, La (2007)
• Quand j'étais chanteur (2006)
• Paris, je t'aime (2006)
• Last Holiday (2006)
• Olé! (2005)
• Combien tu m'aimes? (2005)
• "Rois maudits, Les" (2005)
• Boudu (2005)
• Je préfère qu'on reste amis (2005)
• Vie de Michel Muller est plus belle que la vôtre, La (2005)
• Temps qui changent, Les (2004)
• 36 Quai des Orfèvres (2004)
• Nouvelle-France (2004)
• La Femme Musketeer (2004)
• San-Antonio (2004)
• RRRrrrr!!! (2004)
• Volpone (2003)
• Clefs de bagnole, Les (2003)
• Tais-toi! (2003)
• Nathalie... (2003)
• Bon voyage (2003)
• Crime Spree (2003)
• Pacte du silence, Le (2003)
• "Uboynaya sila" (2 episodes, 2003)
• Ruy Blas (2002)
• Blanche (2002)
• "Napoléon" (2002)
• City of Ghosts (2002)
• Between Strangers (2002)
• Aime ton père (2002)
• I Am Dina (2002)
• Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002)
• Streghe verso nord (2001)
• Vidocq (2001)
• CQ (2001)
• Concorrenza sleale (2001)
• Placard, Le (2001)
• 102 Dalmatians (2000)
• Zavist bogov (2000)
• Bérénice (2000)
• "Misérables, Les" (2000)
• Vatel (2000)
• Acteurs, Les (2000)
• Tutto l'amore che c'è (2000)
• Mirka (2000)
• Balzac (1999)
• Un pont entre deux rives (1999)
• Astérix et Obélix contre César (1999)
• Bimboland (1998)
• "Comte de Monte Cristo, Le" (1998)
• Parola amore esiste, La (1998)
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) 
• XXL (1997)
• Hamlet (1996)
• Plus beau métier du monde, Le (1996)
• The Secret Agent (1996)
• Bogus (1996)
• Unhook the Stars (1996)
• Garçu, Le (1995)
• Anges gardiens, Les (1995)
• Hussard sur le toit, Le (1995)
• Élisa (1995)
• Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma, Les (1995)
• Machine, La (1994)
• Colonel Chabert, Le (1994)
• Pura formalità, Una (1994)
• My Father the Hero (1994)
• Germinal (1993)
• Hélas pour moi (1993)
• 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
• From Time to Time (1992)
• Tous les matins du monde (1991)
• Mon père, ce héros. (1991)
• 'Merci la vie' (1991)
• Green Card (1990)
• Uranus (1990)
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)
• I Want to Go Home (1989)
• Trop belle pour toi (1989)
• Deux (1989)
• Camille Claudel (1988)
• Drôle d'endroit pour une rencontre (1988)
• Sous le soleil de Satan (1987)
• Fugitifs, Les (1986)
• Rue du Départ (1986)
• Je hais les acteurs (1986)
• Jean de Florette (1986)
• Tenue de soirée (1986)
• Une femme ou deux (1985)
• Police (1985)
• Rive droite, rive gauche (1984)
• Tartuffe, Le (1984)
• Fort Saganne (1984)
• Compères, Les (1983)
• Lune dans le caniveau, La (1983)
• Danton (1983)
• Grand frère, Le (1982)
• Retour de Martin Guerre, Le (1982)
• Chèvre, La (1981)
• Femme d'à côté, La (1981)
• Choix des armes, Le (1981)
• Je vous aime (1980)
• Inspecteur la Bavure (1980)
• Dernier métro, Le (1980)
• Loulou (1980)
• Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980)
• Temporale Rosy (1980)
• Buffet froid (1979)
• Chiens, Les (1979)
• Ingorgo - Una storia impossibile, L' (1979)
• Sucre, Le (1978)
• Linkshändige Frau, Die (1978)
• Ciao maschio (1978)
• Préparez vos mouchoirs (1978)
• Nuit, tous les chats sont gris, La (1977)
• Dites-lui que je l'aime (1977)
• Baxter, Vera Baxter (1977)
• Camion, Le (1977)
• Violanta (1977)
• Barocco (1976)
• Maîtresse (1976)
• Novecento (1976)
• Dernière femme, La (1976)
• Je t'aime moi non plus (1976)
• René la canne (1976)
• Sept morts sur ordonnance (1975)
• Vincent, François, Paul... et les autres (1974)
• Stavisky... (1974)
• Femme du Gange, La (1974)
• Valseuses, Les (1974)
• Gaspards, Les (1974)
• Pas si méchant que ça (1974)
• Inconnu, L' (1973)
• Rude journée pour la reine (1973)
• Deux hommes dans la ville (1973)
• "Un monsieur bien rangé" (1973)
• "Enquêtes du commissaire Maigret, Les" (1 episode, 1973)
• Affaire Dominici, L' (1973)
• An 01, L' (1973)
• Au rendez-vous de la mort joyeuse (1973)
• Scoumoune, La (1972)
• Nathalie Granger (1972)
• Tueur, Le (1972)
• Viager, Le (1972)
• Un peu de soleil dans l'eau froide (1971)
• Vie sentimentale de Georges Le Tueur, La (1971)
• Aventures de Zadig, Les (1970)
• "Rendez-vous à Badenberg" (1970)
• Cyborg ou Le voyage vertical, Le (1970)
• Tango (1970)
• Nausicaa (1970)
• Cri du cormoran, le soir au-dessus des jonques, Le (1970)
• Beatnik et le minet, Le (1967)

Awards

• Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for Career Achievement 1997
• Cesar Best Actor "Cyrano De Bergerac" 1991
• London Film Critics Circle Award Actor of the Year "Cyrano de Bergerac", "Green Card" and "Uranus" 1991
• Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award "Cyrano De Bergerac" 1990
• Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) "Green Card" 1990
• Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup Award for Best Actor "Police" 1985
• National Society of Film Critics Award Best Actor "Danton" and "The Return of Martin Guerre" 1983
• Cesar Best Actor "The Last Metro" 1981
• Gerard Philippe Prize Award "Going Places" 1973