Jean-Paul Belmondo, (born April 9, 1933, Neuilly-sur-Seine, near Paris, France—died September 6, 2021, Paris), French film actor. After studying in Paris, France, and performing with provincial stage companies, he appeared in minor film roles before achieving international fame in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (1960). Though not conventionally handsome, he became the leading antihero of New Wave cinema, acting in 25 films by 1963, including Seven Days…Seven Nights (1960), Two Women (1961), and Cartouche (1962). He went on to appear in other acclaimed movies, such as Pierrot le Fou (1965), Mississippi Mermaid (1969), Itinéraire d’un enfant gâté (1988; Itinerary of a Spoiled Child, César Award), and Les Misérables (1995). In 2001 Belmondo suffered a stroke and did not return to the screen until 2008, when he starred in Un Homme et son chien (A Man and His Dog).
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