Belmondo was April 9, 1933 west of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Acting didn’t come immediately to Belmondo. He began as a boxer, making his amateur debut in the ring in 1949. The physical changes to his face, according to the actor, compelled him to leave the sport. He would eventually attend a private drama school , transitioning to the Conservatoire of Dramatic Arts in his twenties. He made his stage debut in 1953.

His first film role came in Jean-Pierre Cassel’s 1957 “On Foot, on Horse, and on Wheels,” but he wound up on the cutting-room floor. He did appear in the film’s 1958 sequel, “A Dog, a Mouse, and a Sputnik.” Belmondo met acclaimed director Jean-Luc Godard around this time, which led to starring opposite Jean Seberg in “Breathless” as a couple questioning whether to run away to Italy after a crime. Related Robert Dowling, Innovative Publisher and Editor of Hollywood Reporter, Has Died at Age 83 ‘In a Business Where It’s Easy to Make Enemies, He Made Friends’ Related Oscars 2023: Remarkable Transformations Lead the Way in Makeup and Hairstyling 7 New Netflix Shows in October 2022 – and the Best Reasons to Watch
The film brought Belmondo to prominence both in his native France and in the United States, but found the fame overwhelming. He’d appear opposite Sophia Loren in 1961’s “Two Women” — the film that won Loren an Academy Award — and would reunite with Godard in 1961’s “A Woman is a Woman.” His performances in the 1963 action film “Banana Peel” and 1964’s “That Man From Rio” would bring Belmondo even more fame as an action star, with comparisons to James Dean and Humphrey Bogart. Belmondo wanted to do American features, but didn’t necessarily want to play a Frenchman or a heavy, instead seeing himself more as a dashing leading man. He regularly turned down roles offered to him in the U.S. Belmondo would be nominated for two BAFTA awards in his career and did win a Cesar — the French equivalent of the Oscars — in 1989 for Claude Leloach’s “Itinerary of a Spoiled Child.” Belmondo is survived by his three children. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.