Gérard Depardieu - ©Theda Bara

The actor I present in this latest artists publication of 2023 is the birthday boy of the day Gérard Depardieu, who turns 75 years old. *(Before the end of the year I will publish one last Haiku).

Gérard Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker, also known as a henologist and French viticulture entrepreneur. He was awarded the noble title of Knight by the National Order of the Legion of Honor and the National Order of Merit of French Royalty.

The actor’s greatest moment in cinema was in “Cyrano de Bergerac” 1990, a film based on the 1897 play by French writer Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (1868-1918), about the life of Hector Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655), French writer, poet, playwright and swordsman, played brilliantly by Gérard Depardieu. The actor was nominated for an Oscar just once for: “Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar”, in 1999, where he gave life to the chubby “Obelix”, but did not win. Depardieu won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 1985 Venice Film Festival, for: “Police”; two Golden Globes: Best Male Performance 1990, for: “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical 1991, for: “Green Card” and Golden Lion: Merit Award 1997.

Gérard Depardieu, as he is not a naturalized American citizen, does not have a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame.

Born Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, on December 27, 1948, in Châteauroux, France, as previously mentioned, he turns 75 years old today. In 2013, actor Gérard Depardieu decided to renounce his French citizenship to escape the high taxes levied in his country, and Russian President Vladimir Putin (1952-) signed on January 3, 2013, in Moscow, a decree granting the French actor the Russian citizenship. From that time on, Depardieu lives in Novosibirsk, in the Siberian region of Russia.

The actor was married to French actress Élisabeth Depardieu Guignot (1941-), from 1970 to 2006, with whom he had two children: the now deceased French actor Guillaume Depardieu (1971-2008) and French actress Julie Marion Depardieu (1973-). The actor has another daughter: Roxanne Depardieu (1992-), the result of a relationship with French actress Karine Silla (1965-), current wife of Swiss actor and filmmaker Vincent Perez (1964-).

But not everything is rosy in the life of the French actor with Russian citizenship. He will be tried in October 2024 on charges of sexual assault on two women. These sexual crimes were committed in September 2021 to the detriment of two victims during the filming of “Les Volets Verts”, reported the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office. The first woman who reported him was a set designer who worked on the production. Another woman, who was an assistant director on the same filming, accuses the actor of sexual violence and also sued him. So far, 25 women have reported incidents ranging from belittlement to gender-based violence, harassment and sexual assault. It is the first time that Gérard Depardieu has been in police custody for alleged sexual assaults, although in the past he was arrested for a motorcycle accident when he was driving the vehicle completely drunk.