Jean-Paul Belmondo was born in 1933 in Neuilly-sur Seine, near to Paris.  He had a comfortable bourgeois family background, his father being the distinguished sculptor, Paul Belmondo.  As a youth he trained as a boxer before deciding that his future lay in acting.  After a number of attempts, he finally gained admittance to the Paris Conservatoire in 1952, although his tutors were not overly optimistic about his prospects.  It was here that he acquired the affectionate nickname Bébel.

In the mid-1950s, Belmondo appeared in a few theatrical productions, often to great acclaim, before beginning a film career in 1956 with Les Copains du dimanche (although the film was never played in public cinemas). 

Stardom came in 1959 when he took the lead role of a sympathetic gangster in Jean-Luc Godard’s A Bout de souffle.  This film launched not just Belmondo’s stunning film career but also the New Wave of French cinema, which Belmondo would play a major part during the early 1960s.

Within a short time, Belmondo achieved international celebrity for his parts in such films as Cent mille dollars au soleil and L’Homme de Rio. These films gave Belmondo the opportunity to develop his laid-back hard man image, often undertaking amazing stunts without the services of a stunt-man.

Along side his friendly rival Alain Delon, Belmondo became the most popular male actor of the 1960s and early 1970s, his films consistently achieving phenomenal box office returns.  Whether the crook, the gangster, the spy or the redoubtable detective, the Belmondo formula would be a sure-footed raging success. 

Despite his unconventional looks, including a broken nose, he was often polled as one of the sexiest men in the world.  In the late 1960s, Belmondo founded his own production company, Cerito.

After an amazing film career spanning thirty years (receiving a Cesar in 1989 for his performance inItinéraire d’un enfant gaté), Belmondo made a spectacular return to theatre in 1987, appearing in Kean.  He has continued to perform in theatre to great acclaim, whilst simultaneously pursuing his film career. 

Jean-Paul Belmondo remains one of the most popular and best-loved personalities in France and he has received France’s highest accolade, the Legion of Honour.