Jean-Paul Belmondo, jaunty star of New Wave classic 'Breathless,' dies at 88
Source: Washington Post
Jean-Paul Belmondo, a French actor who vaulted to international renown as a playfully amoral gangster in Jean-Luc Godard’s seminal 1960 New Wave film “Breathless,” and who later enlivened dozens of hit comedy-adventures with his jaunty presence and stunts, died Sept. 6. He was 88.
The office of his lawyer, Michel Godest, confirmed his death but did not share additional details.
With his tousled chestnut hair, sinewy physique and battered Roman nose, Mr. Belmondo personified the nonchalant antihero — the lackadaisical tough guy who could use his fists but would rather slug back a few pastis and see where life, or an adventurous woman, might take him.
In a career spanning six decades and about 90 films, he was most at home playing charming rogues, amorous rebels without a cause, and he became one of Europe’s most popular leading men. No film did more to define his persona than “Breathless,” in which he portrayed a criminal, on the run in Paris, who steals a car, senselessly shoots a police officer and is betrayed by his mercurial American girlfriend (Jean Seberg), whom he constantly hectors for sex.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/jean-paul-belmondo-dead/2021/09/06/693d9b04-14fb-11e9-90a8-136fa44b80ba_story.html
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FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2013 file photo, French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo arrives at the opening ceremony of the 5th edition of the Lumiere Festival, in Lyon, central France. French New Wave actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has died, according to his lawyer’s office on Monday Sept. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
He was my favorite wily anti-hero.
“Two Women” with Sophia Lauren. He played the brave, idealistic student in love with Sophia. He was wonderful in that role.
