My favorite French actors
by rajmund1 | created - 26 Jul 2014 | updated - 01 Oct 2018 | Public
1. Jean Reno
Actor | Léon
Jean Reno was born Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez in Casablanca, Morocco, to Spanish parents (from Andalucía) who moved to North Africa to seek work. His father was a linotypist. Reno settled in France at 17. He began studying drama and has credits in French television and theater as well as films. ...
2. Christian Clavier
Actor | Les visiteurs
Christian Clavier was born on May 6, 1952 in Paris, France. He is an actor and writer, known for The Visitors (1993), Just Visiting (2001) and Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999). He was previously married to Marie-Anne Chazel.
3. Thierry Lhermitte
Actor | Le dîner de cons
One of France's most popular actors, writers, and producers, Thierry Lhermitte has been appearing in films since the 1970s. Perhaps best known for work in farcical comedies, the tall, handsome actor has appeared in some of France's more outrageous films over the course of his prolific career.
...
4. Jean-Paul Belmondo
Actor | Pierrot le fou
The son of the renowned French sculptor Paul Belmondo, he studied at Conservatoire National Superieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD); after the minor stage performances he made his screen debut in À pied, à cheval et en voiture (1957) but the episodes with his participation were cut before ...
5. Alain Delon
Actor | Le Samouraï
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon was born in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, to Édith (Arnold) and Fabien Delon. His father was of French and Corsican Italian descent, and his mother was of French and German ancestry. His parents divorced early on, and Delon had a stormy childhood, being ...
6. Louis de Funès
Actor | Les aventures de Rabbi Jacob
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was born on July 31, 1914, in Courbevoie, France. His father, named Carlos Luis de Funes de Galarza, was a former lawyer of Seville, Spain, who became a diamond cutter. His mother, named Leonor Soto Reguera, was of Spanish and Portugese extraction.
Young Louis...
7. Michel Galabru
Actor | Subway
Michel Galabru was born on October 27, 1922 in Safi, French Protectorate of Morocco [now Morocco]. He was an actor and writer, known for Subway (1985), La Cage aux Folles (1978) and Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar (1999). He was married to Claude Etevenon and Annette Jacquot. He died on January 4, ...
8. Gérard Depardieu
Actor | Cyrano de Bergerac
Gérard Depardieu was born in Châteauroux, Indre, France, to Anne Jeanne Josèphe (Marillier) and René Maxime Lionel Depardieu, who was a metal worker and fireman. Young delinquent and wanderer in the past, Depardieu started his acting career at the small traveling theatre "Café de la Gare", along ...
9. Pierre Richard
Actor | Shekvarebuli kulinaris ataserti retsepti
Certainly one of France's supreme farceurs in the classic tradition, comedian Pierre Richard was born to an upper crust family with an embarrassing riches of middle names as he was christened Pierre Richard Maurice Charles Leopold Defays. Working and building up his trade at the Paris Music Hall in...
10. Tchéky Karyo
Actor | Nikita
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Tcheky Karyo grew up in Paris. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, where he played numerous classical roles. He next joined the National Theatre of Strasbourg, where he starred in contemporary theatre as well as in such ...
11. Vincent Perez
Director | Alone in Berlin
Handsome, soulful-eyed, exotic-looking leading man Vincent Perez is known for his grand and glossy French pictures, exuding a sexy stare and irresistible charm that has swept Gallic women off their feet for over two decades.
Perez was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, to a German mother and a Spanish ...
12. Benoît Magimel
Actor | La pianiste
Son of a nurse and a bank employee, Benoît Magimel was born in Paris and grew up there. At age 12, he played Momo in Life Is a Long Quiet River (1988) by Étienne Chatiliez. He stopped his studies at age 16 to become an actor.
But he had a dual personality: on one hand the man of low budget films ...
13. Daniel Auteuil
Actor | Caché
Daniel Auteuil was born on January 24, 1950 in Algiers, Alger, France [now Algeria]. He is an actor and director, known for Caché (2005), Jean de Florette (1986) and The Well-Digger's Daughter (2011). He has been married to Aude Ambroggi since July 22, 2006. They have one child. He was ...
14. Lambert Wilson
Actor | The Matrix Reloaded
Lambert Wilson was born in Paris and studied acting at the Drama Centre in London.
A fluent English speaker, he made his feature film debut at the age of twenty-two in Fred Zinnemann's Five Days One Summer (1981) starring opposite Sean Connery. He went on to work with many of France's most ...
15. Guillaume Canet
Actor | Jeux d'enfants
Son of horse breeders, the young man spent his childhood in the countryside near Paris. In his youth, Guillaume wanted to be a horse-rider, and briefly followed a professional career in the sport. A bad fall broke his dreams, but is at the origin of his acting career, and success. After briefly ...
16. Samuel Le Bihan
Actor | Le pacte des loups
Smiling, talented, eclectic actor Samuel Le Bihan seems to be one of the most popular actors in France and Europe. He acceded to stardom thanks to movies like Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Jet Set (2000), Shooting Stars (2002) ('Shooting Stars'), The Code (2002) ('The Code') and He Loves Me, He ...
17. Frédéric Diefenthal
Actor | Taxi 4
Frédéric Diefenthal was born on July 26, 1968 in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France. He is an actor and producer, known for Taxi 4 (2007), Taxi 3 (2003) and Taxi (1998). He was previously married to Gwendoline Hamon.
18. Samy Naceri
Actor | Taxi
Samy Naceri is born in Paris from an Algerian father and a French mother. He grew up in the suburbs of Paris in a modest family of seven siblings.
Since his youngest age, Samy dreamt about making movies. After many years of struggling and hard work, he will finally have a chance to meet a famous ...
19. Jamel Debbouze
Actor | Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain
Jamel Debbouze was born on June 18, 1975 in Paris, France. He is an actor and producer, known for Amélie (2001), Angel-A (2005) and Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002). He has been married to Mélissa Theuriau since May 7, 2008. They have two children.
20. Alain Chabat
Writer | Astérix & Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre
Born in Oran, French Algeria in 1958, Alain Chabat moved with his family to Massy, a suburb of Paris, as the Algeria War came to an end in 1963. In 1987, he started a comedy sketch group for television called Les Nuls which developed a cult following. His acting career led to four Césars awards for...
21. Gérard Lanvin
Actor | L'ennemi public n°1
Gérard Lanvin was born on June 21, 1950 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is an actor and writer, known for Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (2008), The Prize of Peril (1983) and The Taste of Others (2000). He has been married to Jennifer since May 19, 1984. They have two children.
22. Benoît Poelvoorde
Actor | C'est arrivé près de chez vous
Benoît Poelvoorde was born on September 22, 1964 in Namur, Wallonia, Belgium. He is an actor and writer, known for Man Bites Dog (1992), The Brand New Testament (2015) and Romantics Anonymous (2010).
23. Omar Sy
Actor | Intouchables
Omar Sy was born on January 20, 1978 in Trappes, Yvelines, France. He is an actor and producer, known for The Intouchables (2011), Jurassic World (2015) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). He has been married to Hélène Sy since July 6, 2007. They have four children.
24. Michel Muller
Actor | Wasabi
Michel Muller was born on September 9, 1966 in Vienna, Austria. He is an actor and writer, known for Wasabi (2001), Ava (2020) and Hénaut président (2012).
25. François Levantal
Actor | La haine
François Levantal was born on October 10, 1960 in Paris, France. He is an actor, known for La haine (1995), A Very Long Engagement (2004) and The Crimson Rivers (2000).
26. Didier Bourdon
Actor | Les trois frères
Didier Bourdon was born on January 23, 1959 in Alger, Algeria. He is an actor and writer, known for Les trois frères (1995), A Good Year (2006) and Madame Irma (2006).
27. Dominique Pinon
Actor | Delicatessen
Born in Saumur, France on March 4,1955, Dominique Pinon studied literature at the Faculty of Arts in Poitiers after which he moved to Paris and attended the Cours Simon School of Dramatic Arts. He made his first cinematic appearance in Arthur Joffé's 1980 short film La Découverte.
A versatile and ...
28. Edouard Baer
Actor | Astérix & Obélix : Mission Cléopâtre
Edouard Baer was born on December 1, 1966 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France. He is an actor and writer, known for Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002), Molière (2007) and La bostella (2000).
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