Guillaume Depardieu

Guillaume Jean Maxime Antoine Depardieu (7 April 1971 – 13 October 2008) was a French actor, winner of a César Award, and the oldest child of Gérard Depardieu.

Early life

Depardieu was the son of actor Gérard Depardieu and his wife, actress Élisabeth Depardieu (née Guignot). He was the older brother of actress Julie Depardieu. His two half-siblings, Roxane and Jean, were born when he was an adult.

Career

Guillaume shared the screen with his father several times throughout his career, beginning with his first film role, aged three, playing Gérard's son in Claude Goretta's That Wonderful Crook (Pas si méchant que ça) in 1974. His next appearance beside his father was in Tous les matins du monde (1991) where they portrayed the same character at different ages: this was also the younger Depardieu's breakthrough role. They again portrayed twice the same character, in the miniseries Count of Monte Cristo (1998) and Les Misérables (2000) where they played respectively Edmond Dantès and Jean Valjean. They co-starred in A Loving Father (Aime ton père) in 2002, this time playing different characters.

In 1996, Depardieu won a César Award (France's national film award) as the most promising newcomer in the comedy The Apprentices (Les Apprentis). Several starring roles followed, but Depardieu's career was affected by his chaotic personal life which included drug addiction, several prison sentences and health problems that eventually required the amputation of a leg. In 2007, he began rebuilding his career with the films The Duchess of Langeais ( Ne touchez pas la hache) and La France and starred in the 2008 film De la guerre.