Legendary French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has died at the age of 88, his lawyer, Michel Godest, said on Monday.
The cause of his death was not disclosed.
The son of French sculptor Paul Belmondo and painter Sarah Rainaud-Richard, Belmondo was born into an artistic family in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1933, Reuters reports.
He was a passionate boxer as a child, but eventually devoted himself to acting and enrolled at the Paris Conservatory in 1952 after three attempts, according to Reuters.
A 1959 poster with Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg in “Breathless” (also known as “À bout de souffle”). Credit: PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy Stock Photo
Despite his initial struggle, Belmondo continued to star in a number of major hits, including “The Professional”, “Ace of Aces” and “Le Magnifique”.
But he was best known for his portrayal of the dangerous and romantic criminal Michel in the 1960 film Breathless, where he worked with film director Jean-Luc Godard and starred opposite the North American actress. American Jean Seberg.
The movement influenced the work of contemporary American directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
Many paid tribute to Belmondo after the news of his death.
“All of France is sad, I’m sad,” Godest told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
“It was wonderful but also terrible because I saw in him the man, a friend that so many people wish he had had, and at the same time there was a monster inside him, a terrible character,” Godest added.