Jean-Paul-Belmondo is well-known for his association with ‘New Wave’ cinema of the 1960s. He is best known for his role as Michel Poiccard in the crime drama film ‘Breathless’ (1961) and Pvt. Adrien Dufourquet in the adventure movie ‘That Man from Rio’ (1964).
He started his acting career on stage in 1953 and appeared in Jean Anouilh’s ‘Medee.’ He made his big screen debut in the comedy film ‘On Foot, On Horse and On Wheels’ (1957).
After playing minor roles in several movies he appeared in the lead role for the first time in ‘Les Copains du dimanche’ (1958).
The film promoted trade unions and was not a commercial success.
He was praised for his performance in ‘The Big Risk’ (1960). Some of his other movies that received positive reviews are ‘Two Women’ (1961), ‘Le Doulos’ (1962), ‘Pierrot Goes Wild’ (1969) and ‘Stavisky….’ (1974).
During his later career, along with acting, he also started producing movies and was associated with hits like ‘The Hunter Will Get You’ (1976) and ‘Ace of Aces’ (1982).