Jean-Paul Blomondo, the famous French actor who gained fame in the film "Until the Breath of Brides", passed away today (Monday) at the age of 88 in his home, his lawyer confirmed to the French news agency AFP.
Belmondo was one of the pioneers of new wave films in the 1960s and 1970s and starred alongside giants like Alan Delon, who was his professional friend and rival.
He was born in 1933 to Algerians in an affluent neighborhood in the French capital and in his youth cultivated a short boxing career.
After contracting tuberculosis, which ended his sporting career, Belmondo began to take an interest in acting and enrolled at the National Academy of Performing Arts in France in 1952. After graduating he began acting as a theater actor and his rare talent propelled him to the forefront of the stage.
Belmondo in the 1960s // Photo: Roirets,
Early in his career he starred in a series of small roles in films, including the film of renowned director Jean-Luc Goder, which propelled the young Belmondo's career to new heights.
In 1959, Goddard's film "Until the Breath of Brides" was released and Belmondo became an international name.
Belmondo later starred in the films of renowned director Jean-Pierre Melville, and became a star on the scale of Louis de Pines and Alan Delon.
Belmondo starred in films such as "A Woman is a Woman," "A Priest," "The Stavisky Affair," "Greed," and a cinematic adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1995 book "Poor Life."