French film and theater actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has passed away. As announced by his lawyer, Belmondo died in Paris at the age of 88.

French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo has died at the age of 88. Belmondo died in Paris, as announced by his lawyer, Michel Godest.

Belmondo’s career spanned half a century. He became one of the best-known actors in France, starring in over 80 films and working with a number of important French directors, from François Truffaut to Claude Lelouch.

weak after stroke

He had become physically weak after a stroke in 2001. “He’s been very tired for a while,” said his lawyer. “He died peacefully.”

Belmondo, known simply as “Babel” by his French admirers, was known as an anti-hero. In many works he played the role of daredevils and gangsters. In the 1960s he was seen as a staple of “Novel Velocity” cinema and a symbol of rebellion and anarchy. He was part of the new generation of film stars who were no longer handsome heroes.

He celebrated his success as a cinema star at the age of 26 with Jean-Luc Godard’s “Out of Breath”. They later shot the love triangle “Ek woman is a woman” together. One of the biggest box office hits with Belmondo is “Adventure in Rio” by Philippe De Broca in which a young soldier is in search of his kidnapped girlfriend.