Alain Depardieu

Alain Depardieu
Depardieu in 2016
Born (1945-09-29) 29 September 1945 (age 81)
Châteauroux, France
CitizenshipFrance
OccupationsExecutive producer
Production manager
Children2, including Delphine Depardieu
RelativesGérard Depardieu (brother)
Guillaume Depardieu (nephew)
Julie Depardieu (niece)

Alain Depardieu, born in Châteauroux on 29 September 1945, is a French film production executive. He is the older brother of actor Gérard Depardieu.

Biography

Early life

Alain Depardieu is the son of metal worker René Depardieu (1923–1988) and his wife Alice, née Marillier (1923–1988). He is the oldest of six siblings, including Gérard Depardieu. He described their early childhood as rather happy, before the family fell into severe poverty due to the birth of other children and their father's alcoholism.

Career

He began his professional life in architecture, but eventually discovered the film business in the early 1970s after his brother, who was gaining prominence as an actor at the time, invited him to visit film shoots. He then decided to change careers, first working with director Barbet Schroeder, then becoming assistant production manager on films directed by Claude Berri and Roman Polanski. He particularly credits the latter director with jump-starting his career in film production. He was employed on several films that starred his brother, including The Return of Martin Guerre (1982) though they stopped working together after Danton (1983).

Depardieu eventually became an executive producer and, during the 1990s, worked for Ciby 2000. In that capacity, he was notably involved in co-producing Jane Campion's The Piano, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Three other films he worked on, Emir Kusturica's Underground, Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies, and Abbas Kiarostami's Taste of Cherry, also won the Palme d'Or. He has also been active as a theatre producer and is involved with So Films Indépendants, a nonprofit organization supporting projects by young French filmmakers.

Personal life

Depardieu married in 1969, with a woman he had met through his brother. He is a widower. His daughter, Delphine Depardieu, is an actress, and his son is a film editor.

For a long time Depardieu was very close to his brother Gérard, but he says that he eventually moved away from him because Gérard unwittingly stifles people. He clarified in a 2015 interview that he and Gérard did not see each other but were not at odds, and that each kept himself informed of the other's activities.

In 2015, he published the book Mon frère (My Brother), about his younger brother and their relationship.

Selected filmography

Book

References

  1. ↑ Défontaine, Bernard (2012-12-23). "Alain Depardieu, son frère : « Arrêtons de tirer sur l'animal »". La Voix du Nord (in French). Retrieved 2026-10-14.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Vergereau, Pascale (2015-04-10). "Alain Depardieu, « le grand frère de »..." Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 2026-10-14.
  3. 1 2 "Alain Depardieu : «Aider les jeunes, ça fait rajeunir»". Ouest-France (in French). 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2026-10-14.
  4. ↑ "4 Palmes d'or à l'actif d'Alain Depardieu". L'Union (in French). 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2026-10-14.
  5. ↑ "Delphine Depardieu, fille d'Alain Depardieu producteur de cinéma et nièce de Gérard". Le Dauphiné Libéré (in French). 2015-07-12. Retrieved 2026-10-14.
  6. ↑ "Alain Depardieu: "La caméra a détruit Gérard"". Le Journal du Dimanche (in French). 2015-04-05. Retrieved 2026-10-14.