What Is Gerard Depardieu's Net Worth?
Gerard Depardieu is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman, and vineyard owner who has a net worth of $250 million. Gerard Depardieu has worked in approximately 170 movies since 1967. Known and appreciated for his portrayal of gentle yet masculine characters, he has twice won the César Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in the film "Green Card."
Early Life
Gerard Depardieu was born on December 27, 1948, in Châteauroux, France. He is one of five children of Anne Jeanne Josephe and Rene Maxime Lionel Depardieu. Depardieu left school at the age of 12, ran away from home, worked at a printworks shop, and bounced from home to home, hustling and scheming to survive. He also became involved in selling stolen goods and received probation. He left his hometown at the age of sixteen for Paris, where he began acting in the new comedy theatre Cafe de la Gare and studied dancing under Jean-Laurent Cochet.
Career
Gerard Depardieu made his screen debut in 1965 when he appeared in a short film titled "Beatnik et le minet." After that, he began to appear in increasingly higher-profile French films. Depardieu's first role to gain him wide attention was when he played Jean-Claud in "Les Valseuses" ("Going Places") in 1974. He also starred in "1900" with Robert De Niro in 1976. Gerard starred alongside French screen legend Catherine Deneuve in "The Last Metro" (1980), for which he won his first Cesar Award—the French equivalent of an Academy Award— for best actor. After he appeared as a doomed and hunchbacked farmer in 1986's "Jean de Florette," he began receiving international attention. In 1989, he starred in "Camille Claudel."
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After he garnered huge critical acclaim for the title role in 1990's "Cyrano de Bergerac," which earned him an Academy Award nomination and the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, Depardieu acted in many big-budget Hollywood movies. He did as many as six films per year. He co-starred in Peter Weir's English language romantic comedy "Green Card" in 1991, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. In 1992, he appeared in Ridley Scott's "1492: Conquest of Paradise." In 1994, Depardieu played a goofy dad to Katherine Heigl's character in "My Father the Hero," a remake of a 1991 French film of the same title and premise, in which he also starred. Depardieu then appeared in 1996's "Hamlet" and Ang Lee's critically acclaimed film "Life of Pi" in 2012. In 2013, he starred in an indie film titled "A Farewell to Fools."
Gerard has since appeared in loads of French-language films and still finds himself on award nominees lists. Depardieu has appeared in over 170 films and is considered one of France's most prolific actors.
Personal Life
Depardieu married Elisabeth Guignot in 1970. They had two children together. Their first son, actor Guillaume Depardieu (b. 1971), tragically died in 2008 at the age of 37 due to severe viral pneumonia. His health had been adversely affected by drug addiction and a 1995 motorcycle accident that required the amputation of his right leg in 2003. Guillaume and Gerard had a turbulent relationship but had reconciled in the years before his death. Their daughter Julie (b.1973) is also an actor. The couple separated sometime in 1991, and during this time, Gerard conceived a daughter (Roxanne, b. 1992) with model Karine Silla. In 1996, Depardieu and Guignot divorced, and he began a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, his co-star in "Cyrano de Bergerac," whom he remained partners with until 2005. In July 2006, he had a son with Helene Bizot. Since 2005, Depardieu has been in a relationship with Clementine Igou. She is 30 years his junior and runs a wine estate in Italy.
Legal Issues
Depardieu, unfortunately, has made headlines for some of his off-screen antics as well. He has been in several accidents, including a 1998 motorcycle crash, and in August 2011, got into trouble on a CityJet flight for being intoxicated and allegedly urinating in the aisle of the plane bound for Dublin from Paris. He attributed the incident to urinary incontinence caused by a prostate problem, with the flight attendant not allowing him to get up from his seat because the aircraft was already taxing.
The next year, he was accused of assault and battery for punching a motorist in Paris. In November 2012, he was arrested for drunk driving after he fell from his scooter. In 2014, he claimed that he could drink up to 14 bottles of wine per day, and in 2016 he declared he had given up alcohol.
Depardieu was accused of sexual assault and rape in August 2018 by a 22-year-old actress and dancer. The unnamed actress was the daughter of a friend of Gerard's. She reported being assaulted twice by Depardieu in his home in Paris during rehearsal sessions as she was being coached by him for an upcoming theatre role. She made her statement to police in Lambesc, southern France, after which the case was passed to the capital. He denied the allegations, and in 2019, the charges were dropped after a nine-month police investigation. In April 2023, more than a dozen women accused Gerard of sexual harassment and sexual assault regarding incidents that took place between 2004 and 2022. One of his accusers died of an apparent suicide in December 2023, and Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into her death due to the fact that she had made accusations against Depardieu. In April 2024, it was reported that Gerard would stand trial in October in relation to the 2021 sexual assaults of two women on the set of "The Green Shutters."
Taxes
In 2012, Depardieu announced publicly that he was renouncing his French passport and had moved to Belgium. He made the move soon after French President Francoise Hollande announced a 75% temporary "supertax" on anyone who earns more than $1 million euros ($1.3 million). Belgium also does not have a death tax. In a letter published in French papers in December 2012, Gerard said he lost 85% of his income to French taxes in the previous 12 months. He also said that he has paid the French government $192 million in taxes over a four-decade career. That implies a total income of well over $500 million.
In 2013, he became a citizen of Russia in order to avoid paying extra taxes in France.
