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Show JL after 23 fights to audition for the Comddie Franaise. He was turned down and told frankly that he was too ugly to ever make a leading man. Somehow that verdict did not discourage him. He applied to and was accepted by the Conservatory of Dramatic Art, where he studied for three years. ' His nose, despite publicity handouts,, was not broken in the ring. It was broken in a schoolyard fistfight. Generates youth cult Belmondo was graduated from acting school in 1956 but for several years was limited to bit and character parts in films until Godard cast him in Breathless. In that one he played a ruthless, small-tigangster, a rebel without a cause. He proved an immediate hit and generated a youth cult later described in Paris as "Le Belmondise," an existentialism that denied any obligations to society. He developed into the most popular and sought-afte- r actor in France, a position he still occupies. Belmondo is 6 feet tall, weighs 145 pounds, dresses like a bum, moves with relaxed grace, seems indifferent to success and money but like most men is not. He is a shrewd Frenchman who says, "I never submitted to a career in Hollywood because it is not compatible with my low-ke- y me life-style- ." What he has submitted to are ful women. of Belmondo, Raquel Welch and French screen idol I "the most male I've ever encountered." ean-Pa- co-sta- rs ul film "L'Animal." She calls him beautiFor years Belmondo lived with actress Ursula Andress. Six years ago, however, their ardor for each other cooled. Belmondo took up with Laura Antonelli, and Andress decided to play the field. Belmondo, who will reach 45 on April 9th, agrees that age and success have changed him. "For years," he said, "I did all the stunts in my pictures. My fans expected it of me, and I also did it for myself. Now I don't have to prove things anymore." With current girlfriend, actress Laura Antonelli: Since stardom in '61, he's wooed world beauties. Plays movie stunt man however, in which Bea lmondo plays movie stunt man and Welch a stunt woman, he inRaquel In L'Animal, by Lloyd Shearer Befew weeks ago Jean-Pahis since and ladylove lmondo, 44, Italian actress 1972, beautiful Laura Antonelli, strolled along New York City's famed Fifth Avenue. Belmondo was celebrating the end of his latest film, L'Animal (The Animal), with Raquel Welch. To many passersby, Belmondo looked vaguely familiar. Yet no one stopped him and asked for his autograph, which is one reason why France's most popular movie star likes occasionally to jet across the Atlantic. In his hometown of Paris, in Rome, London and other European capitals, he is an instantly recognized celebrity, besieged by fans and trailed by photographers. But in the U.S.A., the French Humphrey Bogart walks unrecognized in public this, despite having acted in more than 60 films in 25 years. a ul Belmondo is so ravishingly ugly with boxer's nose, his protruding ears and his puffy lips that he more resembles a truck driver than an international movie star. But film idol is what he's been ever since his breakthrough Godard's Breathto the top in Jean-Lu- c less (1961) opposite Iowa-bor- n Jean Seberg. his crooked He's got it made; Since 1961 many of the world's most beautiful women Sophia Loren, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schnejder, Catherine Deneuve, Ursula Andress, and most recently Raquel Welch have found themselves in Belmondo's arms, some in front of the camera and others elsewhere. Moreover, Belmondo has reached the point where he now produces his own pictures, deferring his million-dollsalary until the film re ar coups its cost. In a sentence, he's got it made artistically and financially. According to Ursula Andress, the Swiss b for whom he left his wife Elodie and three children, "Jean-Pahas so much sex appeal that I had to smother him with love to keep him in check. There is something about his manner which makes him irresistible to women. He looks brutal but he is really tender and sensitive." Jean-PaBelmondo is the son and namesake of an Algeria-bor- n French sculptor who taught art at the Acaddmie in Paris. The actor was des Beaux-Art- s e born in but reared in the bohemian environment of the Left sex-bom- ul ul Neuilly-sur-Sein- Bank. His mother wanted him to pursue a a professional career, but Jean-Pau- l, hopeless student, dropped out of school at 16. For a while he boxed but quit sisted upon doing his own stunts. "Jean-Paul- ," explains Raquel, "is one of the most extraordinary male animals I've ever worked with. He radiates masculinity but he plays it down. He always smiles, never complains and probably does his own stunts to perpetuate his image as an athlete. He is beautifully developed and must keep in training all the time. "During the course of the picture, which cost $5 million," she adds, "Laura Antonelli, his girlfriend, came on the set a few times. They seem devoted to each other. Frankly, I've never before He is inmet any man like Jean-Pau- l. credibly attractive. I'm ready to do another picture with him any time he asks. He is really the most male I've ever encountered." L'Animal is scheduled for release in this country by Eastertime. 9 |
