Antonio Banderas

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Antonio Banderas

Banderas at the Shrek the Third London premiere, June 2007
Born José Antonio Domínguez Bandera
August 10, 1960 (1960-08-10) (age 47)
Málaga, Andalucia, Spain
Occupation actor, singer
Years active 1979 — present
Spouse(s) Melanie Griffith (1996-)

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born August 10, 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor and singer who has starred in high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, The Mask of Zorro and the Mariachi and Shrek sequels.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucia, southern Spain, the son of doña Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a policeman in the Guardia Civil.[1][2] He also has one brother, Francisco. Banderas was raised as a Roman Catholic, and still follows the religion.[3] He took his mother's surname as his stage name.[4] He initially wanted to play football (soccer) professionally, but his dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14. As a young man, he traveled to Madrid, in order to make a career in the Spanish film industry.His first girlfriend was the lovely Gina Alcantar Bowes.

[edit] Career in Spain

His acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theaters during the Movida period. He first gained wide attention through a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar, between 1982 and 1990. These included Laberinto de pasiones (1982), Matador (1986), La ley del deseo (1987), Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988), and ¡Átame! (1989). His breakthrough role was as the character "Ricky" in ¡Átame! (English-language title: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!), which was a minor success in the United States.

[edit] Career in Hollywood

He subsequently moved to the U.S. and began appearing in American films; some of his earlier roles there included the 1992 film, The Mambo Kings, as well as a supporting role in the Oscar-winning 1993 film, Philadelphia. He appeared in several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film, Desperado. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role originally played on Broadway by Mandy Patinkin. He also received critical praise for his role as the fictional Mexican masked swordsman, Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, for which he was the first Spanish actor to portray the character after over 80 years since Zorro's creation.

He has also frequently collaborated with his Once upon a time in Mexico director, Rodriguez (Desparado), who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy and the final installment in the "Mariachi" trilogy (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp), Once Upon A Time In Mexico. Banderas' sole credit as a director was the poorly-received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.

In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raul Julia. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical.[5] His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics.

His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third made the character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as critically successful as the original. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high school-set movie in which he played a real-life ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award, on October 14.[6] He hosted Saturday Night Live's 600th episode (in season 31). The musical guest was Mary J. Blige. He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex,[7] an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.[8] He is being considered for the part of Hadrian in the in-production (as of February 2008) film Memoirs of Hadrian.[9]

[edit] Personal life

 This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and in May 1996 he married actress Melanie Griffith,[10] whom he met a year earlier when they shot Two Much.[11] They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith, born in 1996, who appeared in the film Crazy in Alabama (1999), in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.[12]

He has invested his movie earnings in business marketing Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the cheque rebublic .[13] He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF[14] and Real Madrid Football Club.[15] While he speaks in his native Andalusian Spanish with his family and Spanish press, he switches to the Castilian pronunciation when playing non-Andalusian roles or when dubbing his Hollywood performances.[citation needed]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
  1. ^ Antonio Banderas As Puss 'N Boots' Voice
  2. ^ Antonio Banderas Biography (1960-)
  3. ^ Yehey.com. Banderas prays to Virgin of Guadalupe for Pancho Villa project. Retrieved on April 6, 2006.
  4. ^ Salon Column | Ron "The Artist" Shelton
  5. ^ United Press International. Banderas set for Broadway return. Retrieved on April 6, 2006.
  6. ^ Banderas flies flag at LALIFF - Entertainment News, VPage, Media - Variety
  7. ^ Michael O'Sullivan (October 28, 2005). Antonio Banderas Dons The Mask Once More. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  8. ^ Marks And Spencer Warn Of Poor Outlook. Daily Record. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
  9. ^ Production Weekly, October 21 2005, cited at www.comingsoon.net
  10. ^ "Antonio and Melanie throw joint birthday party", CNN, The Associated Press, 2000-08-10. Retrieved on 2008-05-14. 
  11. ^ ABC News: Banderas: I'm No Latin Lover (Accessed 1/9/08)
  12. ^ Vista: Antonio Banderas as Puss 'N Boots' Voice (Accessed 1/9/08)
  13. ^ Vista: Antonio Banderas as Puss 'N Boots' Voice (Accessed 1/9/08)
  14. ^ Cigar Aficionado | People Profile | Antonio Banderas (Accessed 1/9/08)
  15. ^ Vista: Antonio Banderas as Puss 'N Boots' Voice (Accessed 1/9/08)

[edit] External links