#breathless

My year of rest and relaxation

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Jean-Paul Belmondo was a French born actor of Italian descent. He is associated with the New Wave films of the 1960s and his acting technique is often seen as capturing the style and imagination of France in the 1960s. Huge success came with Breathless (1960), and he appeared in other films that modernized cinema such as Two Women (1960), Le Doulos (1962), That Man from Rio (1964), Greed in the Sun (1964) and Weekend at Dunkirk (1964). Born in 1933, his career in films began in 1953 after having an amateur boxing career. He became a major sex symbol and redefined conventional masculine appeal. He was often dubbed the "French Steve McQueen" and proved that charisma, confidence, and intense energy were key to sex appeal. He died in 2021 at the age of 88.