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| Birth Name(s) : Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas |
Date of Birth: August 10, 1960 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
Melanie Griffith |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Antonio Banderas Biography
| A broken foot at 14 years of age crushed all professional soccer hopes and turned Spanish-born Antonio Banderas to acting. He started in theater and television in Madrid, moving to American films in 1992 with "The Mambo Kings". |
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Additional Antonio Banderas Biography
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, Interview with the Vampire, Mariachi sequels, Philadelphia, The Mask of Zorro, and the Shrek sequels.
Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucia, southern Spain to José Domínguez, a policeman in the Guardia Civil, and Ana Banderas, a school teacher. He also has a brother, Francisco. Banderas was raised a Roman Catholic, but no longer follows the religion.
Banderas initially wanted to play football 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 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.
Banderas 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, Banderas 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.
Banderas has also frequently collaborated with his Desperado director, Rodriguez, who cast Banderas in the Spy Kids film trilogy and the final installment in the "Mariachi" trilogy (which he appeared in 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. He also has received praise for being the first Spanish actor to portray the legendary Spanish masked swordsman, Zorro in The Mask of Zorro (1998) and its sequel, The Legend of Zorro (2005).
In 2003, Banderas 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. His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics.
Banderas' voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2 made the character popular on the family film circuit, and a spin-off movie starring his character is scheduled for release in 2008. His latest film, Take the Lead, a high-school movie in which he plays a real-life ballroom dancing teacher, opened on 7 April 2006. He received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on October 14, 2006.
Banderas also 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, an allergy medication.
In 1996, Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and married actress Melanie Griffith during the shooting of Two Much. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith (also simply Stella Banderas), who appeared in the film Crazy in Alabama, in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.
Banderas has invested his movie earnings in business marketing Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA. He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF and Real Madrid Football Club. 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.
In Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the street Antonio Parkway coincidentally intersects with Banderas Avenue. |
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Antonio Banderas Quote(s)
| I don't want anything I don't deserve, (but) if they offer me more money, I'm not a-stupid. |
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