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Christopher Lambert
Lambert at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, 2009
Born	Christophe Guy Denis Lambert March 29, 1957 (1957-03-29) (age 52) Great Neck, New York United States
Spouse(s)	Diane Lane (1988-1994) Jaimyse Haft (1999-2000)
Official website

Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert (born March 29, 1957) is a French actor who has appeared in French, European, and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name. He is also known for his role as the thunder god Raiden in the first movie adaption of the popular video game Mortal Kombat. He is credited in French-speaking countries as Christophe Lambert.

Early life

Lambert was born in Great Neck, New York. His father was a French diplomat in the United Nations. Lambert grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, where his family moved when he was two, before returning to Paris when he was 16. He first caught the acting bug after participating in a school play at the age of twelve. His parents however wanted him to have a job with security and saw acting as unsafe, so to please his parents he took a job with the London Stock Exchange, but after about six months he left the L.S.E. to help a friend run a shop in Paris. He also served in the French military at his father's insistence.

Career

After appearing in supporting part in several French films, Christopher Lambert was discovered by international audiences when director Hugh Hudson cast him in the title role of Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). That same year, he also played his first lead role in a French film by appearing opposite Catherine Deneuve in Paroles et musique. In 1985, Lambert played the male lead in Luc Besson's Subway, for which he was awarded a César Award for Best Actor the next year.¹ Highlander (1986), in which he starred as Connor MacLeod, was an international success, as well as his most famous role. He appeared in all three sequels that were released in theaters — although he was not in the 2007 movie made for the Sci-Fi Channel — and had a cameo appearance in the pilot of the television series.

The Sicilian, directed by Michael Cimino and starring Lambert as Salvatore Giuliano, was released in 1987, and was less successful than his previous pictures, receiving a lukewarm reception by critics and being only marginally profitable. To Kill a Priest, in which he played a character based on Jerzy Popiełuszko, was well-received by critics but was a financial failure. Lacking a recent box-office success, Lambert agreed to appear in the first Highlander sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening, which was met with a very poor reception².

During the 1990s, Lambert starred in action, thriller and science fiction films such as Knight Moves, Fortress (1993), Gunmen (1994) and Mean Guns (1997), or the Italian-produced Nirvana (1997). His filmography included low-budget films such as Adrenalin: Fear the Rush, which were generally poorly-received by critics. Some of his films enjoyed only direct-to-video release³⁴. In the course of that decade, Lambert also occasionnally appeared in French films such as Max et Jérémie (1992).

In 1995, he played the role of the thunder god Raiden in a movie adaptation of the popular video game series Mortal Kombat. Lambert was interested in reprising his character in the sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, but he was committed to his role in Beowulf, thus the role was given to James Remar.

In 2001, he played the lead role of gallic cheftain Vercingetorix in the French-Canadian production Druids, which was a critical and financial failure⁵.

Lambert is also active as a film producer and has produced French films such as Patrick Braoudé's Génial, mes parents divorcent (1990) and Neuf mois (1994)⁶.

In 2009 he got the lead role in Tales of an Ancient Empire, which is directed by Albert Pyun; he plays alongside Cynthia Curnan, Kevin Sorbo, and Melissa Ordway.⁷

Personal life

Lambert was married to Diane Lane from 1988 to 1994. Their daughter, Eleanor Jasmine, was born on September 5, 1993. After dating Alba Parietti in 1996, he married Jaimyse Haft in February 1999. He is presently dating Sophie Marceau with whom he appeared in La Disparue de Deauville.

Lambert has myopia and has great difficulty seeing without his glasses. Because he cannot wear contact lenses, he is often forced to act while virtually blind. This has led to injuries while performing his own stunts without glasses.⁸ His myopia is often credited as being part of his appeal, by giving his stare a peculiar charm⁹.

Lambert is a close friend of Mario Van Peebles and Sean Connery. He has appeared in multiple films with both of them.

Lambert was director John Glen's first choice for the role of James Bond for The Living Daylights, but his French accent prevented him from getting the role.^{citation needed}

Winery

Along with owning a mineral water business and food processing plant, Lambert produces Côtes-du-Rhône wines with partner Eric Beaumard. The vineyard is located in Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes, France. The label, Les Garrigues de Beaumard-Lambert, tops out at 4,000 cases and is sold mostly in Europe. Beaumard has primary creative control of the winery, but Lambert conducts barrel tests and monitors the various stages of evolution.¹⁰ Novus Vinum gave his vintage 1998 Les Garrigues a score of 13/20.

Filmography

References

External links

• Website in French
• Christopher Lambert at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e César Award for Best Actor 1976: Philippe Noiret • 1977: Michel Galabru • 1978: Jean Rochefort • 1979: Michel Serrault • 1980: Claude Brasseur • 1981: Gérard Depardieu • 1982: Michel Serrault • 1983: Philippe Léotard • 1984: Coluche • 1985: Alain Delon • 1986: Christophe Lambert • 1987: Daniel Auteuil • 1988: Richard Bohringer • 1989: Jean-Paul Belmondo • 1990: Philippe Noiret • 1991: Gérard Depardieu • 1992: Jacques Dutronc • 1993: Claude Rich • 1994: Pierre Arditi • 1995: Gérard Lanvin • 1996: Michel Serrault • 1997: Philippe Torreton • 1998: André Dussollier • 1999: Jacques Villeret • 2000: Daniel Auteuil • 2001: Sergi López • 2002: Michel Bouquet • 2003: Adrien Brody • 2004: Omar Sharif • 2005: Mathieu Amalric • 2006: Michel Bouquet • 2007: François Cluzet • 2008: Mathieu Amalric • 2009: Vincent Cassel • 2010: Tahar Rahim