Antonio Banderas

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born August 10, 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids and the Shrek sequels.

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career in Spain
• 3 Career in Hollywood
• 4 Personal life
• 5 Filmography
• 6 See also
• 7 References
• 8 External links

Early life

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalusia, in Spain, in 1960; he was the son of Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil.^[1][2] He also has one younger brother, Francisco. He took his mother's surname as his stage name.^[3] He initially wanted to play soccer professionally, but his dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14.

Career in Spain

Banderas' acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theatres during the Movida period. He first gained wide attention of the Spanish audience through starring on a set of films by director Pedro Almodóvar between 1982 and 1990. Labyrinth of Passion ('Laberinto de pasiones', 1982) where he plays a gay man, Matador (1986) where he plays a troubled young man who is confused about his sexuality, Law of Desire ("La Ley del Deseo", 1987) where he plays a psychotic gay stalker, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios, 1988), and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! ("¡Átame!", 1989), in which he performed his breakthrough role as "Ricky".

Career in Hollywood

He 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 made success with his role as the legendary 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. In 2000, Ridley Scott offered Banderas a part as a peasant in his film, Gladiator (2000 film) and he reluctantly accepted, but demanded exactly $50,000 for the role, which is currently the world record for the highest salary of an extra.

In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie that year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale (film) opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek. In 2003 he starred in the last installment of the "Mexico" trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut 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 Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical.^[4] 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 and the last film in the Shrek franchise; "Shrek Forever After" which made the character popular on the family film circuit. He is set to be the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off film: "Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer" Which is said to be released on November 4, 2011. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as successful as The Mask of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high school-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film El camino de los ingleses (English title Summer Rain), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October.^[5] 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,^[6] an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.^[7] He is being considered for the part of Hadrian in the in-production (as of February 2008) film Memoirs of Hadrian.^[8] He is also planning to produce a film based on Muhammad XII, the last Moorish ruler of Granada.^[9]

He also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd in 2005.

Personal life

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana G. Leza, and in May 1996 married Melanie Griffith.^[10] whom he met a year earlier when they shot Two Much.^[11] They have a daughter, Stella Banderas, born in 1996,^[12] who appeared in the film Crazy in Alabama (1999), in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.^[13]

He has invested his movie earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA.^[13] He owns 50% of a winery in Northern Spain called Anta Banderas which makes red and rose wines.^[14]

In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the PSOE lists in the general election.^[15]

While he speaks in his native Spanish with an Andalusian accent with his family and the Spanish press, he switches to a Castilian accent when playing non-Andalusian roles or when dubbing his Hollywood roles.

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.^[16]

He is also an officer of a religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels in the Holy Week to take part in the processions.^[17]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Pestañas postizas	Antonio Juan
1982	Laberinto de pasiones (Labyrinth of Passion)	Sadec
1983	Y del seguro... líbranos Señor!
1984	El caso Almería
1984	El señor Galíndez	Eduardo
1984	Fragmentos de interior	Joaquín	TV Series
1984	Los zancos	Alberto
1985	Réquiem por un campesino español	Paco
1985	La corte de Faraón	Fray José
1985	Caso cerrado	Preso
1986	Matador	Ángel
1986	Puzzle
1986	27 horas	Rafa
1986	Delirios de amor
1987	La ley del deseo (Law of Desire)	Antonio Benítez
1987	Así como habían sido	Damián
1988	La Mujer de tu vida: La mujer feliz	Antonio	TV
1988	Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)	Carlos
1988	El placer de matar (The Pleasure of Killing)	Luis
1988	Bâton Rouge	Antonio
1989	Bajarse al moro	Alberto
1989	Si te dicen que caí (If They Tell You I Fell)	Marcos
1989	La Blanca Paloma	Mario
1989	Huesta Luego Tenis	Jake Spicer
1989	El Acto	Carlos
1990	La otra historia de Rosendo Juárez	Rosendo Juárez	TV
1990	Atame! ¡Átame! (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!)	Ricky
1990	Contra el viento	Juan
1991	Terra Nova	Antonio
1992	Una Mujer bajo la lluvia	Miguel
1992	Mambo Kings, TheThe Mambo Kings	Néstor Castillo
1993	Il Giovane Mussolini (Benito)	Benito Mussolini	TV
1993	Dispara ¡Dispara! (Outrage!)	Marcos
1993	House of the Spirits, TheThe House of the Spirits	Pedro Tercero García	his first English-language film
1993	Philadelphia	Miguel Álvarez
1994	Of Love and Shadows	Francisco
1994	Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles	Armand
1995	Miami Rhapsody	Antonio
1995	Desperado	El Mariachi
1995	Four Rooms	as Man (segment "The Misbehavers")
1995	Assassins	Miguel Bain
1995	Never Talk to Strangers	Tony Ramirez
1995	Two Much	Art Dodge
1996	Evita	Che
1997	Wag the Dog	Ramón	later on replaced by the real Ramón
1998	Mask of Zorro, TheThe Mask of Zorro	Alejandro Murrieta/Zorro
1998	Andrew Lloyd Webber's Royal Albert Hall Celebration	Che/Phantom
1999	13th Warrior, TheThe 13th Warrior	Ahmad ibn Fadlan ibn al-Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hamad
1999	White River Kid, TheThe White River Kid	Morales Pittman
1999	Play It to the Bone	César Domínguez
2000	Gladiator (2000 film)	Peasant
2001	Body, TheThe Body	Father Matt Gutiérrez
2001	Spy Kids	Gregorio Cortez
2001	Original Sin	Luís Vargast
2002	Femme Fatale	Nicolas Bardo
2002	Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams	Gregorio Cortez
2002	Frida	David Alfaro Siqueiros
2002	Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever	Agent Jeremiah Ecks
2003	Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over	Gregorio Cortez
2003	Once Upon a Time in Mexico	El Mariachi
2003	And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself	Pancho Villa	TV
2003	Imagining Argentina	Carlos Rueda
2004	Far Far Away Idol	Puss In Boots	voice
2004	Shrek 2	Puss In Boots	voice
2005	Legend of Zorro, TheThe Legend of Zorro	Don Alejandro de la Vega/Zorro
2006	Take the Lead	Pierre Dulaine
2007	Bordertown	Díaz
2007	Shrek the Third	Puss In Boots	voice
2008	My Mom's New Boyfriend	Tommy
2008	Other Man, TheThe Other Man	Rafe
2009	Thick as Thieves	Gabriel
2009	Un-broke: What You Need To Know About Money		television special on economics
2010	Big Bang, TheThe Big Bang	Ned Cruz
2010	Shrek Forever After	Puss In Boots	voice
2010	You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger	Greg Clemente
2011	Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer	Puss In Boots

As a producer

• Missing Lynx (2008)

See also

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Antonio Banderas

• Antonio Banderas appointed Goodwill Ambassador at Bay Ledger
• Antonio Banderas at the Internet Movie Database
• Antonio Banderas at the TCM Movie Database
• Antonio Banderas at the Internet Broadway Database