Antonio Banderas life and biography

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Born Jose Antonio Dominguez Banderas on August 10, 1960, in Malaga, Spain; son of Jose and Ana; married Ana Leza, 1988 (divorced, 1996); married Melanie Griffith, 1996; children: Estella del Carmen (second marriage) Education: Attended the School of Dramatic Arts, Spain's national theater company. Addresses: Agent--Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

"Sidelights"

Movie star Antonio Banderas has quickly earned a reputation as one of the most versatile and sought-after actors in the 1990s film industry. Before moving to Hollywood in 1992, Banderas enjoyed significant international recognition, having appeared in more than 30 Spanish films and working with such directors as Antonio de Real, Rodolfo Kuhn, Pedro Costa, Carlos Saura, Luis Garcia Sanchez, and Juan Minon. However, the greatest contribution to Banderas's success may lie in his working relationship with renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, with whom he made such acclaimed movies as Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!.

Banderas was born in Malaga, Spain. After acquiring a formal education, he studied theater at the School of Dramatic Art in Malaga. During this time, Banderas also honed his acting skills with an independent theater company in Malaga. In 1981 the young actor moved to Madrid and worked in both theater and television before Pedro Almodovar discovered him and cast him in Labyrinth of Passion. This opportunity led to several other film projects with Almodovar, including the feature films Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, for which he earned Spain's equivalent of an Oscar nomination for best actor.

Banderas arrived in Hollywood in 1992 to make his American movie debut opposite Armand Assante in the film adaptation of The Mambo Kings, based on Oscar Hijuelos 's Pulitzer prize-winning novel entitled The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. In the film, Banderas portrays the soulful Cuban musician and composer Nestor Castillo, a role for which he had to learn how to play the trumpet.

After starring in The Mambo Kings, Banderas has appeared in three 1994 films: Philadelphia, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring and Denzel Washington; the film adaptation of Isabel Allende's House of Spirits, directed by Bille August and starring Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glen Close, and Winona Ryder; a screen version of Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire, directed by Neil Jordan and starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and the romantic comedy Miami Rhapsody, which also featured Sarah Jessica Parker and Mia Farrow.

In 1995 Banderas was also seen in Desperado, director Robert Rodriguez's sequel to his first film, El Mariachi; Four Rooms, released by Miramax; TriStar Pictures' Never Talk to Strangers; and Assassins, directed by Richard Donner and starring Sylvester Stallone. The following year Banderas was set to star in Fernando Trueba's Two Much, along with female leads Melanie Griffith and Daryl Hannah.



AWARDS

Golden Apple Award for Male Discovery of the Year, 1995; ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film, 1998; Imagen Foundation Lasting Image Award, 1999; European Film Audience Award, 1999; ALMA Award for Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film, 1999; European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema, 1999; ALMA Award for Best Director, 2000; Anthony Quinn Award for Excellence in Cinema and the Arts, 2002.

CAREER

Actor in more than 70 films. European film appearances include Labyrinth of Passion, Closed Case, 27 Hours, The Law of Desire, Baton Rouge, and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! English-language films include The Mambo Kings, Philadelphia, The House of the Spirits, Assassins, Four Rooms, Evita, The Mask of Zorro, and Spy Kids. Directed film Crazy in Alabama, 1999; named world ambassador of tourism (with Melanie Griffith) of Spain's Andalucia region, 2002.

WORKS
SELECTED VIDEOGRAPHY

* Labyrinth of Passion, Cinevista, 1982.
* Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Orion Home Video, 1988.
* Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Columbia Tristar Home Video, 1990.
* The Mambo Kings, Warner Home Video, 1992.
* Philadelphia, Tristar, 1993.
* House of Spirits, Miramax, 1993.
* Armand, Interview with the Vampire(also known as Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles and The Vampire Chronicles), Warner Bros., 1994
* Antonio, Miami Rhapsody, Hollywood Pictures, 1995
* Of Love and Shadows, Miramax, 1995.
* El Mariachi, Desperado, Columbia/TriStar, 1995
* Tony Ramirez, Never Talk to Strangers, Imperial Entertainment, 1995
* Miguel Bain, Assassins(also known as Day of Reckoning), Warner Bros., 1995
* Man, "The Misbehavers," Four Rooms, Miramax, 1995
* Art Dodge/Bart, Two Much(also known as Loco de amor), Buena Vista, 1995
* Che, Evita, Buena Vista, 1996
* Himself, Fiderikusz Sandor es vendegei,1996
* Alejandro Murrieta/Zorro, The Mask of Zorro, TriStar, 1998
* Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration, PolyGram Video, 1998
* Ahmed Ibn Fadlan, The 13th Warrior(also known as Eaters of the Dead), Buena Vista, 1999
* Cesar Dominguez, Play It to the Bone(also known as Play It), 1999
* Luis Antonio Vargas, Original Sin, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 2000
* Morales Pittman, The White River Kid,2000
* Matt, The Body, Behaviour Entertainment, 2000
* Spy Kids, Dimension, 2001
* Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, Dimension, 2002

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