Christopher Lambert

Christopher Lambert
Lambert at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, 2009
Born	Christophe Guy Denis Lambert (1957-03-29) 29 March 1957 (age 56) Great Neck, New York, USA
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978 – present
Spouse(s)	Diane Lane (m. 1988–1994) Jaimyse Haft (m. 1999–2000) Sophie Marceau (m. 2012)
Children	1

Christophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert (born 29 March 1957)^[1] is an American-born French actor who has appeared in American, as well as French and other European 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 roles as Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and as the thunder god Raiden in the first movie adaptation of the video game Mortal Kombat. He is credited internationally as Christopher Lambert, with the exceptions of French-speaking countries, where he is known as Christophe Lambert.

Early life [edit]

Lambert was born in Great Neck, New York.^[1] His father was a diplomat in the United Nations. Lambert grew up in Geneva, Switzerland.

Career [edit]

After appearing in supporting parts 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.^[2] 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 cinemas – although he was not in the 2007 movie made for the Sci-Fi Channel – and had a cameo appearance in the pilot episode 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 poorly received.^[3]

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 release.^[4][5] In the course of that decade, Lambert also occasionally 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 (1999), and the role was given to James Remar.

In 2001, he played the lead role of Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in the France-Canada production Druids, which was a critical and financial failure.^[6]

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).^[7]

In 2009, Lambert was a lead in Claire Denis' White Material; both the film and Lambert's performance received critical acclaim.^[8][9][10]

Lambert had a role in the Marvel Comics film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012).^[11] He underwent "sword training for 3 months"^[12] and shaved his head.^[13] Shortly afterwards, he appeared as the Chameleon in 2 episodes of NCIS:LA.

Personal life [edit]

Lambert was married to Diane Lane from October 1988^[14] to 1994.^[1] They have a daughter, Eleanor Jasmine.^[1] He married Jaiymse Haft on 6 February 1999.^[1] Since 2007, Lambert has been in a relationship with Sophie Marceau, with whom he appeared in La disparue de Deauville.^[15] They married in 2012.^[16]

Lambert has profound myopia and cannot see 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.^[17] His myopia is often credited as being part of his appeal, by giving his stare a peculiar charm.^[18]

Winery [edit]

Along with owning a mineral water business and food processing plant, Lambert produces Côtes-du-Rhône wines with partner Eric Beaumard at a vineyard 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.^[19] Novus Vinum gave his vintage 1998 Les Garrigues a score of 13/20.

Production company [edit]

Lambert is also sole owner of Lamb Bear Productions, the name of the company is a play on his name "pronounced Lamb-bear".

Filmography [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Christopher Lambert at the Internet Movie Database

v t 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 2011 Éric Elmosnino 2012 Omar Sy 2013 Jean-Louis Trintignant