French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, critic and producer, recognized as one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century and one of the leaders of the French New Wave. He is most noted for his 1960 film, Breathless, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a young hoodlum undone by his love for an American girl, played by Jean Seberg. This film is credited with influencing a generation of filmmakers. His other films include A Woman Is a Woman (1961), A Married Woman (1965) and One Plus One (1969). His body of work includes 100 television and feature films.
The son of a Red Cross doctor in Paris, Godard preferred living in Switzerland, though he was French to the core. A small, thin man with wiry hair and horn-rimmed glasses, he had no pretensions and loved his work. Living in an apartment in a small village, he ate his meals alone or with his longtime girlfriend, the director Anne-Marie Mieville, at the local hotel.
A treasured icon in France, he became something of a relic in the ’90s. His Helas pour Moi (Unfortunately for Me), was a complete flop in 1994. He found filmmaking exhausting as he was so totally immersed in his project that his critics would say, “It’s not cinema anymore, it’s Godard. His films are part of him.”
In 2010, Godard was awarded an Academy Honorary Award, but did not attend the award ceremony.
Godard was married twice, to actresses Anna Karina and Anne Wiazemsky, both of whom starred in several of his films. Jean-Luc Godard died on 13 September 2022 at age 91 at his home in Rolle, Switzerland, following an assisted suicide procedure.
Link to Wikipedia biography