a national tribute on September 9 at the Invalides

A national tribute will be paid to Jean-Paul Belmondo, Thursday, September 9, at the Invalides, the Elysée announced on Tuesday to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The actor, who died Monday at the age of 88, was one of the most popular figures of the seventh art, with 80 films to his credit, from action films to the finest hours of auteur cinema. He had been hospitalized at the beginning of the year for general fatigue.

Read the obituary: Belmondo, the disappearance of a French star

Jean-Paul Belmondo leaves behind him unforgettable roles, young premier with a cigarette in his mouth in Breathless or hanging from a helicopter in Venice in The Guignolo. “He will forever be the Gorgeous, reacted Monday Emmanuel Macron. “We all met [en Jean-Paul Belmondo], he added, evoking “A national treasure, full of panache and bursts of laughter”, “A sublime hero and a familiar figure”.

“Among our great actors, he was the one who won hands down the palm of the public. “

Emmanuel Macron decorated Jean-Paul Belmondo in November 2019 at the Elysée, making him a grand officer of the Legion of Honor. Two years earlier, in May 2017, during his last week at the Elysee Palace, François Hollande had decorated him with the insignia of a Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit.

For his part, Prime Minister Jean Castex declared himself on Monday ” very sad “ of the death of the one who was “Truly a legend of French cinema, a great symbol of our cinematographic heritage”.

Read the reactions: “With the disappearance of Jean-Paul Belmondo, France loses one of its major players”: unanimous tribute from the cultural and political world

The World with AFP