Christopher Lambert Biography

Christopher Guy Denis Lambert (born 29 March 1957), is a French-American actor who was born in the United States. He played Connor MacLeod in Highlander and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name. He played Tarzan in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and the thunder god Raiden in the first film adaptation of the video game Mortal Kombat.

Early life

Lambert was born in Great Neck, New York. His father was a French diplomat at the United Nations. Lambert was raised in Geneva from infancy and moved to Paris in his teens. His older brother, Gilles Lambert, died from bone cancer in 2012.

Career

Late 1970s to mid 1980s, early career and rise to success: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan

Christopher Lambert started his career playing supporting parts in several French films, Ciao, les mecs (1979), Le bar du tlphone (1980), Asphalte (1981), Une sale affaire (1981), Putain d'histoire d'amour (1981), Douchka (1981), Lgitime violence (1982), and one episode of Cinma 16 (1982).

Around that time director Hugh Hudson had just finished his Academy Award winning film Chariots of Fire (1981) and Warner Brothers was desperate to hire him to direct another film, after looking at all their available script he choose to do a film adaptation of novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs iconic character Tarzan, a man who was raised by monkeys in the jungle. Hudson wanted an unknown to play the part and tested many young actor. Lambert got the role partly due to his myopia, because when he took out his glasses it seemed he was always looking into a distance.

In 1984, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes was released and it met with great critical acclaim for both Lambert and its director. The film was nominated for three Academy Award, won a BAFTA Award as well as being nominated in other categories, was nominated for a Cesar Award, and many more.

That same year, he also played a lead role in a French film called Paroles et musique opposite Catherine Deneuve, Richard Anconina, and Jacques Perrin.

Mid to late 1980s, France breakthrough: Subway, and international fame: Highlander

In 1985, Lambert played the lead in Luc Besson's stylistic film Subway, about a man being hunted in the underground subways of Paris. The film was success at the French box office as well as critically acclaimed. Lambert was awarded a Csar Award for Best Actor the next year.

In 1986, he took the leading role in Marco Ferreri's I Love You. The film was nominated for the Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for the Silver Ribbon at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

That same year he did Russell Mulcahy's Highlander, in which he starred as Connor MacLeod from the Scottish Highlands, known as the Highlander, one of a number of immortal warriors who can be killed only by decapitation. After initial training by another highly skilled immortal swordsman, Ramirez played by Sean Connery, MacLeod lives on for several centuries, eventually settling in New York City, managing an antiques shop. In 1985, he falls in love with a police forensic scientist named Brenda. He also finds out that he must face his greatest enemy, Kurgan played by Clancy Brown, who wishes to kill MacLeod and to obtain "the Prize" - a special ability which is given to the last living immortal warrior, vast knowledge and the ability to enslave the entire human race. The film became a cult and was an international box-office success, as well as his most famous role. The rock group Queen made the soundtrack, and Lambert also appeared as MacLeod in the music video for Queen's "Princes of the Universe".

In 1987, he starred in the troubled production of The Sicilian, directed by Michael Cimino, and based on the Mario Puzo book by the same name. He stars as Salvatore Giuliano an egocentric bandit who fights the Church, the Mafia, and the landed gentry while leading a populist movement for Sicilian independence. The studios trimmed down the director's cut of the film. It was released in 1987, and was less successful than his previous pictures, receiving a lukewarm reception by critics and being only marginally profitable. However the director's cut received better review upon its release in France.

In 1988, he starred in Agnieszka Holland's To Kill a Priest, in which he played a character based on Jerzy Popie?uszko, was well received by critics.

That year, he also played the lead in the romantic film Love Dream with actress Diane Lane. They got married that year.

1990s to present day

Lacking a recent box-office success, Lambert agreed to appear in the first Highlander sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening, which was poorly received.

During the 1990s, Lambert starred in action, thriller and science fiction films such as Knight Moves, Fortress (1992), Gunmen (1994) and Mean Guns (1997), and 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 had only a direct-to-video release. In the course of that decade, Lambert also occasionally appeared in French films such as Max et Jrmie (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. Lambert is also active as a film producer and has produced French films such as Patrick Braoud's Gnial, mes parents divorcent (1990) and Neuf mois (1994). In 2001, he played the lead role of Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in the France-Canada production Druids, which was a critical and financial failure.

In 2009, Lambert was a lead in Claire Denis' White Material; both the film and Lambert's performance received critical acclaim. Lambert had a role in the Marvel Comics film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 2011. He underwent sword training for three months and shaved his head.

Shortly afterwards, he appeared as Marcel Janvier (alias "The Chameleon") in 6 episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles.

The Russian film Sobibor by Konstantin Khabensky, where Lambert plays the role of SS officer Karl Frenzel, is scheduled to be released in 2018. The film is a World War II drama about the only successful uprising in a Nazi death camp.

Personal life

Lambert was married to Diane Lane from October 1988 until their divorce in 1994. They have a daughter, Eleanor Jasmine.

Lambert married Jaiymse Haft on 6 February 1999 but that union was dissolved. Beginning in 2007, he had been in a relationship with Sophie Marceau, with whom he appeared in La disparue de Deauville. They announced their separation on 11 July 2014.

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.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Who's Minding the Store?	Child Actor	Uncredited
1979	Ciao, les mecs	Un loubard la soire dansante	Credited as Christophe Lambert
1980	'	Paul "Bb" Franchi	as Christophe Lambert
1981	Douchka		TV movie
	Asphalte	Un mdecin l'hpital / The doctor	as Christophe Lambert
	Une sale affaire	Mullard	as Christophe Lambert
	Putain d'histoire d'amour	Inspecteur de police	as Christophe Lambert
1982	Lgitime violence	Jockey	as Christophe Lambert
	Cinma 16	Marcel	TV (one episode)
1984	Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes	John Clayton / Tarzan
1985	Paroles et Musique	Jeremy	as Christophe Lambert
	Subway	Fred	Csar Award for Best Actor as Christophe Lambert
1986	Highlander	Connor MacLeod / Russell Nash
	I Love You	Michel	as Christophe Lambert
1987	'	Salvatore Giuliano
1988	Love Dream	Menrou
	To Kill a Priest	Father Alek
1990	Why Me?	Gus Cardinale
1991	Highlander II: The Quickening	Connor MacLeod
1992	Knight Moves	Peter Sanderson
1992	Highlander: The Series	Connor MacLeod	TV (one episode)
1992	Max et Jrmie	Jeremie Kolachowsky	as Christophe Lambert
1992	Gunmen	Dani Servigo
1993	Loaded Weapon 1	Man with Car Phone	Deleted scene, uncredited
1993	Fortress	John Henry Brennick
1994	Roadflower	Jack
1994	Highlander III: The Sorcerer	Connor MacLeod / Russell Nash
1995	'	Paul Racine
1995	Nine Months		Executive producer
1995	Mortal Kombat	Lord Raiden
1996	North Star	Hudson Saanteek	as Christophe Lambert
1996	Adrenalin: Fear the Rush	Lemieux
1996	Hercule et Sherlock	Vincent	as Christophe Lambert
1997	Nirvana	Jimi Dini
1997	Arlette	Frank Martin	as Christophe Lambert
1997	Mean Guns	Lou
1999	Operation Splitsville	Max, P.E. Teacher
1999	Resurrection	John Prudhomme
1999	Beowulf	Beowulf
1999	Gideon	Gideon Oliver Dobbs
2000	Fortress 2: Re-Entry	John Henry Brennick
2000	Highlander: Endgame	Connor MacLeod
2001	Apart		Short film
2001	Druids	Vercingetorix	as Christophe Lambert
2001	Mazinkaiser	Additional Voices	Video game
2001	'	Tony Eckhardt
2002	King of Bandit Jing	Additional Voices	Television miniseries, credited as Chris Lambert
2002	'	Alex Laney
2003	Absolon	Detective Norman Scot
2003	Janis and John	Lon
2004	ton image	Thomas
2005	Dalida	Richard Chanfray, dit le comte de Saint-Germain	Television miniseries
2006	Day of Wrath	Ruy de Mendoza
2006	Southland Tales	Walter Mung
2006	'	Tom Vatanen	as Christophe Lambert
2007	Metamorphosis	Constantine Thurzo
2007	Trivial	Jacques	as Christophe Lambert
2008	The Chauffeur	Devereaux
2008	Cartagena	Cine Nomine	Thelma Films, Arte France Cinma
2009	White Material	Andre Vial	as Christophe Lambert
2009	'	Philippe Kaminski	Television film, credited as Christophe Lambert
2009	}}	Leo	as Christophe Lambert
2010	'	Chris Cassell	Television film
2011	Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance	Methodius
2012	Blood Shot	The President
2012	The Foreigner	Vincent
2012-2013	NCIS: Los Angeles	Marcel Janvier / The Chameleon	TV series (6 episodes)
2013	The Gardener of God	Gregor Mendel
2015	Shades of Truth	Cardinal Ennio Salvemini
2015	10 Days in a Madhouse	Dr. Dent
2015	Un plus une	Samuel Hamon
2016	Hail, Caesar!	Arne Slessum
2016	La folle histoire de Max et Lon	Captain Lassard	Also co-produced
2017	Mata Hari	Gustav Kramer
2017	Chacun sa vie et son intime conviction
2017	Kickboxer: Retaliation	Thomas Moore
2017	Call My Agent !	Himself	TV Series (1 Episode)
2018	Sobibor	Karl Frenzel	Russian Holocaust movie