Best Known As: Film Actor

Gist:  José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born 10 August 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas is a Spanish film actor and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then starred in high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, the Spy Kids trilogy, and the Shrek sequels.

Life Facts:  Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucía, the son of doña Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a policeman in the Guardia Civil. He also has one brother, Francisco. Banderas was raised as a Roman Catholic, and has gone with his family to the Holy Week in Málaga. However, he has, on occasion, prayed to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He took his mother's surname as his stage name. He initially wanted to play football professionally, but his dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14. As a young man, he travelled to Madrid, in order to make a career in the Spanish film industry and shiv.

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana G. Leza, and in May 1996 married actress Melanie Griffith, whom he met a year earlier when they shot Two Much. They have a daughter, Stella del Carmen Banderas, born in 1996, who appeared in the film Crazy in Alabama (1999), in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.



He has invested his movie earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA.

While he speaks in his native Andalusian Spanish with his family and Spanish press, he switches to the Castilian pronunciation when playing non-Andalusian roles or when dubbing his Hollywood roles.

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF and Real Madrid Football Club.

Career Facts:  Banderas' acting career began at the age of 19, when he worked in small theatres during the Movida period. He first gained wide attention through a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar, between 1982 and 1990. These included Laberinto de pasiones (1982), Matador (1986), La ley del deseo (1987), Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988), and ¡Átame! (1989). His breakthrough role was as the character "Ricky" in ¡Átame! (English-language title: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!.)