Spanish postcard by Colección 'Estrellas de actualidad' Cacitel, S.L., no. 109, 1990.
Charismatic Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer Antonio Banderas (1960) began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar. He became an internationally known Latin heartthrob with high-profile Hollywood films including Philadelphia (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995), Evita (1996), The Mask of Zorro (1998), and the Shrek sequels.
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas was born in Málaga, Spain, in 1960. He was the son of Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil. He has one younger brother, Francisco. He took his mother's surname as his stage name. He initially wanted to be a soccer player, but his dream ended when he broke his foot at age 14. At that time he developed a passion for theatre after seeing the stage production of Hair. Banderas began his acting studies at the School of Dramatic Art in Málaga, and made his acting debut at a small theatre in Málaga. He was arrested by the Spanish police for his performance in a play by Bertolt Brecht, because of the political censorship under the rule of General Francisco Franco. Banderas spent a whole night at the police station. He had three or four of such arrests while he was working with a small theatre troupe that toured all over Spain and was giving performances in small town theatres and on the street. In 1981, at the age of 19, he moved to Madrid in pursuit of an acting career. There he joined the troupe at the National Theatre of Spain, becoming the youngest member of the company. Banderas's stage performances caught the attention of film director Pedro Almodóvar, who cast the young actor in Pestañas postizas (1982, Enrique Belloch), produced by Almodóvar. Then he played a gay Islamic terrorist in Laberinto de pasiones/Labyrinth of Passion (1982, Pedro Almodóvar). Banderas and Almodovar joined forces in making innovative and sexually provocative movies during the 1980’s. In Matador (1986, Pedro Almodóvar) he played a troubled young man who is confused about his sexuality. Banderas made headlines in Spain with his performance as a psychotic gay stalker, making his first male-to-male on-screen kiss in Almodovar's La ley del deseo/Law of Desire (1987, Pedro Almodóvar) with Carmen Maura. Banderas's long and fruitful collaboration with Almodóvar eventually prepared him for international recognition that came with his work in the Academy Award-nominated film Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios/Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988, Pedro Almodóvar). He had his breakthrough with the controversial ¡Átame!/Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989, Pedro Almodóvar) as mental patient Ricky who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love. Other Spanish films in which he appeared were El señor Galíndez (1984, Rodolfo Kuhn) starring Héctor Alterio, Los zancos/The Stilts (1984, Carlos Saura) with Laura del Sol and Fernando Fernán Gómez, Si te dicen que caí/If They Tell You I Fell (1989, Vicente Aranda) with Victoria Abril, and Terra Nova (1991, Calogero Salvo). In 1991 he got also international attention as an unwitting object of Madonna's affection in the documentary Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991, Alek Keshishian, Mark Aldo Miceli).
Antonio Banderas began appearing in American films. In 1992 he made his Hollywood debut with The Mambo Kings (1992, Arne Glimcher) as a soulful Cuban trumpeter opposite Armand Assante. Because he did not speak English at that time, his dialogue for the film was taught to him phonetically. At AllMovie, Rebecca Flint Marx writes: “Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician.”. He then shot to international fame with his sensitive performance as the lover of Tom Hanks' AIDS-infected lawyer in Philadelphia (1993, Jonathan Demme). During the following years he appeared in several major Hollywood releases, including a substantial role as a sexy Old World vampire opposite Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in the film adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994, Neil Jordan), and a starring role as the shimmering gunslinger in Desperado (1995, Roberto Rodriguez). He starred as ubiquitous narrator Che alongside Madonna (as Eva Peron) in Evita (1996, Alan Parker), an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. He also had success with his role as the legendary masked swordsman Zorro in The Mask of Zorro (1998, Martin Campbell), opposite Anthony Hopkins and Catherina Zeta-Jones. (he was the first Latino to play the Mexican swashbuckler). Banderas' debut as a director was the interesting black comedy Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith. In 2000, Ridley Scott offered Banderas a part as a peasant in his film, Gladiator (2000, Ridley Scott) and he reluctantly accepted, but demanded exactly $50,000 for the role, which is currently the world record for the highest salary of an extra. In 2001, he collaborated again with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids films. He also starred in the poor Original Sin (2001, Michael Cristofer) with Angelina Jolie. In 2002, he starred in the equally poor Femme Fatale (2002, Brian De Palma) opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Frida (2002, Julie Taymor) with Salma Hayek. Then he reprised his role as El Maiachi in the last instalment of the Mexico trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (2003, Roberto Rodriguez) with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek.
In 2003, Antonio Banderas returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical. Tweaking his image as a sexy, macho swashbuckler, Banderas next provided the pitch-perfect voice of the rapier-wielding Puss-in-Boots for Shrek 2 (2004, Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon), Shrek the Third (2007, Chris Miller, Raman Hui) and the last film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After (2010, Mike Mitchell ). The character became popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro (2005, Martin Campbell), though this was not as successful as the original. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead (2006, Liz Friedlander), a high school-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. Recently he could be seen in the new Woody Allen comedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010, Woody Allen). He is set to be the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off film: Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer (2011, Mike Mitchell). Also announced is Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011, Robert Rodriguez). Antonio Banderas divorced his first wife, actress Ana Leza in 1996, and married Melanie Griffith that same year. They had met a year earlier while shooting Two Much. They have a daughter, Stella Banderas (1996). He has invested his movie earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the USA. He owns 50% of a winery in Northern Spain called Anta Banderas which makes red and rose wines. He shares time between his two residencies, one is in the United States, and one in the South of Spain.
Sources: Rebecca Flint Marx (AllMovie), Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), TCM, Wikipedia, and IMDb.