Boxing, football, tennis, cycling … sport, Jean-Paul Belmondo’s other passion

Who said you can’t be an actor and an athlete? If some have sought to oppose culture and sport, “Bébel”, an emblematic figure of cinema of the second half of the 20th century, has never ceased, during his life, to combine his two passions.

“I did not play all sports, but I liked them all,” he repeated over and over. In the 1970s, he was one of the first actors to take a box at the Roland-Garros tennis stadium, in the west of the capital.

A black and white snapshot taken by AFP in 1973 – probably one of his first public appearances at Roland Garros – shows the actor and his friend, the other sacred monster of French cinema, Alain Delon, surrounded by the crowd, trying to make their way to the stands.

Since then, he has become a familiar face to the public and also to sportsmen. In 1987, the German tennis player Boris Becker, who was playing a match, came to see him to shake his hand.

His last publicized appearance on the stadium benches dates from 2018: disheveled hair, blue shirt, his charismatic smile … Years have passed but Bébel is still there.
“Roland-Garros is the orphan of one of his most faithful lovers,” reacted on his Twitter account the French tournament as soon as the news of his death was announced.

The other platform where the actor spent time is none other than the Parc des Princes, the stadium of PSG. And for good reason: in 1973 he had participated in the financing of the capital’s football club alongside Francis Borelli and Daniel Hechter.

The idea was simple: to fill the absence of a high level club in the French capital that could compete with other big European clubs.

“Jean-Paul Belmondo was at home at the Parc des Princes”, reacted Monday in the columns of the Team the former president of PSG, Michel Denisot.

“His son Paul, then his grandson Victor had carried on the tradition at the Parc des Princes, always faithful to the colors Red and Blue,” added the club in a statement.

If he had admitted rather preferring to watch tennis than to play it, Belmondo had been playing football since childhood, as a goalkeeper.

But the sport that he has probably practiced the most is the noble art. Boxing enthusiast since childhood, the one whose film world said in his early days that he had the physique of a boxer had registered at the age of 16 at the Avia Club at the Porte de Saint-Martin, in Paris.

“It is true that I boxed well”

The actor even delivered several professional fights. “It’s true that I boxed well”, he declared to the press in the 1990s. In the cinema, he notably played the role of a boxer in “L’Aîné des Ferchaux” by Jean-Pierre Melville in 1963.

“Thank you for everything you have done for boxing. Thank you for your unconditional support from the start, in the ring and especially outside,” French boxer Tony Yoka reacted on Twitter on Monday.

“I will have had the immense honor of meeting this BIG Mister, legendary actor, sports enthusiast and he was the only Professional !! My thoughts are with his family and friends. Goodbye Mr. Belmondo, rest in peace and thank you for everything you leave us, “Olympic judo medalist Teddy Riner said on Twitter on Monday.

Tennis, football, boxing … Jean-Paul Belmondo was also a fan of cycling. The actor was crazy about group outings accompanied in particular by his son Paul and had even, on the occasion of a scene in the film “The Heir” (1973) by Philippe Labro, tried rugby.