Birth Name: José Antonio Domínguez Banderas

Date of Birth: August 10, 1960

Born in Malaga, Spain, a place where rich Britons would go to escape a 95% tax on inherited wealth, also known as "unearned income," perhaps Antonio was destined to become a darling of the jet set, the wealthy, the gliterazzi, the Hollywood actresses. Of course, we know him as the husband of Melanie Griffith. Some may also remember Madonna propositioning him in the 1991 film Truth or Dare. The gentleman, by the way, did not take her up on it.

At only 14, Antonio was working at a theater company in Malaga, and a few years later went to Madrid to join the National Theatre of Spain. He made his American film debut in 1992 in The Mambo Kings (1992), having to learn his lines phonetically since he spoke no English at the time.

He continued his career with films that included Interview With a Vampire, adding a magnetic, swarthy charm that captured the hearts of women everywhere. By 1995, Melanie was playing opposite him in Too Much, and carrying her heady romance with this quintessential Latin lover into full public view. They were eventually married and now have a daughter, Stella del Carmen.

Since then, Banderas has appeared in Desperado (1995), Assassins (1995), and Never Talk to Strangers (1995), films that did not do well at the box office. At last Madonna got her wish (in part), as he was cast in the musical Evita (1996). By that time, she was pregnant with Lourdes and claimed she was no longer interested.

In Evita (1996), Antonio's voice was not dubbed; he sang the songs himself, a new venture for the actor and something he enjoyed thoroughly. Antonio Banderas appeared in The 13Th Warrior (1999), a film based on the book by Michael Crichton, then went on to star in the highly successfuly Spy Kids trilogy. He went on to appear in the Broadway revival of the musical Nine and received a Tony Award nomination for his performance. In 2007, he received a Label Europa Cinemas award at the Berlin Film Festival for his second directorial effort, El camino de los ingleses (2006).

Filmography (actor):

Puss in Boots (2010)
Shrek 4 (2010)
Shrek the Third (2007)
Take the Lead (2006)
Bordertown (2006)
The Legend of Zorro (2005)
Shrek 2 (2004) (voice)
Imagining Argentina (2003)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Frida (2002)
Femme Fatale (2002)
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
Original Sin (2001)
The Body (2001)
Spy Kids (2001)
The White River Kid (2000)
Play It To The Bone (2000)
The 13Th Warrior (1999)
The Mask of Zorro (1998)
Andrew Lloyd Webber: The Royal Albert Hall Celebration (1998) (V)
Evita (1996)
Two Much (1996)
Assassins (1995)
Desperado (1995)
Four Rooms (1995)
Miami Rhapsody (1995)
Never Talk to Strangers (1995)
Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Of Love and Shadows (1994)
The House of the Spirits (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
Going South Shopping/Bajarse al Moro (1992)
The Mambo Kings (1992)
Shoot (1992)
A Woman in the Rain/El a Mujer Bajo la Lluvia (1992)
Borges Tales Part 1/Cuentos de Borges I (1991)
Terra Nova (1991)
Truth or Dare/ (1991)
The White Dove/La Blanca Paloma (1991)
Contra el Viento (1990)
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!/Atame! (1990)
If They Tell You I Fell/Si Te Dicen Que Cai (1989)
Baton Rouge (1988)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Asi Como Habian Sido/The Way They Were (1987)
Law of Desire/La Ley del Deseo (1987)
The Pleasure of Killing/El Placer de Matar (1987)
27 Horas (1986)
Matador (1986)
Casa Cerrado (1985)
La Corte de Faraon (1985)
Requiem por un Campesino Espanol (1985)
El Caso Almeria (1984)
The Stilts/Los Zancos (1984)
El Senor Galindez (1983)
Labyrinth of Passion/Laberinto de Pasiones (1982)
Pestanas Postizas (1982)

Filmography (director):


El camino de los ingleses (2006)
Crazy In Alabama (1999)