Élisabeth Depardieu (née Élisabeth Dominique Lucie Guignot; born 5 August 1941) is a French actress. She is the ex-wife of actor Gérard Depardieu and the mother of actors Guillaume Depardieu and Julie Depardieu.
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Personal life
Élisabeth Guignot was born to a well-off Parisian family. In the late 1960s, she began a relationship with Gérard Depardieu, whom she married on 19 February 1970. They had two children, Guillaume and Julie. The couple separated in the early 1990s, though their divorce was formalized only in 2006. Their son Guillaume died in 2008 of pneumonia, aged 37, following years of struggles with drug addiction and health crises.
In 2026, after her ex-husband was accused of rape and found guilty of sexual assault, she went on record to defend his character.
Career
Early in her career, Élisabeth used the stage name Élisabeth Guy, which she later replaced with her married name. She appeared several times on screen with her husband, first in the television movie Les Aventures de Zadig (1970) then in his directorial debut Le tartuffe (1984). Later on, they played husband and wife in Claude Berri's internationally successful Jean de Florette (1986). While separated, they again appeared together in Maurice Pialat's Le Garçu (1995), where they played ex-spouses maintaining a close, yet volatile relationship.
In 1995, Depardieu played one of the lead roles in the successful miniseries La Rivière Espérance, broadcast on France 2. Following her divorce, she kept using her married name professionnally. She participated to the 19th Brest European Short Film Festival in 2004 as a member of the jury.
In 2008, she was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour.