Montparnasse Cemetery. Legacy Throughout his career, he was called the French counterpart of actors such as James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Humphrey Bogart. On the day of his death, television channels in France altered their schedules to add screenings of his films, which drew over 6.5 million viewers cumulatively. For his performances as a police officer in many films, the National Police said that "Even if it was just cinema you were in a way one of us, Mr. Belmondo". Throughout his career, he was regarded as an influential French actor and was often seen as the face of the French New Wave. Belmondo was described as the "figurehead" of the French New Wave, with his acting techniques often seen as capturing the style and imagination of France in the 1960s. Many of his film roles, especially as Michel Poiccard, were regarded as "legendary" and highly influential. Despite his reluctance to learn English, many often believed had he accepted offers from Hollywood, his success there would have been comparable to that of French actors Charles Boyer or Maurice Chevalier. In an obituary for The Guardian, they hailed Belmondo as an "integral part of the history of French cinema, and France itself". He was described as the "epitome of cool". American film director Quentin Tarantino cited Belmondo as an influence and called Belmondo "a verb that represents vitality, charisma, a force of will, it represents super coolness". English director Edgar Wright said that "cinema will never be quite as cool again" following Belmondo's death. He was described as an icon of French cinema and being influential in shaping modern European cinema. Selected filmography See also Cinema of France References External links 1933 births 2021 deaths People from Neuilly-sur-Seine French male film actors French male stage actors French film producers Best Actor César Award winners Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur French people of Italian descent French people of Sicilian descent People of Piedmontese descent 20th-century French male actors 21st-century French male actors French National Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery