Antonio Banderas  

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas, better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films.

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucía, Spain, in 1960 to Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil. He has a younger sister, Chloe. Although the family name is Domínguez, he took his mother's surname as his stage name.

He initially wanted to become a professional football player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of fifteen. He went on to enroll in some drama classes, eventually joining a theater troupe that toured all over Spain. His work in the theater, and his performances on the streets, eventually landed him a spot with the National Theatre of Spain.

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the US. He owns 50% of a winery in Villalba de Duero, Burgos, Spain, called Anta Banderas, which produces red and rosé wines.

He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex,an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.

He has been a veteran of the perfume industry. The actor has been working with fragrance and beauty multinational company Puig for over ten years becoming one of the brand's most successful representatives. Banderas and Puig have successfully promoted a number of fragrances so far – Diavolo, Diavolo for Women, Mediterraneo, Spirit, Spirit for Women, and following the success of Antonio and Blue Seduction for men in 2007, launched his latest Blue Seduction for Women the following year.

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and in May 14, 1996, married American actress Melanie Griffith in a private, low-key ceremony in London.They had met a year earlier while shooting Two Much.

Both Griffith and Banderas were married to other people when they first met. They have a daughter, Stella Banderas, who appeared with her parents in the 1999 film Crazy in Alabama, in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed. In 2002, the couple's dedication to philanthropy was recognized when they received the 'Stella Adler Angel Award' for their extensive charity work.
In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party lists in the general election.

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.
He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions, although in an interview with People magazine Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic. In May 2010, Banderas received his honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga in the city where he was born.