Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida was born in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal on March 15, 1957, the son of João Baptista de Almeida and Maria Sara Portugal two pharmacists and the sixth of eight kids, Joaquim showed signs at an early age that his future lay not in the family business. At the age of eighteen, after attending a theater course at the Lisbon Conservatory (School of Theatre and Cinema) for two years, he left Portugal to continue his studies after the Conservatory was temporarily closed following the 1974 democratic revolution. He spent a year in Vienna, moving again, in 1976, to New York City where he studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, a school for the performing arts. During this time he worked as a bartender. After doing some theater and small roles in Soap Operas, he finally landed his first role in a film "The Soldier" in 1981. The following year he had his first important role in "Honorary Consul", working next to Richard Gere, Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins. But it was his third film "Good Morning Babylon", directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, that opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1987, that propelled him to an international career. Being fluent in six languages has helped him to work everywhere in the world. He hasn't stopped since then. He has been in more than 90 films and television shows acting with actors and directors like Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Kim Basinger, Antonio Banderas, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Soderberg, Benicio del Toro and Kiefer Sutherland among others. It was while playing the main villain in season 3 of the popular series "24", that he discovered the pleasure of living on the beach and he moved to Santa Monica where he lives today. He spends long periods in Portugal where he has a house in Sintra to be with his son Louren and his daughter Ana. Joaquim de Almeida became an American citizen in 2005 and kept his Portuguese nationality. He has been the recipient of many awards: Best Actor - Cairo Film Festival 1991, Golden Globe Best Actor Portugal 1995,1997,2001, SAG Awards- Best ensemble 2005, Portuguese Foreign Press-Personality of the year 1995, Career Award in Festival Cinema de Badajoz 2004, Career Award Festival Iberoamericano de Huelva 2009, Career Award Festival de Cine de Punta del Este 2003, Gold Medal City of Sintra 2008, Gold Medal City of Setubal 2006 and the Order of Infante by the President of Portugal.
Joaquin appeared in two Euro-western films: as Padre Ramon in the TV western “Dollar for the Dead” in 1998 starring Emilo Estevez and co-starring in 1998’s “One Man’s Hero” as Cortina with Tom Berenger.
de ALMEIDA,
Joaquim (aka Joaquim Almeida, Joaquim De Almeida, Joaquim DeAlmeida,
Joachim de Almeida, Joaquím de Almeida, Joaquín de Almeida) (Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de
Almeida) [3/15/1957, São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal - ] – producer, film, TV actor, married to
pianist Andrea Nemetz (1976-1978), married to dancer Anne Rogoshan (1979-19??),
married to designer Maria Cecília Gonçalves (1992-20??) father of Lourenço
Gonçalves Baptista de Almeida [1992-
], father of Ana de Tavares Risques Baptista de Almeida [2002- ].
Dollar for the
Dead – 1998 (Padre Ramon)
One Man’s Hero – 1998 (Cortina)
I have seen "One Man's Hero" with Tom Berenger in it. It was great. Great cast, great locations, and I also like how they stuck to historical accuracy and didn't do anything out of the ordinary. The movie is based on the legend of Irish-American soldier John Riley who fought with his comrades on the Mexican side during the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848 in the legion known as the "San Patricios". Today, they are widely regarded as folk heroes.
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