David Nicolas Williams Belle (born 29 April 1973) is a French actor, film choreographer and stunt coordinator. He is deemed the founder and leading pioneer of the physical discipline

parkour Parkour () is an athletic Training#Physical training, training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment ...

, coining it based on his training and the teachings from his father

Raymond Belle Parkour () is an athletic training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from one point to another in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing ...

. Belle came to fame via his parkour videos and film appearances, such as ''

District 13 ''District B13'' ( French title ''Banlieue 13'' or ''B13''), is a 2004 French action film directed by Pierre Morel, produced by Luc Besson, and written by Besson and Bibi Naceri. It depicts parkour in several action sequences, which was complet ...

'', '' District 13: Ultimatum'', which were written and produced by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French filmmaker. He directed and produced the films '' Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Associated with the '' Cinéma du look'' film movement, he h ...

, and the American remake '' Brick Mansions''. Belle has also consulted on the making of '' Babylon A.D.'', ''

Prince of Persia ''Prince of Persia'' is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia. The first two ga ...

'', ''

Colombiana ''Colombiana'' is a 2011 French English-language action thriller film co-written and produced by Luc Besson and directed by Olivier Megaton. The film stars Zoe Saldaña with supporting roles by Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, C ...

'' and '' The Family''. He is the chair of the Parkour Committee of the

International Federation of Gymnastics The International Gymnastics Federation (French language, French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It wa ...

Life and career

Belle was born and raised in

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the northwestern French department of Seine-Maritime. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around northeast of Le Havre, ...

, the son of Monique and

of Paris. His grandfather Gilbert Kitten, father Raymond, and brother Jean-François Belle were highly skilled rescuers in the Military

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (, BSPP) is a French Army unit which serves as the primary fire and rescue service for Paris, the city's inner suburbs and certain sites of national strategic importance. The brigade's main area of responsibility is the ...

. His father Raymond Belle was from

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, and was of French-Vietnamese descent, while his mother Monique Kitten was of French and English ancestry. David Belle began developing parkour in Normandy while living with his grandfather, Gilbert. In 1984, at the age of 11, Belle moved to

Lisses Lisses () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Origin of the city name The name origin of this commune is not well known. One hypothesis is that Lisses is coming from the Latin Licia villa, as the initia ...

, France. He made close friends with a group of teenagers with similar physical passions who began training with him, transferring the techniques he learned in Normandy to an urban environment. Some of the friends that trained with David would later become known as the

Yamakasi The Yamakasi () are the original group of '' l'art du deplacement'' (parkour) practitioners from Lisses, France. The nine original members were David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, Châu Belle Dinh, Williams Belle, Yann Hnautra, Laurent Piemontesi, ...

. Later in life, Belle spent time in the military and fire brigade with aspirations of following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps. David left soon after for personal reasons, as he felt the regimented life of the military was antithetical to his character. During his time in the

Marines Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included Raid (military), raiding ashor ...

, he set the Regimental record for rope climbing (which was previously held by his father, Raymond) and earned a certificate of honor for his gymnastic abilities. Upon completing his national service, he worked in various professions including a warehouse worker, security guard and furniture salesman. He also spent 3 months in India studying

kung fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

. After his return he continued his training in parkour and filmed footage of his capabilities which he later turned into the famous ''Speed Air Man'' video. In 1997 the Stade 2 team were shown a video of Belle and decided to film the first news broadcast featuring him and the Yamakasi. In filming this news feature, the term

was used for the first time in connection with the team. Belle did not approve of the name and felt like it did not give credit to his father, so he split from the group after the feature. Later Belle would go on to train other students who gave themselves the name 'tracer.' The spelling was later adapted to 'traceur', and has since been used to define a practitioner of parkour. Belle was first introduced to his acting career in a meeting with

Hubert Koundé Hubert Koundé (born December 30, 1970) is a French actor and film director. He is best known for his role as Hubert in the film written and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Early life Koundé was born in France in 1970. He is of Beninese origin ...

(''

La Haine (, ; released in the United States as ''Hate'') is a 1995 French social thriller film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, the film chronicles a day and night in ...

''), in order to discuss the success of parkour in cinema. He then began developing his acting ability with the play Pygmalion, and has since been successful in obtaining a number of roles mostly in French films and promotions. Belle has been featured in promotional videos for Tina Turner, and Iam. He has starred in "Les gens du voyages" and "Un monde meilleur", followed by "L'Engrenages" and "Femme Fatale", as well as "Les rivières pourpres 2", starring

Jean Reno Juan Moreno y Herrera-Jiménez (born 30 July 1948), commonly known as Jean Reno (), is a French-Spanish actor. He established himself as a Leading actor, leading man of French cinema through his collaborations with director Luc Besson, and has w ...

. After filming several more advertisements and promotions for the BBC, Nissan, Canon, and Nike, Belle was contacted by

(director of ''

Nikita Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name), people with the given name, including variants * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Ukraine * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femm ...

'', and ''

The Fifth Element ''The Fifth Element'' () is a 1997 English-language French science-fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, and co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, an ...

'') regarding co-starring as lead actor with

Cyril Raffaelli Cyril Raffaelli (born 1 April 1974), sometimes credited as Cyril Xavier Cuenel Raffaelli and Cyril Quenel-Raffaelli, is a French traceur, martial artist and stuntman. Biography Utilizing shotokan karate and wushu, Raffaelli has been in films wit ...

in the action movie ''

'', followed by the sequel '' District 13: Ultimatum''. Belle co-starred with

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Paul Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gainin ...

in '' Brick Mansions'' (2014), a remake of ''District 13''.

Filmography

Film and television

Stunts

Video games

Endorsements and groups

Belle largely stays out of the public spotlight. His last major appearance was when he appeared as a guest at the New Yorker Festival in 2007. Belle was interviewed for the parkour article "No Obstacles" written by Alec Wilkinson which was published in April 2007. Belle formerly endorsed the clothing company Take Flight, but decided to sever his ties to the brand because he disapproved of their business activities and motives.

References

External links

*
David Belle @ ECI Global Talent ManagementDavid Belle Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle, David 1973 births French male film actors French stunt performers Living people French people of Vietnamese descent Parkour French traceurs People from Fécamp