Madonna said that he is a man she would bed willingly. Melanie Griffith divorced Don Johnson for him. "Cosmopolitan" named him "Valentino of the 90's." Antonio Banderas, about whom we speak, was born in 1960 in Malaga, a Spanish Town, famous for sweet wine, beautiful beaches and for Picasso, who was also born there.

While his playmates dreamed about guitars and careers in Rock and Roll, his passion was theater and acting. He spent hours in front of a black and white TV, watching classic films with Spanish subtitles. At age 14, despite his father's (who worked for Franco, in the secret Police), and his conservative mother's objections, he had started acting in a local theater. In 1980, he finished at the National Art Institute, and went to Madrid. The Capital, which sacrificed cultural revolution after Franco's death, did not welcome him with open arms. For three years, he worked as a waiter, a salesperson in a Department Store, and at the same time acted (for free) in experimental theater. He continued studying acting and attended all auditions in theaters. Finally, he was hired by a National Theater, and for the next six years he acted /played in everything they offered him: from Brecht, American drama to classics. Because he was acting or playing well, he became more famous in Madrid's artistic world.

He was also noticed by film makers, and in 1982 by Pedro Almodovar, then, not a famous director of vanguard films. Almodovar offered him a role as an Iranian terrorist and homosexual, gifted with an acute or sensitive sense of smell, in "Labyrinth of Passion." Banderas appeared on the "Big Screen," while still working in the theater. He had finally begun to live the live he had dreamt of as a young boy. His career was exploding or developing and he was dating many women. Handsome Antonio won the hearts of many of Madrid's girls, which seemed so different from girls in Malaga. "Women from Madrid were so worldly, fashionable, flashy and full of wonderful ideas."

On one occasion, he went to a cafe near a National Theater, spotted a petite brunette with large eyes......Everything had changed. Ana Leza was a budding actress. Antonio fell in love at first sight. They began taking long walks, talking about everything; he bought her flowers and wrote poems and songs for her. After nine romantic months, they wed in Madrid.

In 1988, Antonio had a small role as a hunk in glasses, in a movie by Almodovar called "Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown." The movie was a huge success and received an Oscar nomination. In March of 1989, Antonio Banderas participated in the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles. He looked around, saw Liza Minnelli, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Costner, and asked himself, "What am I doing here?" He was introduced to Melanie Griffith, whom he knew only from the movie "Working Girl." Antonio returned to Spain. He became so immersed in his work that he hardly remembered his Hollywood adventure. In the meantime, Madonna's documentary, "Truth or Dare" appeared on American screens. In it, Madonna said, that Antonio is number one on her list of people she would bed. That was a huge free advertisement for Antonio. Everyone in the US asked: "Who is Antonio Banderas?"

Soon, people would come to know him better. Arne Glimcher, owner of Pace Gallery in New York, and who was beginning his career as a Director, offered Antonio a role as Nestor in "Mambo Kings." Antonio, who hardly spoke a word of English, only a few lines from Beatles songs, began learning intensive English. He spent six months in the US shooting "Mambo Kings," and every day he grew to love the Us more.

America loved him too. "Mambo Kings" was not a big success, but directors noticed Banderas: here was a unique combination, a handsome actor who can act as good as he looked. Antonio did not wait long for other offers. He appeared with Meryl Streep in "The House of the Spirits," a movie based on Isabel Allende's novel. In "Philadelphia" he plays the homosexual lover of a lawyer who was fired because he had AIDS. In "Interview With The Vampire," a screen adaptation of the novel by Anne Rice, he plays an ancient leader of vampires searching for a link to a new age. In Miami Rhapsody, he plays a charming Cuban immigrant, who provides a valuable, if not erotic, service for three generations of women, among them, Mia Farrow, and Sarah Jessica Parker.

With his growing American success, he kept a distance from life in Spain. In Spain, his wife Ana was his main interest. At the beginning, she went everywhere with Antonio. With time, she lost enthusiasm for this kind of life and did not care for life in the US. More often Antonio was left alone for Directors and for women.

He received many offers. With interest, he took a role in the film "Two Much," by Spanish Director Fernando Trueby. It was a romantic comedy in which he acted with Melanie Griffith. She was one of his favorite American actresses, and he recalled, not knowing why, that she had been wearing a white dress with pearls at the Oscars in Los Angeles, where they were first introduced.

Antonio swears that their contact during filming was platonic: "we truly tried to respect our marriages, nothing happened between us, but deep down something started to develop." After finishing the movie, they began to see each other more often, and of course, the reporters did not miss that. There were rumors that they were to be married and that Melanie was already pregnant. Pictures of them kissing and holding hands were everywhere.

Antonio was tired of reporters exposing his private life to the public. With relief, he took a role in the movie "Assassins" with Sylvester Stallone. He thought that he would relax in Seattle where the film was being shot.

Unfortunately, he was not left alone. On one weekend morning, when Antonio and Melanie were still asleep, there came a knock at the door. Antonio answered the door only to find his wife standing there. She begged him to come home and not to toss away the years that they have spent together. Antonio realized then, that he did not love her anymore.

Ana did not give up. After going back to Spain, she refused to agree to divorce Antonio. In August of 1995, Banderas traveled with Melanie to Spain to introduce her to his parents. The Spanish media began to attack him, saying that Melanie was a prostitute and a cruel American blonde woman who seduced Antonio and destroyed his marriage. Ana was a hero- the loving and suffering wife- with her head held high. Also, Antonio's family treated Melanie like a devil, women ignoring her during meetings.

The manner in which the family and Ana treated him did not pull Antonio and Melanie apart. It was the direct opposite. Antonio realized that he loved Melanie and wanted to be with her. Meanwhile, in the USA, a movie named "Desperado" was a big success. For the first time, his name was a star. That proved that all those shocking reports in the mass media did not hurt him or damage his career.

At the end of 1995, Ana agreed to the divorce. "We were together for nine years. We went in the same directions for a long time, but then something happened and our roads split, said Antonio. I did love my wife, but life is changing everybody. I do not make up my feelings and I do not pretend them. I do not want and I should not have to defend myself until the end of my life."

In February of 1996, Melanie divorced, keeping the Porsche, stocks of "Planet Hollywood," two horses, and Hockney's painting. Soon they announced Melanie's pregnancy, and in September a baby girl was born. Their stormy romance ended on May 14, 1996, in a brief 15 minute wedding ceremony in London, during a break while filming "Evita."

Antonio played in the musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber made for the "Big Screen." He portrayed revolutionist, Che Guevara, while Madonna played the leading role of Evita. (Being cautious, Melanie did not leave Antonio for one second while filming in London and in South America.) When "Evita" was finished, Banderas put on his mask and black hat and became Zorro, this time Steven Spielberg's version; at last he could play a Spanish man.

Antonio Banderas is the right man in the right place and at the right time. American film makers know very well that Latinos are the biggest growing market. The future, at least in the movie business, belongs to handsome Spanish men like Antonio.