Tall, good-looking French action hero and leading man Christopher Lambert is popular around the world, and in France, is particularly loved as a sex symbol. He was born in New York City, the son of a French psychiatrist and the former head of the United Nations Geneva division, but spent his youth in Geneva. Before entering the prestigious Paris Conservatoire to study acting, Lambert had worked with the London Stock Exchange. He remained there two years, but felt the program too constraining. After leaving, the aristocratic-looking Lambert appeared in Le Bar du Telephone and soon appeared in more films, but did not become a star until he played the leading role (in English) in Hugh Hudson's lush epic Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. (1984). Looking as good in period costumes as he did in a scanty loin cloth, Lambert soon found himself the newest sex symbol. He next appeared in Luc Besson's Subway (1985). In 1986, he played a sword-wielding immortal Scotsman who finds himself fighting evil in modern-day New York. Lambert also appeared in two sequels. Though he subsequently remained primarily an action star, Lambert occasionally showed up in other genres, including the romantic comedy Arlette (1997).