Gad Elmaleh
(born April 19 1971) is a Moroccan stand up comedian and actor. His latest show is called Papa est en haut
(Dad is upstairs
). He has starred in several feature films, including Coco
, Hors de prix
, and La Doublure
.
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Early years
Elmaleh was born in
Casablanca,
Morocco. Of
Moroccan Jewish descent, he was brought up in a mixed cultural background, speaking
Moroccan Arabic,
French, and
Hebrew. He studied
political science in
Montreal for four years, then moved to Paris to study
drama.
His first
one-man show Décalages
, performed at the "Palais des glaces" in 1995, was autobiographical.
right
Career
The first contact of Elmaleh with
cinema was the full-length film,
Salut cousin !
by Merzak Allouache. He later appeared in
L'homme est une femme comme les autres
and
Train de Vie
.
His fame further increased with the success of his second one-man show,
La Vie Normale
, and the film
La Vérité si je mens ! 2
(2000) in which he played the role of "Dov", the seducer. The character of "Chouchou" in
La Vie Normale
was reproduced in the
comedy Chouchou
(2002), directed by Merzak Allouache and also starring
Alain Chabat; the film drew large audiences.
In contrast to his first two one-man shows, his
L’autre c’est moi
(2005) contains more improvisation and interaction with the public. In an interview, Gad Elmaleh said that this one-man show is more in the tradition of stand up.
He returned to film in 2004 when he he starred in the 2004 film
Olé!
with
Gérard Depardieu. In 2005, he starred as
François Pignon in
La Doublure
(English title "The Valet"), by
Francis Veber. In 2006, he appeared opposite
Audrey Tautou in
Hors de prix
(English title "Priceless"), by Pierre Salvadori.
He came back to the stage with
L'autre, c'est moi
in September 2006 in Canada (Montreal) and in the U.S. (in
Broadway, at the Beacon Theater in front of 3000 spectators); it was performed also in Casablanca, Morocco. Between April and August 2007 he played his successful show in France, Belgium, and Switzerland.
On July 15, 2007, Elmaleh premiered his latest show,
Papa est en haut
, in
Montreal as part of the
Just for Laughs festival.
He also played the voice of Barry B. Benson in the French version of the 2007 film
Bee Movie
,
Drôle d’Abeille
.
[1]
In 2009, he released the film,
Coco
, which he directed, wrote and starred in. Elmaleh is also slated to appear in Roselyne Bosch's
La Rafle
, which is based on the events surrounding the
Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv.
[
]
Elmaleh was scheduled to perform in the 2009 Beiteddine Festival in Lebanon on July 13–15. [2] However, following a press article on Hezbollah supported television El Manar, his participation was canceled citing security reasons. The article suggested that Elmaleh served in the Israel Defense Forces and that his participation in the festival would serve Israel's interest. Several Lebanese were offended by his participation. Israel has bombarded Lebanon for 33 days in July 2006 which caused 1300 Lebanese casualties. [3]
Awards
Elmaleh was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des lettres medal by French culture minister Renaud DonneDieu de Vabres, in March 2006. [4]
In January 2007, he was elected as "la personnalité la plus drôle de France" (The Funniest Person in France), beating out 49 other humorists.
He and Audrey Tatou received the 2007 NRJ Ciné Award for Best Kiss for one of their smooches in Hors de prix
. [5]
Personal
He lived with French actress Anne Brochet from 1998 to 2002. They have one son, Noè. [6] The story of their relationship and breakup can be found in Brochet's book Trajet d'une amoureuse econduite
.
Filmography
- The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
- (2011) [7]
- La Rafle
- (2009)
- Coco
- (2009)
- Hors de prix
with Audrey Tautou - (2006) (English title: Priceless
)
- La Doublure
with Alice Taglioni, Daniel Auteuil, Dany Boon, Virginie Ledoyen, Kristin Scott Thomas - (2005) (English title: The Valet
)
- Ole!
with Gérard Depardieu - (2005)
- Chouchou
with Alain Chabat - (2003)
- A+ Pollux
with Cécile De France - 2002
- La Vérité si je mens! 2
with Richard Anconina, José Garcia, Bruno Solo, Gilbert Melki - (2001)
References
- Gadding About
- http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=102009
- http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20090630-jewish-comedian-cancel-lebanon-shows-following-hez
- Discours de Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres - Remise des insignes de Chevalier dans l’ordre des arts et des lettres
- NRJ Cine Awards 2007
- Who Is Gad Elmaleh?
- Daniel Craig to star in "Tintin"