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Gad Elmaleh
Gad Elmaleh in Montreal, in 2006
Born	April 19, 1971 (1971-04-19) (age 38) Casablanca, Morocco
Occupation	actor, comedian
Official website

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.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 3 Awards 4 Personal 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

He returned to film in 2004 when 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 The Roundup, which is based on the events surrounding the Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv.^[1]

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 claimed that Elmaleh served in the Israel Defense Forces and that his participation in the festival would serve Israel's interest.

[edit] Awards

Elmaleh was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des lettres medal by French culture minister Renaud DonneDieu de Vabres, in March 2006.^[3]

In January 2007, he was elected as "la personnalité la plus drôle de France" (The Funniest Person in France), beating out 49 other humorists.^{[citation needed]}

He and Audrey Tautou received the 2007 NRJ Ciné Award for Best Kiss for one of their smooches in Hors de prix.^[4]

[edit] Personal

He lived with French actress Anne Brochet from 1998 to 2002. They have one son, Noé.^[5] The story of their relationship and breakup can be found in Brochet's book Trajet d'une amoureuse econduite.

[edit] Filmography

• The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn - (2011)^[6]
• The Roundup - (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)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Gad Elmaleh at the Internet Movie Database