Gad Elmaleh

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Gad Elmaleh (born April 19, 1971, Casablanca, Morocco) is a Moroccan Jewish one man show humorist and actor who lives in France. His latest show is called "L'autre c'est moi" (The other one: that's me).

[edit] Biography

Gad Elmaleh was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He was brought up in a mixed cultural background (a Moroccan Jewish descent), speaking both Moroccan Arabic, French and Hebrew. Just 17 years old, Gad - a name adopted by his fans - left Morocco for Quebec, Canada, without knowing any English. He spent four years in Montreal where he studied political sciences and was invited in to theatre.

In 1992, at 22 years, he decided to go to Paris. He studied with Isabelle Nanty with whom he does his first one-man show "Décalages" in 1995. Interpreted in the famous "Palais des glaces", the show is an autobiography of Gad.

Gad then devoted himself to cinema and played his first full-length film, "Salut cousin!" by Merzak Allouache, as well as "L’Homme est une femme comme les autres" or "Train de Vie."

His notoriety increased even more with the frank successes of his second one-man show, "La Vie Normale," and the film "La Vérité si je mens!" where he played the role of Dov, the seducer. The character of "Chouchou" in "La Vie Normale" was reproduced in the comedy "Chouchou", directed by Merzak Allouache. In this film, Gad acts alongside Alain Chabat.

In contrast to his two first one-man shows, his DVD "L’autre c’est moi"(2005), contains more improvisation and interaction with the public. Gad Elmaleh said in one of his interviews that this one-man show is more in the tradition of the stand up.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, Gad married Anne Brochet and the two had a son, Noah. Currently, Gad lives with the dancer Aurélie Dupont.

Gad was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des lettres medal by French culture minister Renaud DonneDieu de Vabres in March 2006. He was elected as "la personnalité la plus drôle de France" (The Funniest Person in France) in January 2007.

[edit] Filmography

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)