Alain Chabat

Biography: life and films

Alain Chabat is a French comedian who went on to find success as both an actor and film director. He was born in Oran, French Algeria, on 24th November 1958, and moved with his family to the suburbs of Paris in 1963. As a young man, he started out by working on bandes dessinées, both as a graphic artist and writer. In the early 1980s, Chabat first found fame through his radio career with Radio Andorra and France Inter, and then RMC, for which he presented the daily show Rock Story. In 1984, he met Pierre Lescure, who persuaded him to work for the recently founded television channel, Canal+, where he began by presenting the weather and then the daily show 4C+.

In 1987, whilst working for Canal+, Alain Chabat teamed up with Chantal Lauby, Bruno Carette and Dominique Farrugia to form the popular comedy quartet Les Nuls, which soon became one of the channel's star attractions. This success resulted in a spin-off film, La Cité de la peur (1994), directed by Alain Berbérian. The popularity of this film jump-started the screen careers of Chabat and his fellow Nuls. The next year, Chabat would appear in another hit comedy Gazon maudit, directed by Josiane Balasko. This film earned him his first César nomination for Best Actor.

In 1997, Alain Chabat made his directing debut with the fantasy comedy Didier, which not only earned him another César nomination for Best Actor, it also won him the César for Best First Work. This film was also a notable box office hit. Five years on, with Astérix et Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002), Chabat had his biggest success as a director. The film was well received by audiences and critics alike and attracted an audience of 14 million. His third directorial offering, RRRrrrr!!! (2004) was far less well-received - mauled by the critics, it was his first failure. It would be another eight years before Chabat directed his next film Sur la piste du Marsupilami (2012), another box office hit.

From the mid-1990s, Alain Chabat made regular appearances in front of the camera, alternating comedic and dramatic roles in films that range from lively comedies to quietly introspective dramas. To date, Chabat has received four César nominations for his work as an actor (three for Best Actor, one for Best Supporting Actor), but has yet to win the award. Notable appearances include Alain Corneau's Le Cousin (1997), Maurice Barthélémy's Casablanca Driver (2004), Éric Lartigau's Prête-moi ta main (2006) and Michel Gondry's La Science des rêves (2006).

Filmography