Jamel Debbouze

1975-

Biography: life and films

Abstract picture representing Jamel Debbouze

Jamel Debbouze is a Franco-Moroccan film actor and film producer. He was born in Paris, France on 18 June 1975. By the time he made his film debut in the early 1990s, Debbouze was already established as one of France's leading comic performers, having found fame as a stand-up comedian and star of the television channel Canal+. Early in his film career, Debbouze mostly confined himself to comedies that could exploit his talents as an anarchic comedian, films such as: Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) and Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre (2002), but in Luc Besson's Angel-A (2005) he revealed his potential as a serious dramatic actor. Having received a collective Best Actor award at Cannes as part of the male ensemble on Indigènes (2006), Debbouze distinguished himself in Parlez-moi de la pluie (2008) and Hors-la-loi (2010). The son of modest Moroccan immigrants, Jamel Debbouze has become a one-man cultural phenomenon in France, not just a master of improvisional comedy but a talented and immensely likeable actor.

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Filmography

Key: a = actor; d = director

Les 2 papas et la maman (1996) [a]

Zonzon (1998) [a]

Le Ciel, les oiseaux,... et ta mère! (1999) [a]

Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) [a]

Astérix et Obélix Mission Cléopâtre (2002) [a]

Jamel... en vrai! (2002) [a]

Le Boulet (2002) [a]

She Hate Me (2004) [a]

Angel-A (2005) [a]

Indigènes (2006) [a]

Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008) [a]

Parlez-moi de la pluie (2008) [a]

Hors-la-loi (2010) [a]

360 (2011) [a]

Hollywoo (2011) [a]

Poulet aux prunes (2011) [a]

Sur la piste du Marsupilami (2012) [a]

La Marche (2013) [a]

Né quelque part (2013) [a]

Pourquoi j'ai pas mangé mon père (2015) [a,d]

La Vache (2016) [a]

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