Touted as the ‘Ben Stiller of France” and the “Jerry Seinfeld of French Comedy” Gad Elmaleh is arguably the biggest and most loved comedic star in France. Born in Casablanca, Morocco, he speaks Moroccan Arabic, French, English, and Hebrew.
In 2006, he was awarded the “Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres” by France’s Minister of Culture and was voted “The Funniest Person in France.” Shortly thereafter, he followed up with his fifth one man show “Papa est en Haut” which premiered at the prestigious Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal as well as to sold out audiences in Miami, Los Angeles and The Beacon Theater in New York City. In December of 2007, Gad made history when he sold out the prestigious L’Olympia (Paris’ Carnegie Hall) in Paris for seven consecutive weeks, a task never before achieved. Immediately after his stint at the Olympia, Gad performed for another seven sold out weeks at Le Palais des Sports – a 3,800 seat venue.
In 2008, Gad directed his first film, COCO, which he wrote and starred in. It opened #1 to audiences in France, Belgium and Switzerland. Other feature film credits include the French films “Priceless” opposite Audrey Tautou, “The Valet” and the Holocaust drama “The Roundup” opposite Jean Reno and Melanie Laurent.
Most recently, Gad starred in the Academy Award winning Woody Allen film “Midnight in Paris,” as well as the Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson film “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.”
Future projects include the lead role in the Costa Gavras feature, “Le Capital” opposite Gabriel Byrne, the much anticipated French comedy “Les Seigneurs,” the romantic comedy “Le Bonheur n’arrive jamais seul” opposite Sophie Marceau as well as a lead role in Michel Gondry’s next feature “Mood Indingo,” which will be released in 2013.
He resides in Paris.
