Gad Elmaleh
A Moroccan-Canadian, Gad Elmaleh was born in Casablanca, Morocco, on April 19, 1971, and works as a stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and director. He is known throughout France, Morocco, the United States, and the wider French-speaking world. His name, "Gad," signifies "luck" in Hebrew, while "Elmaleh" translates to "the salty" in Arabic, reflecting his Jewish/Arabic heritage. Elmaleh’s comedic journey began early; from age five, he performed on stage with his father, David Elmaleh, announcing his mime routines. He attended French schools in Casablanca and later moved to Montreal, Quebec, in 1988 at the age of 17. There, he studied humanities at Cégep de Saint-Laurent and political science at the University of Montreal for a year. He then pursued acting training at Cours Florent in Paris in 1992. His career truly took off with his first one-man show, Décalages , which premiered in 1997 at the Théâtre Trévise. Elmaleh is recognized for popularizing the American stand-up comedy format in France, with his performances rapidly becoming well-liked; his show, *La Vie Normale*, premiered at the Olympia in 2001 and was subsequently released on DVD. His comedy is described as Sephardic and Arab, creating a hybrid style. Elmaleh’s work extends beyond stand-up. He has starred in films such as Coco (2009), Priceless (2006), La Doublure (2005), and Midnight in Paris (2011). (2004) and Les Aventures de Tintin . His one-man shows, including L'autre c'est moi (2005), featured improvisation and audience interaction, attracting over 300,000 spectators between 2006 and 2007. Papa est en haut , premiered in Montreal in 2007 and sold over one million tickets. He gained further international recognition after appearing on Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee in 2013. In 2017, he released his French stand-up special Gad Gone Wild on Netflix, performing in both English and French. He currently lives between New York and Los Angeles. Throughout his career, Elmaleh has received considerable recognition. In 2007, TF1 viewers voted him 'funniest man of the year.' He was also knighted by the Order of Arts and Letters and the National Order of Quebec. For seven weeks running, he filled the Olympia theater in Paris, followed by another seven weeks of sold-out shows at the Palais des Sports, which holds 3,800 seats. Beginning in 2015, Elmaleh maintained a residency at Joe’s Pub in New York City for more than fifty sold-out performances, and concluded with a significant comedy tour throughout the United States, finishing with a sold-out event at Carnegie Hall in February 2017. As of June 2024, he has two sons, Noé and Raphaël, and is also a grandfather. He recently performed a show called 'Lui-même' in Montreal in July 2024.
