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).
Gad Elmaleh was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He was brought up in a mixed cultural background (a Moroccan Jewish descent), speaking Moroccan Arabic, French and Hebrew. Just 17 years old, Gad - a name adopted by his fans - left Morocco for Quebec, Canada. 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 did his first one-man show "Décalages" in 1995. Performed in the famous "Palais des glaces", the show is an autobiography of Gad.
Gad then devoted himself to cinema and acted in 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."
In 2001, Gad first married Anne Brochet and the two had a son, Noé (Noah). Currently, Gad lives with the dancer Aurélie Dupont.
His notoriety increased even more with the great successes of his second one-man show, "La Vie Normale," and the film "La Vérité si je mens ! 2" (2000) in which he played the role of Dov, the seducer. The character of "Chouchou" in "La Vie Normale" was reproduced in the comedy "Chouchou" (2002), directed by Merzak Allouache. In this film, Gad acts alongside Alain Chabat, giving a big acting performance. "Chouchou" met large audience.
In contrast to his two first one-man shows, his "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 stand up.[citation needed]
In 2004, he played in Olé! with Gérard Depardieu.
In 2005, he was François Pignon in La Doublure (english title, The Valet), by Francis Veber.
In 2006, he fell in love with Audrey Tautou in Hors de prix (english title, Priceless), by Pierre Salvadori.
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) before 49 other humorists, in January 2007.
He came back to the stage with his "L'autre, c'est moi" in september 2006: in Canada (Montreal) and in the U.S. (for example, on Broadway, at the Beacon Theater in front of 3000 spectators). Then he played it in Morocco. Between April and August 2007 he is playing his successful show in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
On July 15th 2007, Gad will premiere his newest show, "Papa est en haut", in Montreal, Canada as part of the Just for Laughs festival.
