Élie Semoun


Élie Semoun is a French comedian, actor, director, writer and singer of Moroccan origin.

Life and career

Élie Semoun was born in France to a Jewish family of Moroccan and Algerian origin. In 1980 at the age of 17, Semoun wrote two collections of poems and two plays. Beginning in 1988, he had regular appearances on the television series Vivement lundi! on TF1, where he played a horse mounted on rollers.
His comedy career began in 1990 with his partner Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, with whom he wrote and performed daring, skits with scathing takes generally taboo subjects such as racism and poverty, often playing up contrasts between himself and his partner in terms of origin, color, and religion.
Their first show was held at Café de la Gare in 1991. The duo acquired a certain notoriety in 1992 after several appearances on their fellow comedian Arthur's show Emission Impossible, where they were noticed for their particularly corrosive sketches. They followed this up with one success after another at Le Splendid Theater, Paris's Palais des glaces, and at Casino de Paris. Élie and Dieudonné formed one of the most popular comic duos of the 1990s.
In 1997 the duo split due to artistic and financial differences. Élie resented how Dieudonné handled their relations with the media and admitted that he was unhappy that his friend had turned towards film and antisemitism. Dieudonné managed the financial aspects of their career, and Semoun felt their money was not divided equitably.
Breaking out on his own, Semoun continued his success with Petites Annonces d'Élie alongside his friend the actor Franck Dubosc. Once again his performance was promoted by his friend on the show Les Enfants de la télé Inspired by actual classified ads recorded by them in a van, the "Petites Annonces d'Élie" are seen through the character of Cyprian, a repulsive looking man searching for a "busty blond".
Semoun went back on stage with a one-man show, Élie and Semoun. He supported Bertrand Delanoë during Paris's municipal elections of 2001 and Lionel Jospin during the presidential election of 2002. In 2003, he released an album of French songs called simply "Chansons". In early 2005, he performed in a show, was released on 19 March 2007. He brought in new guest stars, such as Alexandre Astier and Bérénice Bejo. The skits are always written by Élie Semoun and Franck Dubosc, but this time assisted by comedian Manu Payet.
Élie performed his show Élie Semoun se prend pour qui? for the last time on 16 June 2007 in Doué-la-Fontaine at the Festival d'Anjou.
In 2007, he signed a petition disagreeing with Ségolène Royal and participated in several meetings against the Socialist candidate with his friend Bertrand Delanoë.

Family

His father, Paul Semhoun, is from the Moroccan city of Taza, and worked for the French Postal Service. His mother, Denise Malka, born in Tlemcen in Algeria, was a French teacher. She died of hepatitis at age 36 when Élie was 11 years old. He has a younger brother, Laurent, who died of AIDS in 2002, also age 36, and a sister, Anne-Judith, a marketing director.
He has a son, Antoine, born in 1995 in Rennes. He shares custody with his ex-wife, Annie Florence Jeannesson, whom he divorced in 2002
Semoun is the second cousin of singer and actor Patrick Bruel, the grandfather of Bruel being the brother of Semoun's grandmother.

Shows

Television

Short films

Film

Animated Films

Series