José Sánchez Mota (born 30 June 1965), better known as José Mota, is a Spanish

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was member, with Juan Muñoz, of the comedy duo ''

Cruz y Raya Cruz is a surname of Iberian Peninsula, Iberian origin, first found in Castile (historical region), Castile, Spain, but later spread throughout the territories of the former Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empires. In Spanish and Portugu ...

'' between 1989 and 2007, and later he started a solo career.

Cruz y Raya

In 1985, while he was serving in the military, Mota met Juan Muñoz, whom he began his career as a comedian. The two started performing shows at small theaters in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, such as ''Cien personajes en busca de humor'' (''One Hundred Characters in the Quest of Humor''), but it was Javier Sardá who gave them the opportunity of making their own radio show, ''La Bisagra''. In 1989 they moved to television with the program '' Pero ¿esto qué es?'', in the Spanish public channel ( La 1). The sketches were about a radio station, "''Cruz y Raya, the station that should, but never shuts up''". Later they were aired on

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially launc ...

with the show ''Tutti Frutti'', and then came back to TVE in order to replace the famous Spanish comedians

Martes y Trece Martes y Trece were a trio (and later, duo) of Spanish comedians whose members were Josema Yuste, Millán Salcedo and Fernando Conde. Their style was characterized by grotesque gags on everyday life and caricatures of famous people. The trio mad ...

at several New Year's Eve special shows.

Other works while at Cruz y Raya

Mota has also gave his voice to several characters in the Spanish dubbing of animation films such as ''

Monsters, Inc. ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a 2001 American computer-animated Monster movie, monster comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, B ...

'' and the ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 book of the same name by William Steig. It is the first installment in the ''Shrek'' franchise. The film was directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenso ...

'' films. In 2006 he adapted, along with

Santiago Segura Santiago Segura Silva (born 17 July 1965) is a Spanish filmmaker and actor. He also worked to a lesser extent as a television presenter, voice actor and comic book writer, as well as being a collector of original comic books. At 12, he began ...

, the Spanish version of '' The Producers''. The comedian made

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

s in TV shows such as ''

7 vidas ''7 Vidas'' is a Spanish sitcom which aired on Telecinco from 1999 to 2006. Its title translates as "7 lives" and the symbol of the sitcom is a cat, in reference to the belief that cats have 7 lives (in contrast to English-speaking countries, whe ...

'' and ''Manolo y Benito Corporeision''.

Separation

After more than ten years fully dedicated to ''Cruz y Raya'', José and Juan decided to work in other projects on their own. In November 2007 the definitive separation of the famous couple was confirmed.

The José Mota Hour and other sketch programs

In 2009 before his separation with workmate Juan Antonio Muñoz, Jose Mota decided to make a new television show, ''

La hora de José Mota LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

''. The television show was aired on the Spanish State television ( TVE) on Fridays. He started to do another type of humor mixed by the latest he did. For example, he criticized bad Spanish and European politics, society and he did more imitations. Many sketches and their characters have become very famous in Spain. He has made impersonations of many public figures such as ''Bear Grylls'', ''Woody Allen'' and ''Larry King'' as well as Spanish and international politicians like

José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

(ZP)

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

and Merkel and

Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Sei ...

. He also created new characters such as ''La Vieja'l Visillo'' (The Old Woman in the Window) or ''El Tío la Vara'' (The Man of the Rod). He has created several catchphrases such as ''behind the musgo'' (behind the moss), that is used in his '' Bear Grylls'' sketches. In 2013 he created the sketch show ''

La noche de José Mota LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'', very similar to the former, in the television channel

. The success of the new show was lower than expected, and it only lasted for one season (however, Mota said later that it had been planned that way from the beginning). He returned in 2015 to La 1 with a weekly show named ''José Mota presenta'', which premiered on 20 February. From March to June 2017 he starred in the sketch comedy show ''El acabose''. He has starred in La 1 New Year's Eve specials from 2007 to 2011 and 2014 to 2020, with great success.

Personal life

He has three children with the actress and model

Patricia Rivas Patricia Yanira Rivas Miranda (born February 15, 1980, in San Salvador) is a Salvadoran sport shooter. She won a bronze medal in the small-bore rifle prone at the 2001 American Continental Championships in Fort Benning, Georgia, United States, a ...

.EXCLUSIVA: Jose Mota y Patricia Rivas padres de su tercera hija
in exclusivadigital.com

Career

TV programs

* 1994: ''Vaya tele'' * 1995: ''Estamos de vuelta'' * 1998: ''Este no es el programa de los viernes'' * 1999: ''Estamos en directo'' * 2000-2004: ''Cruz y Raya.com'' * 2004-2007: ''Juan y José.show'' * 2009-2012: ''La Hora de José Mota'' * 2013–2014: ''La noche de José Mota'' * 2015–present: ''José Mota presenta'' * 2016: '' El hombre de tu vida '' * 2017: '' El acabose '' * 2019: ''Hoy no, mañana'' (director) * 2020–2021: '' Mask Singer: Adivina quién canta'' (panelist) * 2021: ''¿Y si sí...?'' (director)

Filmography

* 1990: ''Ni se te ocurra...'' (Luis María Delgado) as Jose. * 2000: ''Ekipo Ja'' (Juan Muñoz) as Tomás Rabero. * 2001: '' Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella'' (

) as a lifeguard. * 2005: '' Torrente 3: El protector'' (

) as Josito. * 2011: ''

As Luck Would Have It ''As Luck Would Have It'' ( es, La chispa de la vida, links=no) is a 2011 Spanish drama film directed by Álex de la Iglesia. It stars José Sánchez Mota and Salma Hayek. Mota plays an unemployed advertising executive who has a potentially life-t ...

'' (

Álex de la Iglesia Alejandro "Álex" de la Iglesia Mendoza (born 4 December 1965) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter, producer and former comic book artist. De la Iglesia's films combine grotesque and very dark elements such as death and murder: most of his ...

) as Roberto Gómez. * 2017: ''

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. Etymology ''Abracadabra'' is of unknown origin, but according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', its first known occurrence ...

'' (

Pablo Berger Pablo Berger Uranga (born 1963) is a Spanish film director born in Bilbao, Spain. Life and work Pablo Berger attended primary and secondary school in Artxanda Trueba, located on the outskirts of Bilbao, Spain. In 1988 he directed his first sho ...

) as Pepe. * 2021: ''García y García'' (Ana Murugarren) as Javier García.

Dubbing

* 1998: ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...

'', as

Mushu The following are characters from Disney's 1998 film ''Mulan'', its 2004 sequel ''Mulan II'', and its 2020 remake ''Mulan''. The Fa / Hua family In the 2020 live-action film, the Fa family name is changed to Hua (花) in English. Hua is th ...

* 1999: ''Goomer'', as Oz and Receptionist * 2000: '' 102 Dalmatians'', as Waddlesworth * 2001: ''

'', as

Donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

* 2001: ''

'', as

Mike Wazowski Michael "Mike" Wazowski is a fictional character who appears in Disney/Pixar's Monsters Inc. franchise. He is a green one-eyed round monster with two arms, legs, and small horns. In the films, Mike is one of the two protagonists, alongside Jam ...

* 2003: ''

Brother Bear ''Brother Bear'' is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 44th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert ...

'', as Rutt the Moose * 2003: ''

Rugrats Go Wild ''Rugrats Go Wild'' is a 2003 American animated crossover adventure film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''Rugrats'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys''. It is the third and final installment in the ''Rugrats'' film series and the se ...

'', as Spike * 2004: ''

Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book ''Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by DreamWorks Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek'' (2001) and the seco ...

'', as Donkey * 2007: ''

Shrek the Third ''Shrek the Third'' (also known as ''Shrek 3'') is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The se ...

'', as Donkey * 2008: '' Hellboy II: The Golden Army'', as

Abe Sapien Abraham Sapien, born Langdon Everett Caul, is a fictional character introduced in the comic book series ''Hellboy'', created by Mike Mignola. He takes his name from "''Ichthyo sapien''", the fanciful species designation chosen for him by his co ...

* 2010: ''

Shrek Forever After ''Shrek Forever After'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book ''Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to ''Shrek the Thi ...

'', as Donkey * 2011: ''

Zookeeper A zookeeper, sometimes referred as animal keeper, is a person who manages zoo animals that are kept in captivity for conservation or to be displayed to the public.Hurwitz, Jane. Choosing a Career in Animal Care (World of Work). New York: Rosen Gr ...

'' as Donald * 2013: ''

Monsters University ''Monsters University'' is a 2013 American computer-animated monster comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Kori ...

'', as

* 2016: ''

The Angry Birds Movie ''The Angry Birds Movie'' (also known simply as ''Angry Birds'') is a 2016 computer-animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation, and distributed by S ...

'', as Chuck * 2019: ''

The Angry Birds Movie 2 ''The Angry Birds Movie 2'' is a 2019 computer-animated action comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's '' Angry Birds'' video game series, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pi ...

'', as Chuck

Theater

* 1987: ''60 personajes en busca de humor'' (in

) * 2006: '' The Producers'' (Spanish version).

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mota, Jose Living people 1965 births Spanish comedians Spanish impressionists (entertainers) Male actors from Castilla–La Mancha People from the Province of Ciudad Real Spanish male stage actors Spanish male voice actors Spanish male film actors Spanish male television actors 21st-century Spanish male actors