Stéphane De Groodt (born 3 March 1966) is a Belgian comedian, humorist and former

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

Life and career

Early life and education

Stéphane De Groodt is the son of an engineer at

Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...

and a housewife who takes care of handicapped children in foundations.

Dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

, he has a chaotic scholarity, which already translates his wills to play comedy. He did not obtain any graduation and decided to become a comedian as well as a

. His parents offered him a racing driver suit and a helmet. He then went through several small jobs, including barman, journalist, marketing assistant, editor and advertiser, while entering little by little the field of the competition. He learned to become a comedian in the evening on stage while dedicating the weekends to

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

Auto racing career

While cooking meal to sell it at restaurants, Stéphane De Groodt paid the auto racing school of

La Châtre La Châtre () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Population Personalities *It was the birthplace of Henri de Latouche and Emile Acollas. André Boillot the auto racing driver crashed here in 1932 and died from his injur ...

near

Châteauroux Châteauroux (; ; oc, Chasteurós) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Ch ...

where he met the Belgian racing driver

Eric van de Poele Eric van de Poele (born 30 September 1961) is a Belgian racing driver and former Formula One driver. He participated in 29 Grands Prix, in 1991 and 1992. He is a three-times class winner at 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won three Formula 3000 races i ...

. He was a professional racing driver from 1985 to 2000, and rose to fame especially with

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

at the 2001 Spa 24 Hours, and even at the

BMW M1 Procar Championship The BMW M1 Procar Championship, sometimes known simply as Procar, was a one-make auto racing series created by Jochen Neerpasch, head of BMW Motorsport GmbH, the racing division of automobile manufacturer BMW. The series pitted professional ...

in which he received the title of Champion of Belgium in BMW Compact Cup. In 2000, he left the auto racing competition to become a full-time comedian.

Television and radio career

Stéphane De Groodt created the series ''File dans ta chambre'', broadcast since 14 January 2002 on channels

RTBF The ''Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française'' (RTBF, ''Belgian Radio-television of the French Community'', branded as rtbf.be) is a public service broadcaster delivering radio and television services to the French-speaking Commu ...

, Canal+ Belgique and

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 ...

, and in which the texts are co-written by his wife

Odile d'Oultremont Odile is a feminine given name of French origin, and may refer to: Characters * Odile, the evil black swan of '' Swan Lake'' * Odile de Caray, in the 1966 film ''Eye of the Devil'' * Odile, a principal character in the 1964 Jean-Luc Godard film ...

. The series are small episodes in which he portrays Lucien, a totally uncultivated father attempting to answer the questions asked by his 10-year-old son Clovis about a definition or an expression. At the end of every episode, his son answers that he thought it meant something else, which is in fact the real sense of the definition or meaning of the expression. After that, the father does not believe his son and orders him to go to his room, which is the reference to the title of the series. In September 2012, Stéphane De Groodt features every Sunday on the program ''Le Supplément'' on Canal+ with

Maïtena Biraben Maïtena Biraben (born 2 July 1967) is a French- Swiss television presenter and producer. She has notably presented on France 5 the program ''Les Maternelles'' and on Canal+ ''La Matinale'' and ''Le Supplément''. From September 2015 to June 201 ...

, in which he presents a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

of a few minutes titled ''Retour vers le futur''. This column functions the same way than the one he presented until 2012 on the program ''La Matinale'' on Canal+ and also with Maïtena Biraben and Caroline Roux, where he talked about his meeting with famous characters with a humoristic tune and a mixture of

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

s and

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s. He also presented a ''courrier des téléspectateurs'' (French for "mail of the viewers"), imaginary and funny. He pursued this column weekly on RTL with Stéphane Bern on the radio program ''À la bonne heure'' where he comments a fake mail of improbable auditors. In September 2013, after having left RTL, he joined

France Inter France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a "generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, li ...

on the radio program ''Comme on nous parle'' with

Pascale Clark Pascale is a common Francophone given name, the feminine of the name Pascal. The same spelling is also an Italian form of the masculine name ''Pascal'', and an Italian surname derived from the given name. Pascale derives from the Latin ''pa ...

every Thursday, where he presents a column of a few minutes titled ''Mes mails'', in which he comments a number of fake

E-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic ( digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

s of auditors addressed to France Inter and Pascale Clark.

Acting career

Stéphane De Groodt began his acting career playing a number of roles in many television series such as ''Faux Contact'' and a recurring role in the French crime series ''Boulevard du Palais'' from 1999 to 2007. He then played supporting roles in a number of minor films, but also in well-known films like ''

Asterix at the Olympic Games ''Asterix at the Olympic Games'' is the 12th comic book album in the Asterix series. Serialized in Pilote issues 434–455 in 1968 (to coincide with the Mexico City Olympics), it was translated into English in 1972 (to coincide with the Munich ...

'' (2008) and '' Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia'' (2012). In 2010, he replaced Serge Hazanavicius for the role of the veterinary François Kleber in the series ''Mes amis, mes amours, mes emmerdes...'' at the beginning of the second season. In 2013, he played a guest role in the sixth and seventh season of series ''

Fais pas ci, fais pas ça ''Fais pas ci, fais pas ça'' (English translation: ''Don't do this, don't do that'') is a French television series created by Anne Giafferi and Thierry Bizot. The series debuted on September 8, 2007, on France 2. Cast Main characters Su ...

'', in which French actress

Frédérique Bel Frédérique Bel (born 24 March 1975) is a French actress and model. A native of Annecy in the French Alps, she became known for her role as Dorothy Doll in the ''La Minute Blonde'' sequence from '' Le Grand Journal'' on Canal+. She has since pl ...

also had a recurring role since the fourth season. He then played a more important role in the choral comedy ''

Barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...

'' (2014) alongside

Franck Dubosc Franck Dubosc (; born 7 November 1963) is a French actor, comedian and stand-up artist. Dubosc occupies 94th place in the list of the most profitable actors of French cinema.

and Florence Foresti. In 2015, he played his first main role in the comedy-drama '' Paris-Willouby'' with

Isabelle Carré Isabelle Carré (born 28 May 1971) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 70 films since 1989. She won a César Award for Best Actress for her role in '' Se souvenir des belles choses'' (2001), and has been nominated a further six ti ...

. Two years later, he played one of the main roles in the romantic comedy '' L'Un das l'autre'' (2017) alongside

Louise Bourgoin Louise Bourgoin (; born Ariane Louise Bourgoin, 28 November 1981) is a French actress, model and television presenter. Life and career She was born on 28 November 1981 in Rennes. Bourgoin's parents, both secondary level teachers, encouraged ...

. In 2018, he returns playing in the team comedy '' Nothing to Hide'', which was one of the biggest film successes of the year with nearly 2 million viewers, and in which he played alongside

Bérénice Bejo Bérénice Bejo (; born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001) and Peppy Miller in '' The Artist'' (2011). Her work in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

and the former Miss Météo

Doria Tillier Doria Tillier (born 27 March 1986) is a French actress. Life and career She was born to a mathematician father and a mother who restores paintings, and she was a student in one of the oldest and most prestigious French high schools, Lycée Condo ...

Personal life

Stéphane De Groodt married in 2014 the novelist and screenwriter

, with whom he has been in couple since 2000. They are now separated, but after having co-written together the series ''File dans ta chambre'' broadcast on

, they have still been collaborating.

Style

Stéphane De Groodt and his very literary

surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surrea ...

which include the unbridled rhythm of

s make him often think about other famous humorists such as

Raymond Devos Raymond Devos (; 9 November 1922 – 15 June 2006) was a Belgian-French humorist, stand-up comedian and clown. He is best known for his sophisticated puns and surreal humour. Early life Devos was born in Mouscron, Belgium, close to the Frenc ...

and

Pierre Desproges Pierre Desproges (9 May 1939 – 18 April 1988) was a French humorist. He was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis. According to himself, he made no significant achievements before the age of 30. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as: life insurance sal ...

, which often causes the complete misunderstanding of some of his special guests.

Filmography

;Film *''Mauvais Genres'' (2001) ... Pryzuski *''Trois petites filles'' (2004) ... inspector *''Casablanca Driver'' (2004) ... patient *''Pour le plaisir'' (2004) ... café owner *''25 degrés en hiver'' (2004) ... working inspector *''Saint-Jacques... La Mecque'' (2005) ... priest of

Navarrenx Navarrenx (; oc, Navarrencs, ; eu, Nabarrengose, eu, label=Zuberoan dialect, Zuberoan, Nabarrenkoxe) is a town and communes of France, commune in the departments of France, French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques (Béarn) and the region of ...

*''

'' (2008) ... Numéric *''Baby blues'' (2008) ... Sacha *''Une chaîne pour deux'' (2008) *''Le Siffleur'' (2010) ... Martial *''Sans laisser de traces'' (2010) ... Kazinski *'' Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia'' (2012) ... stadium decurion *''Chez nous c'est trois !'' (2013) ... Gabriel *''

'' (2014) ... Alexandre *'' Do Not Disturb'' (2014) ... Pavel *''

Les Gazelles ''Gazelles'' (french: Les gazelles) is a 2014 French comedy film directed by Mona Achache. Plot Marie and Eric, a couple in their thirties who have been together since college, buy their first apartment when Marie is suddenly overcome by doubt. ...

'' (2014) ... M. Hublot *'' Paris-Willouby'' (2015) ... Maurice Guilby *''

Fanny's Journey ''Fanny's Journey'' (original title: ''Le Voyage de Fanny'') is a 2016 French-Belgian children's war drama film co-written and directed by Lola Doillon. The film is inspired by the autobiographical memoir ''Le journal de Fanny'' by Fanny Ben-Ami ...

'' (2016) ... Jean *''

Chacun sa vie et son intime conviction ''Everyone's Life'' (''Chacun sa vie et son intime conviction'') is a 2017 French comedy film written and directed by Claude Lelouch. Synopsis Twelve tales about intimate convictions leading to a thirteenth. Casting The film reunites severa ...

'' (2017) *'' Nothing to Hide'' (2018) ... Vincent *''

The Butcher's Daughter ''The Butcher Daughter '' (french: Tendre et saignant) is a French film directed by Christopher Thompson (actor) in 2021. It had a cinema release in France the 18 January 2022. Plot On the death of her father, Charly Fleury inherits the family bu ...

'' (2021) ... Miguel Amestoy *'' Bigbug'' (2022) ... Max ;Television *''Faux Contact'' (1997–2000) ... adjutant Stéphane Coelenbier *''Boulevard du Palais'' (1999–2007) ... Pascal Jagot (season 1 to 9) *''

Joséphine, ange gardien ''Josephine, Guardian Angel'' (Joséphine, ange gardien) is a French television series. It has been aired since 1997 on TF1 (France). Plot Joséphine Delamarre is a guardian angel that Heaven sends to earth. With her psychological insight, abi ...

'' (Episode : "La vérité en face") (2002) ... The receptionist *''Mon voisin du dessus'' (TV film) (2003) ... Rémi *''Mon vrai père'' (TV film) (2004) ... Alain Perini *''Petit Homme'' (TV film) (2005) ... Grégoire *''Je hais les vacances'' (TV film) (2007) ... Étienne *''Vive les vacances !'' (2009) ... Christophe *''Joséphine, ange gardien'' (Episode : "Police Blues") (2009) ... Commander Levasseur *''Tombé sur la tête'' (2010) ... Bertrand *''35 kilos d'espoir'' (2010) ... Marc *''Mes amis, mes amours, mes emmerdes...'' (2010) ... François Kleber *''Merci patron'' (TV film) (2011) ... François *''Le Sang de la vigne'' (2013) ... Cluzel (1 episode) *''

'' (2013) ... Pierre-Henri Delage (season 6)

Publications

* * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Groodt, Stephane Belgian racing drivers International Formula 3000 drivers Porsche Supercup drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Belgian male actors Belgian male comedians 1966 births Male actors from Brussels Living people FIA GT Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Belgian male television actors Belgian male film actors 20th-century Belgian male actors 21st-century Belgian male actors Racing drivers from Brussels