Élie Semoun (born Élie Semhoun on 16 October 1963) is a French comedian, actor, director, writer and singer.

Life and career

Élie Semoun was born in France, to a

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family of Moroccan-Jewish and Algerian-Jewish descent. In 1980 at the age of 17, Semoun wrote two collections of poems and two plays ("Pièce d'identité" and "Pièce décousue"). He graduated from high school at the Lycée Descartes in Antony (Hauts-de-Seine) in 1982. 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 on 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 The Café de la Gare () is a dinner theater located at 41, rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It lies in a square hidden between Notre Dame de Paris and the historic Marais district.Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

'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 that he left to appear in the United States) and antisemitism. Dieudonné managed the financial aspects of their career, and Semoun felt their money was not divided equitably.Témoignage d'Élie Semoun dans l'émission '' La parenthèse inattendue'',

France 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

, 14 novembre 2012 Breaking out on his own, Semoun continued his success with '' Petites Annonces d'Élie'' (which had at first been intended to be a show with Dieudonné) alongside his friend the actor Franck Dubosc. Once again his performance was promoted by his friend on the show '' Les Enfants de la télé (France) '' Inspired by actual classified ads recorded by them in a van, the "Petites Annonces d'Élie" (Élie's Classified Ads) 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 Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the French Socialist Party, First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and th ...

during the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

of 2002. In 2003, he released an album of French songs called simply "Chansons". In early 2005, he performed in a show (co-authored with Franck Dubosc and Muriel Robin) entitled ''Élie Semoun se prend pour qui?'' In the years following his separation with Dieudonné, Élie Semoun maintained a complex and strained relationship with his former partner. First strained, then reconciled, they have again grown apart during the public controversy aroused by the political stances of Dieudonné. "Some have speculated on the reunion of our duo, but I must tell you that this is clearly out of the question! It's over." In 2012, he declared that "the Dieudonné he knew and the Dieudonné of today appear to him like two completely different people, and he is unable to reconcile them in his mind". An album entitled ''Sur le fil'' (On the Edge) 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 Doué-la-Fontaine () is a former Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. On 30 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Doué-en-Anjou. It is located in the heart of Duchy of ...

at the Festival d'Anjou. In 2007, he signed a petition disagreeing with

Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...

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 Taza () is a city in northern Morocco occupying the corridor between the Rif mountains and Middle Atlas mountains, about 120 km east of Fez and 150 km south of Al Hoceima. It recorded a population of 148,406 in the 2019 Moroccan ...

, and worked for the French Postal Service. His mother, Denise Malka, born in

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran and is the capital of Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the port of Rachgoun. It had a population of ...

in Algeria, was a French teacher. She died of

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

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 Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. 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. According to

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...

, the actor has been in a relationship with Aude Fraineau, a worker in

audiovisual Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. Audiovisual service provide ...

production who is thirty years younger than him (born in 1990), since 2023. In 2025 he announced on the

Quotidien ''Quotidien'' () is a French television show, first broadcast 12 September 2016 on the channel TMC. It is presented by Yann Barthès. History On 9 May 2016, Yann Barthès announced that he was leaving Canal+'s '' Le Petit Journal'', a progr ...

show that she would give birth soon.

Shows

*1991: ''Élie Semoun et Dieudonné au Théâtre du Splendid Saint-Martin'', directed by

Pascal Légitimus Pascal Légitimus (born 13 March 1959) is a French actor, comedian and theatre director. He is a member of the well-known French comedy band Les Inconnus. Personal life He is the son of an Armenian theater seamstress, Madeleine Kambourian, and ...

*1996: ''Élie Semoun et Dieudonné en garde à vue'' *1999: ''Élie et Semoun au Palais des Glaces'', directed by Muriel Robin *2002: ''Élie Semoun à l'Olympia'', directed by Roger Louret *2005–2006: ''Élie Semoun se prend pour qui ?'', directed by Roger Louret *2008–2009: ''Merki…'', directed by Roger Louret *2012: ''Tranches de Vies'', directed by Muriel Robin

Theater

*2012: '' Tartarin de Tarascon'' by Jérôme Savary, directed by the author, Théâtre André Malraux *2012: '' Inconnu à cette adresse'' by Kressmann Taylor, directed by Delphine de Malherbe,

théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau Théâtre Antoine-Simone Berriau () is a theater located at 14 boulevard de Strasbourg in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The 800-seat Italian Style theater was built in the year 1866. It functioned under a variety of names through the years, ...

*2014: ''Le Placard'' by Francis Veber, directed by the author,

Théâtre des Nouveautés The Théâtre des Nouveautés ("Theatre of the New") is a Parisian theatre built in 1921 and located at 24 boulevard Poissonnière (Paris, 9th arr.). The name was also used by several earlier Parisian theatre companies and their buildings, begin ...

Filmography

Television

*1989: ''Pause-café'' Pause Tendresse de Serge Leroy (3rd episode): ''Alberto'' *1988–1991: ''Vivement lundi!'' *1990: ''Édouard et ses filles'' by

Michel Lang Michel Lang (9 June 1939 – 24 April 2014) was a French film director, film and television director, best remembered for his comedy films in the late 1970s and 1980s. After 1990, he directed predominantly for French television. Lang was educa ...

*1996: ''François Kleber – L'Embrouilleur'' *1996: ''

Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created ...

– Maigret tend un piège'' *2001–2003: '' Caméra Café'' (at least 3 episodes) *2002: ''Si j'étais lui'' by Philippe Triboit *2004: '' Kaamelott'' (5 episodes) *2008: ''Rien dans les poches'' by Marion Vernoux *2010: ''Un divorce de chien'' by Lorraine Lévy : ''Julien'' *2011: ''Very Bad Blagues'' de Palmashow (épisode 58) *2012: '' Bref'' by

Kyan Khojandi Kyan Khojandi (born 29 August 1982) is a French comedian, actor and screenwriter born to a French mother and an Iranian father. He is best known for playing the main character in the television series '' Bref'', which was broadcast on Canal+ f ...

(episode 53) *2013: ''Hitchcock by Mocky'' – episode "Selon la loi" *2013: ''Nos chers voisins fêtent l'été'' : ''Ludovic, un représentant de commerce, victime de la ruse des voisins'' *2013: ''Y'a pas d'âge'' (1 episode) *2013: ''What Ze Teuf'' (2 episodes) : ''lui-même''

Film

*1988: ''Toilette-Zone'' by Laurence Arcadias *1995: ''

Les Trois Frères ''The Three Brothers'' () is a 1995 French comedy film written, directed by and starring Didier Bourdon and Bernard Campan alongside their Les Inconnus partner Pascal Légitimus. The film won the award for Best Debut at the César Award C ...

'' by

Bernard Campan Bernard Campan (born 4 April 1958) is a French actor, film director and writer. He is a member of Les Inconnus trio of humorists. He won a César Award for Best Debut for ''Les Trois Frères'', and was nominated for best actor for his role in '' ...

and

Didier Bourdon Didier Bourdon (; born 23 January 1959) is a French actor, screenwriter, and film director.

: ''Brice'' *1995: ''Les Bidochon'' by

Serge Korber Serge Korber (1 February 1936 – 23 January 2022) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 40 films between 1962 and 2007. Successful as the director of comedies starring Louis de Funès in ''L'homme orchestre'' and '' ...

: ''René'' *1996: ''Titus et Cortex'' by Jean Claude Buziac *1996: '' Tout doit disparaître'' by Philippe Muyl: ''Gérard Piche'' *1997: ''Les Démons de Jésus'' by Bernie Bonvoisin: ''Gérard'' *1997: ''Le Clone'' by Fabio Conversi: ''Thomas'' *1997: '' Que la lumière soit'' by

Arthur Joffé Arthur Joffé (born 20 September 1953) is a French film director, the son of the director and screenwriter Alex Joffé.Philippe Rège, ''Encyclopedia of French Film Directors'', volume 1, p. 538 He was awarded the Short Film Palme d'Or, Palme d'O ...

: '' God the shopkeeper'' *1998: ''Charité biz'ness'' by Thierry Barthes: ''Momo/Massipu'' *1998: ''Les Grandes Bouches'' by Bernie Bonvoisin: ''Fichier'' *1999: ''L'Ami du jardin'' by Jean-Louis Bouchaud *1999: ''Les Parasites'' by Philippe de Chauveron: ''Brigadier Max Schmitt'' *1999: ''Love Me'' by Laetitia Masson: ''l'amoureux'' *1999: ''Stringer'' by Klaus Biedermann: ''Filo'' *2000: '' Old School'' by Karim Abbou and Kader Ayd: ''Dealer'' *2000: '' Deuxième vie'' by Patrick Braoudé: ''Steve Michaud'' *2002: ''Si j'étais lui'' by Philippe Triboit: ''Tristan'' *2003: '' The Car Keys'' by Laurent Baffie: ''Himself'' *2004: ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' by Fabien Onteniente: ''Cyril Legall'' *2004: ''Casablanca Driver'' by Maurice Barthélemy: ''Mr. X'' *2004: '' Les Dalton'' by Philippe Haim: Docteur Doxey / Customs Officer *2004: ''La vie de Michel Muller est plus belle que la vôtre'' by Michel Muller *2005: ''Iznogoud'' by Patrick Braoudé: ''Prince'' *2005: '' Once Upon a Time in the Oued'' by Djamel Bensalah: ''Maitre d'hôtel'' *2005: ''

Riviera () is an Italian word which means , ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria (the Genoa region in northwestern Italy) in the form , then shortened in English. Riviera may a ...

'' by Anne Villacèque: ''Romansky'' *2005: ''Aux abois'' by Philippe Collin: ''Paul'' *2008: ''

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 Muni ...

'' by

Frédéric Forestier Frédéric Forestier (born 1969) is a French director. Filmography Director * 1993 ''Paranoïa'' (short film) * 1997 '' The Peacekeeper'' * 2002 '' Le Boulet'' - More than 3 million ticket sales in France. * 2005 ''Les Parrains'' - More than ...

and

Thomas Langmann Thomas Langmann (born 24 May 1971) is a French film producer and actor, known for producing '' The Artist'' (2011), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Picture as producer in 2012. Career Langmann began his career as an actor in his ...

: ''Judge Omega'' *2008: '' 15 ans et demi'' by Thomas Sorriaux and François Desagnat: ''Angry Automobilist'' *2009: ''Cyprien'' by David Charhon: ''Cyprien'' *2009: '' Park Benches'' by

Bruno Podalydès Bruno Podalydès (born 11 March 1961) is a French writer, film director, producer and actor. His brother Denis Podalydès is also an actor. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Podalydes, Bruno 1961 births L ...

: ''Le dragueur'' *2009: '' Neuilly sa mère !'' by Gabriel Julien-Laferrière: ''Court Bailiff'' *2010: ''La Chance de ma vie'' by Nicolas Cuche: ''Philippe Markus'' *2011: '' L'Élève Ducobu'' by Philippe de Chauveron: ''Gustave Latouche'' *2012: ''Les Vacances de Ducobu'' by Philippe de Chauveron: ''Gustave Latouche'' *2012: '' Les Kaïra'' by Franck Gastambide: ''lui-même'' *2014: '' Les Trois Frères : le retour'' by

Didier Bourdon Didier Bourdon (; born 23 January 1959) is a French actor, screenwriter, and film director.

and

: ''Mr Gérard'' *2014: ''Les Francis'' by Fabrice Begotti: ''Prefect'' *2014: '' Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?'' by Philippe de Chauveron *2014: ''La Grande séduction'' by Stéphane Meunier *2018: '' Neuilly sa mère, sa mère !'' by Gabriel Julien-Laferrière *2020: ''Ducobu 3'': Gustave Latouche *2022: ''Ducobu Président!'': Gustave Latouche Short films *1985: ''Poussière d'étoiles'' by

Agnès Merlet Agnès Merlet (born 4 January 1959) is a French film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in ...

*2000: ''Le Truc'' by Stéphane Bélaïsch *2007: '' Dominique Laffin, portrait d'une enfant pas sage'', by Laurent Perrin *2012: ''L'âge de Glace 4: Élie Semoun visite Blue Sky''; (document shown Sunday 24 juin 2012 by Gulli). *2014: ''

Les Trois Frères, le retour ''Les Trois Frères, le retour'' () is a 2014 French film written, directed by and starring Didier Bourdon and Bernard Campan alongside their Les Inconnus partner Pascal Légitimus. It is the sequel to the blockbuster film ''Les Trois Frères''. ...

Voice Work

Film

Animated films

*1995: ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...

'': French voice of Wiggins *2002: ''The Magic Roundabout'' directed by Dave Borthwick: voice of Zébulon *2002: ''

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

'' directed by

Chris Wedge John Christian Wedge (born March 20, 1957) is an American filmmaker, animator, and voice actor. He is best known for being the lead animator of the sci-fi action film ''Tron'' (1982), co-founding the now defunct animation studio Blue Sky Studios ...

: French voice of Sid *2002: ''Gouille et Gar'' by Gamer (short film): voice of Gouille *2005: ''

Robots" \n\n\n\n\n\n\nrobots.txt is the filename used for implementing the Robots Exclusion Protocol, a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the website they are allowed to visit.\n\nThe sta ...

'' of

: French voice of Fender *2006: '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'' directed by

Carlos Saldanha Carlos Saldanha (; born 24 January 1965) is a Brazilian animator, director, producer, and voice actor of animated films who worked with Blue Sky Studios until its closure in 2021. He was the director of ''Ice Age: The Meltdown'' (2006), ''Ice Ag ...

: French voice of Sid *2006: ''

Charlotte's Web ''Charlotte's Web'' is a book of children's literature by American author E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams. It was published on October 15, 1952, by Harper & Brothers. It tells the story of a livestock pig named Wilbur and his frie ...

'' directed by Gary Winick: French voice of Rat Templeton *2009: '' Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs'': French voice of Sid *2010: '' A Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventures'': French voice of adult Ray *2010: ''Allez raconte !'' directed by Jean-Christophe Roger: Éric *2011: ''

Animals United ''Animals United'' is a 2010 German animated adventure comedy film directed and produced by Reinhard Klooss and Holger Tappe and released on 7 October 2010. The film stars Ralf Schmitz and Thomas Fritsch as a meerkat named Billy and a lion nam ...

'': French voice of Billy the Meerkat *2011: '' Émilie Jolie'' directed by Francis Nielsen and Philippe Chatel: voices of Belzébuth and Prince Charming *2012: '' Ice Age: Continental Drift'' : French voice of Sid *2012: '' Sammy's Great Escape'' directed by Ben Stassen : French voice of adult Ray *2014: '' The Mansions of the Gods'' directed by Alexandre Astier : voice of Ubiquitus *2016: '' Ice Age: Collision Course'': French voice of Sid

Television

Series

*1988: ''Les Années collège'' : Joey Jeremiah ( Pat Mastroianni)

Shows with Dieudonné

*1991–1993: ''Élie et Dieudonné'' *1993: ''L'avis des bêtes - Une certaine idée de la France'' *1996: ''Élie et Dieudonné en garde à vue''

Shows with Franck Dubosc

*''Les Petites Annonces d'Élie'' *''Élie Annonce Semoun 2000'' *''Élie Annonce Semoun : la suite de La suite''

Video

*1999: ''Élie et Semoun au Palais des Glaces'' *2000: ''Élie annonce Semoun'', 5th volume of short ads (55 classified ads) *2002: ''Les Petites Annonces d'Élie l'intégrale'', the first 3 volumes released on VHS in the late 1990s and the unprecedented volume 4 (the best of the first 3) (167 classified ads) *2002 : ''Élie Semoun à l' Olympia

Bruno Coquatrix Bruno Coquatrix (; 5 August 1910, Ronchin, Nord – 1 April 1979) was a French record producer, the owner and manager of Olympia in Paris from 1954 until his death in 1979. Career Coquatrix was first known as a song and music writer. He wrot ...

'' *2003 : ''Élie annonce Semoun, la suite'', 6th volume of classified ads *2006 : ''Élie Semoun se prend pour qui ?'' *2007 : ''Élie annonce Semoun, la suite de la suite'', 7th volume of classified ads (56 classified ads) *2008 : ''Merki'' *2008 : ''Les Petites Annonces d'Élie (l'essentiel)''(more than160 classified ads) *2012 : ''Tranches de vies''

Video games

*1998 : ''

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

'' (voiceover promotional advertising

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

console "Up to six billion players") *2003 : '' Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc'' (Les Ptizêtres, additional voices)

Albums

*2003 : ''Chansons'' *2007 : ''Sur le fil''

Books

*''Les Annonces en BD'',

bande dessinée (singular ; literally 'drawn strips'), abbreviated BDs and also referred to as Franco-Belgian comics (), are comics that are usually originally in French and created for readership in France and Belgium. These countries have a long tradition ...

, Jungle : **Tome I, ''Si tu es blonde…'', 2004. **Tome II, ''J'suis choooquée'', 2005. **Best of 2009. *''Élie Semoun se prend pour qui ?'', graphic novel, Jungle, 2006. *''Kévina, Mikeline, Toufik et les autres…'', Fetjaine, 2008. *''Je grandirai plus tard'', Flammarion, 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Semoun, Elie 1963 births Living people People from Antony, Hauts-de-Seine Male actors from Île-de-France French male comedians French male television actors French male singers 20th-century French male actors 21st-century French male actors French humorists 20th-century French Sephardi Jews French male film actors French male voice actors French male writers Male actors from Paris Comedians from Paris