José Sánchez Mota (born 30 June 1965) is a Spanish

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

, television director, satirist, singer and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, notable for his television comedy shows. He was member, with Juan Muñoz, of the comedy duo ''

Cruz y Raya Cruz is mostly a surname but is also used as a first name. It is of Iberian Peninsula, Iberian origin, first found in Castile (historical region), Castile, Spain, and later spread throughout the territories of the former Spanish Empire, Spanish ...

'' 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, with whom he began his career as a comedian. The two started performing shows at small theaters in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, 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 (). 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 laun ...

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 :es:Fernando Conde, Fernando Conde. Their style was characterized by grotesque gags on everyday life and caricatures of famous ...

at several New Year's Eve special shows.

Other works while at Cruz y Raya

Mota has also given 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 animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Cobu ...

'' and the ''

Shrek ''Shrek'' is a 2001 American animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Joe Stillman, and Roger S. H. Schulman, loosely based on the 1990 children's picture boo ...

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

s in TV shows such as ''

7 vidas ''7 Vidas'' is a Spanish sitcom that 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, wh ...

'' 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''. 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 (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 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...

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. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

. 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 Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (; born 7 June 1974) is a British adventurer, writer, television presenter and former Special Air Service, SAS trooper who is also a survival expert. He first drew attention after embarking on a number of notable ...

'' sketches. In 2013 he created the sketch show '' La noche de José Mota'', 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 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.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'' ( Álex de la Iglesia) as Roberto Gómez. * 2017: ''

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an Apotropaic magic, apotropaic incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. The actual origin is unknown, but one of the first appearances of the word was in a second-century work ...

'' ( Pablo Berger) as Pepe. * 2021: ''García y García'' (Ana Murugarren) as Javier García. * 2023: '' Little Red Riding Wolf'' (

Chus Gutiérrez María Jesús "Chus" Gutiérrez (born 1962) is a Spanish director, writer, and actress. Gutiérrez has experiences of moving back and forth between Spain and the United States, which influenced her filmmaking, as her films are known for discussing ...

) as Alberto

Dubbing

* 1998: ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary Chinese folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century Common Era, CE) of Chinese history. Scholar, Scholars generally consider Mulan to be a fictional character. Hua Mulan is depicte ...

'', as

Mushu Mushu is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''Mulan (franchise), Mulan'' franchise, first appearing in the 1998 animated film ''Mulan (1998 film), Mulan''. A small Chinese dragon, Mushu was a Tutelary deity#Chinese f ...

* 1999: ''Goomer'', as Oz and Receptionist * 2000: ''

102 Dalmatians ''102 Dalmatians'' is a 2000 American crime comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. Directed by Kevin Lima from a screenplay by Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, Bob Tzudiker and N ...

'', as Waddlesworth * 2001: ''

'', as

Donkey The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

* 2001: ''

'', as Mike Wazowski * 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. It was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker and produced by Chuck Williams, f ...

'', as Rutt the Moose * 2003: '' Rugrats Go Wild'', as Spike * 2004: ''

Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Sti ...

'', as Donkey * 2007: ''

Shrek the Third ''Shrek the Third'' (also known as ''Shrek 3'') is a 2007 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig. Directed by Chris Miller and co-directed by Raman Hui from a sc ...

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

Abe Sapien Abraham Sapien, born Langdon Everett Caul, is a fictional character 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 colleagues in ...

* 2010: ''

Shrek Forever After ''Shrek Forever After'' is a 2010 American animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig. Directed by Mike Mitchell (in his animated directorial debut) and written by Josh Klausner and ...

'', 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 animated Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. A prequel to ''Monsters, Inc.'' (2001), it was directed by Dan Scanlon (in his fea ...

'', as Mike Wazowski * 2016: ''

The Angry Birds Movie ''The Angry Birds Movie'' is a 2016 animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's ''Angry Birds'' franchise, produced by Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film was directed by Clay Kay ...

'', as Chuck * 2019: ''

The Angry Birds Movie 2 ''The Angry Birds Movie 2'' is a 2019 animated comedy film based on the ''Angry Birds'' video game series. It is the second installment in the Angry Birds film series, and was directed by Thurop Van Orman from a screenplay by Peter Ackerman, ...

'', as Chuck

Theater

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

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mota, Jose Living people 1965 births Spanish male 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 21st-century Spanish comedians