Gad Elmaleh

Gad Elmaleh (Arabic: جاد المالح, Gād el-Māleḥ; born 19 April 1971) is a Moroccan-Canadian stand-up comedian and actor. Best known in the French-speaking world, he has notably achieved fame in France, Morocco, and the United States.

He has starred in several feature films, including Coco, Priceless, La Doublure and Midnight in Paris. Voted the funniest person in France, he was named knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture; he was also named knight of the National Order of Quebec. In 2015 and 2018, Elmaleh did national comedy tours across the United States. In 2019, he starred in the Netflix series Huge in France.

Early years

Elmaleh was born and raised in Casablanca to a Moroccan Sephardic Jewish family. He was brought up in a culturally diverse environment, speaking Moroccan Arabic and French. As a child he would introduce his father, a mime, with a placard. His brother, Arié, is an actor and singer, and his sister, Judith, is an actress and stage director.

He studied at École Maïmonide, and Lycée Lyautey in Casablanca. His family emigrated from Morocco to Canada when Elmaleh was 17. He later studied political science in Montreal at the University of Montreal and McGill University for four years but did not graduate. In 1992, Elmaleh moved to Paris to study drama at Cours Florent under the tutelage of Isabelle Nanty.