Who Is Gad Elmaleh? New Details About The Star Of 'Huge In France' On Netflix
It's his third Netflix show.
getty While Netflix is known for having a good collection of documentaries, limited series, and beloved television shows (Stranger Things, anyone?), they also feature some pretty great comedy stand-up shows and series. Back in January, Netflix premiered their series Comedians of the World, which featured 47 comics from 13 regions of the globe. Each episode featured a 13-minute stand-up routine, and we all got a taste of what life is like in different countries.
And Netflix’s new series, Huge in France, highlights the life of a comedian who moves to Los Angeles to connect with his son. And though he’s quite popular in his home country of France, he finds it a bit challenging to find that same success in America. The series stars comic Gad Elmaleh, a “widely known and beloved comedian in Europe,” according to his own website.
But who is Gad Elmaleh and what do we know about his career? Though Huge in France is semi-autobiographical, there’s a lot we don’t know about this comedian.
1. He’s from a culturally diverse background.
Elmaleh is French, Moroccan, and Canadian. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco, raised as a Moroccan Jew, and speaks four languages. He studied at Lycée Maïmonide and Lycée Lyautey in Morocco, and later studied political science at the University of Montreal, though he didn’t graduate.
He eventually moved to Paris at 21 to study at Cours Florent, a drama school, and pursue his dream of acting.
2. He’s had a successful career.
He performed his first one-man show in 1997, and after his second show, he began to gain momentum in the comedy circuit. Since then, he’s had six one-man shows and has performed them in Canada, America, Morocco, France, Belgium, and Switzerland, attracting over 300,000 fans!
In 2007, he sold out seven weeks at the Olympia theater in Paris, selling over one million tickets. In 2015, he began his American tour and moved to New York City and began performing at Joe’s Pub.
Elmaleh has been voted the funniest person in France, and was named knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture in France, as well as knight of the National Order of Quebec.
3. And he’s also appeared on television and in movies.
Elmaleh has been in multiple shows and movies, including Coco, Priceless, La Doublure, Midnight in Paris, Salut cousin!, The Round Up, L'homme est une femme comme les autres, Train de Vie, La Vérité si je mens! 2, La Vie Normale, The Adventures of Tintin, Jack & Jill, The Dictator, and Ole!. He voiced Barry B. Benson in the French version of Bee Movie, and also appeared in Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
4. It’s not his first show on Netflix.
In addition to Huge in France, Elmaleh has had two other specials: Gad Gone Wild, and American Dream. Though Gad Gone Wild was performed in French, American Dream was his first Netflix show in English.
In American Dream, he joked, “I’m sure you’ve heard this story so many times about the man who moved to America with one dollar in his pocket, and he worked so hard and he made a fortune. I moved here with a fortune. Same story, guys, I just did it backwards.”
5. He’s been accused of plagiarism.
In February 2019, a YouTube channel accused Elmaleh of stealing jokes from American comedians in multiple sketches. The channel put out a video that puts Elmaleh side by side with other comedians, accusing him of plagiarism. The video alleges he stole jokes from George Carlin, Steven Wright, Martin Matte, and Patrick Huard.
Elmaleh eventually responded to the accusations in character as “Chouchou,” one of his famous movie roles, wearing a bathrobe and makeup, telling the “angry” and “hateful” accusers to “go and get snuggled.”
6. He’s been in relationships with multiple women.
Elmaleh was in a relationship with Anne Brochet, a French actress, from 1998 to 2002. The exes had one child, son Noé. Brochet detailed their relationship and breakup in her book, Trajet d'une amoureuse éconduite.
He then dated Marie Drucker, a French journalist, from 2009 to 2010. His last relationship was with Charlotte Casiraghi, granddaughter of Grace Kelly and 11th in line for the throne of Monaco, from 2011 to 2015. Together, they have one son, Raphaël.
Samantha Maffucci is an editor for YourTango who focuses on writing trending news and entertainment pieces. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.