
Élie Semoun
Biography
Élie Semoun (born Élie Semhoun on 16 October 1963) is a French comedian, actor, director, writer and singer.
Élie Semoun was born in France, to a Sephardic Jewish family of Moroccan-Jewish and Algerian-Jewish descent. In 1980 at the age of 17, Semoun wrote two collections of poems and two plays. 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 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 in 1991. The duo acquired a certain notoriety in 1992 after several appearances on their fellow comedian Arthur'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.
Breaking out on his own, Semoun continued his success with Petites Annonces d'Élie (which had been at first 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 during the presidential election 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?
Élie Semoun maintained in the years following his separation with Dieudonné 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". ...
Source: Article "Élie Semoun" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Acting (123 movies)

Camping : histoire d'un succès
2021

Bonsoir Monsieur Devos
2023

Les Enfoirés 2023 - Enfoirés un jour, toujours
2023

Asterix at the Olympic Games
2008

Ducobu 4 President
2022

My Darling Family
2024

Les Démons de Jésus
1997

La presque soirée présidentielle
2017

Les Parasites
1999

Départ immédiat
2012

Elie Semoun et ses monstres
2023

Everything Must Disappear
1997

The Three Brothers
1995

Cyprien
2009

Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
2014

Park Benches
2009

Ducoboo
2011

Le grand show des humoristes - Spécial couples
2021

Les petites annonces d'Elie - L'intégrale
2002

Second Chance
2011

The Storytelling Show
2010

Les Grandes Bouches
1999

Les seigneurs du château
2021

The Car Keys
2003

Le Clone
1998

Elie Semoun - Merki...
2009

Elie Semoun se prend pour qui ?
2006

Elie Semoun - Elie et Semoun au Palais des Glaces
1999

Elie Semoun - Elie annonce Semoun, la suite...
2003

Ducobu 5
2024

Carte Blanche à Anne Roumanoff
2011

Elie Semoun à l'Olympia
2002

Riviera
2006

Second life
2000

Aux abois
2005

Ducoboo 2: Crazy Vacation
2012

Drôles de familles
2022

La vie de Michel Muller est plus belle que la vôtre
2005

Stringer
1999

Élie & Dieudonné
1992

Elie & Dieudonné - Une certaine idée de la France
1994

Elie & Dieudonné - En garde à vue
1996

They Love Each Other... Well, Almost!
2022

Elie Semoun : Tranches de vies
2012

Classico
2022

Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods
2014

Elie Semoun - Elie annonce Semoun
2002

Emilie Jolie
2011

Soirée Pyjama
2019

If I Was Him
2002

Un divorce de chien
2010

Two Much for the Job
2022

Surviving Sid
2008

Let There Be Light!
1998

Les Bidochon
1996

Zapping Family
2005

Jamel et ses amis au Marrakech du rire 2022 : 10 ans
2022

Le meilleur des annonces d'Elie Semoun
2017

Porn in the Hood
2012

Arnaud Ducret dans tous ses états
2022

La Nuit du rire II à l'Olympia
2004

Elie annonce Semoun, la suite de la suite
2007

Sixty
2019

Neuilly Yo Mama!
2009

A Village Almost Perfect!
2014

Old School
2000

Tous Inconnus
2022

Tous Inconnus
2022

The Crazy Evening of Palmashow 2
2015

Franck Dubosc - Les Pour Toi Public
2003

Franck Dubosc - Les Pour Toi Public 2
2006

Les petites annonces d'Elie - L'essentiel
2008

Jamel et ses amis au Marrakech du rire 2015
2015

The Grand Restaurant IV
2022

Anne Roumanoff & co s'amusent !
2022

Le Placard
2015

Meudon rire de tout - 2ème édition
2023

People - Jet set 2
2004

On aurait dû aller en Grèce
2024

Jamel Show
1999

Jamel et ses amis au Marrakech du rire 2016
2016

Marrakech du rire
2011

Casablanca Driver
2004

Les duos impossibles de Jérémy Ferrari : 3ème édition
2016

Lucky Luke and the Daltons
2004

Jamel et ses amis au Marrakech du rire 2017
2017

Once Upon a Time in the Oued
2005

M'rire Festival : Gala D'ouverture
2017

Festival International du Rire de Liège 2017
2017

Le Point Virgule fait l'Olympia - 10e édition
2017

Elie Semoun - À Partager
2017

Les petites annonces d'Elie - La suite...
2003

Les petites annonces la suite de la suite
2008

La famille, ça me fait bien rire !
2018

Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion
2018

Looking for Teddy
2018

Gad Elmaleh - Le Big Show
2015

Charité biz'ness
1998

Ce soir, c'est Palmashow
2019

Serial (Bad) Weddings
2014
Directing (7 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Elie Semoun à l'Olympia | 2002 | Writer |
| Elie Semoun - Elie annonce Semoun, la suite... | 2003 | Writer |
| Cyprien | 2009 | Writer |
| Ducoboo 3 | 2020 | Writer |
| Ducobu 4 President | 2022 | Writer |
| My Old Man | 2023 | Writer |
| Ducobu 5 | 2024 | Writer |
| Ducobu et le fantôme de Saint-Potache | 2026 | Screenplay |
