Jamel Debbouze is a popular French-Moroccan stand up comedian, actor, and producer.
Jamel Debbouze was born in Paris on the 18th June 1975. Shortly after, he moved with his family back to the motherland Morocco, before settling once more in France (Trappes) in 1979.
Jamel Debbouze first started to become famous around 1998, when he played Jamel Dridi, an operator in the hospital sitcom “H”, alongside fellow comedians Eric and Ramzy. The show was originally produced for Canal+, but was later aired on many other French and Canadian TV channels.
Jamel Debbouze’s petite body, his cute ‘Maghrebin’ accent in French, and his funny one-liners made him unforgettable. Jamel also happened to have his right arm placed in his pocket at all times. It gradually became obvious he suffered from some sort of handicap, and this gave him more character. Jamel Debbouze was actually hit by a passing train when he was 15, and because of that
lost the use of his right arm.
Jamel Debbouze appeared in numerous stand up comedy shows, either in solo (Jamel en Scene, 100% Debbouze) or as part of a larger troupe (Jamel Comedy Club) which featured a new generation of French humorists.
In 2002, Jamel Debbouze acted in the highly-successful Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain, for which he was nominated for the Cesar Award of the Best Supporting Actor. That same year, he appeared in another big French film, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra directed by Alain Chabat. In 2005, Debbouze had the leading role in Luc Besson’s film Angel-A.
Jamel Debbouze is married to French journalist and news anchor melissa Theuriau, with whom he has one son.