Christian Clavier
Christian Clavier | |
|---|---|
 Clavier at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival | |
| Born | Christian Jean-Marie Clavier 6 May 1952 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer |
| Years active | 1973–present |
Christian Jean-Marie Clavier (French pronunciation: [kʁis.tjɑ̃.klavje]; born 6 May 1952) is a French actor, screenwriter, film producer and director. He became widely popular after starring in two hit comedy series: Patrice Leconte's Les Bronzés and Les Visiteurs directed by Jean-Marie Poiré. He furthered his popularity by taking a role of Asterix in the screen adaptations of the comic books by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny.
He is the brother of French film director Stéphane Clavier.
Life and career
After his high class studies at the Neuilly Lycée Pasteur—though asserted here and there, he never studied at Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) [1]—he started his actor career with the comedic theater troupe Splendid, which had hits with films like Les Bronzés font du ski and Le Père Noël est une ordure.
His most notable success without the Splendid group, and by far his biggest hit to date, was in the 1993 film les Visiteurs, where he played a character known as Jacquouille la Fripouille; the character's cry of "Okkkayyy!!" became a popular exclamation after the movie's success.
After les Visiteurs he was a star, participating in big-budget films like Astérix et Obélix contre César, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre, and the sequel and remake of Visiteurs. He also played several dramatic roles on television, including M. Thénardier in Les Misérables (2000 television version) and Napoléon in a biographical television film.
Clavier has played in notable duos with:
- Jean Reno in les Visiteurs (the Visitors) and the US remake, Just Visiting, L'Opération Corned-Beef and L'Enquête Corse (The Corsican investigation).
- Gérard Depardieu in Astérix et Obélix (Asterix and Obelix) and Les anges gardiens.
He also runs a production company, Ouille Production.
He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre national du Mérite on 13 June 1998,[2] and promoted Officier (Officer) in 2005.[2] He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 2008.[3]
He is a friend of former French président Nicolas Sarkozy, and in 2012 emigrated to The United Kingdom. He denies this was as a result of Francois Hollande's punitive tax policy.[4]
Filmography
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | L'An 01 | Viewer | Jacques Doillon | |
| 1974 | Les suspects | Photographer | Michel Wyn | |
| Bonne présentation exigée | Heating Engineer | Charles Nemes | Short | |
| 1975 | Let Joy Reign Supreme | Valet | Bertrand Tavernier | |
| C'est pas parce qu'on a rien à dire qu'il faut fermer sa gueule... | Gay Cop | Jacques Besnard | ||
| Le bol d'air | Christian | Charles Nemes (2) | Short | |
| 1976 | F comme Fairbanks | Waiter | Maurice Dugowson | |
| Attention les yeux! | Cop | Gérard Pirès | ||
| 1977 | This Sweet Sickness | François | Claude Miller | |
| Spoiled Children | TV director | Bertrand Tavernier (2) | ||
| Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine | Narrator | Coluche | ||
| Le diable dans la boîte | Renaud | Pierre Lary | ||
| L'amour en herbe | Christian's friend | Roger Andrieux | ||
| 1978 | Les Bronzés | Jerome Tarere | Patrice Leconte | |
| La tortue sur le dos | Luc Béraud | |||
| 1979 | Les Bronzés font du ski | Jerome Tarere | Patrice Leconte (2) | |
| Heroes Are Not Wet Behind the Ears | 2CV Man | Charles Nemes (3) | ||
| 1980 | Cocktail Molotov | Beatnick | Diane Kurys | |
| Je vais craquer!!! | Jérôme Ozendron | François Leterrier | ||
| 1981 | Les Babas Cool | Antoine Bonfils | François Leterrier (2) | |
| Clara et les Chics Types | Charles | Jacques Monnet | ||
| 1982 | Le Père Noël est une ordure | Katia | Jean-Marie Poiré | |
| Elle voit des nains partout! | The treacherous man | Jean-Claude Sussfeld | ||
| 1983 | Papy fait de la résistance | Michel Taupin | Jean-Marie Poiré (2) | |
| Rock 'n Torah | Isaac Stern | Marc-André Grynbaum | ||
| Merci Bernard | TV Series (1 Episode) | |||
| 1985 | Tranches de vie | Charles-Henri | François Leterrier (3) | |
| Le père Noël est une ordure | Katia | Philippe Galland | TV Movie | |
| 1986 | Twist again à Moscou | Iouri | Jean-Marie Poiré (3) | |
| L'été 36 | Alexis | Yves Robert | TV Movie | |
| 1987 | La vie dissolue de Gérard Floque | Edouard | Georges Lautner | |
| 1988 | Palace | Louis | Jean-Michel Ribes | TV Series (1 Episode) |
| Sueurs froides | Henri Descouet | Josée Dayan | TV Series (1 Episode) | |
| 1989 | My Best Pals | Jean-Michel Tuilier | Jean-Marie Poiré (4) | |
| Les cigognes n'en font qu'à leur tête | DDASS's chief | Didier Kaminka | ||
| Fantômes sur l'oreiller | Brice | Pierre Mondy | TV Movie | |
| Mieux vaut courir | Simon | Élisabeth Rappeneau | TV Movie | |
| Double mixte | Bob Smith | Georges Folgoas | TV Movie | |
| Si Guitry m'était conté | Yves-André Hubert | TV Series (1 Episode) | ||
| 1991 | Les secrets professionnels du Dr Apfelglück | Lawyer | Thierry Lhermitte, Alessandro Capone, ... | |
| L'Opération Corned-Beef | Jean-Jacques Granianski | Jean-Marie Poiré (5) | ||
| Les gens ne sont pas forcément ignobles | Pierre | Bernard Murat | TV Movie | |
| 1992 | Un fil à la patte | Fernand du Bois d'Enghien | Marion Sarraut | TV Movie |
| 1993 | Les Visiteurs | Jacquouille la Fripouille | Jean-Marie Poiré (6) | Nominated – César Award for Best Actor Nominated – César Award for Best Writing |
| La Soif de l'or | Urbain Donnadieu | Gérard Oury | ||
| 1994 | La Vengeance d'une blonde | Gérard Bréha | Jeannot Szwarc | |
| Grosse Fatigue | Himself | Michel Blanc | ||
| 1995 | Les Anges gardiens | Father Hervé Tarain | Jean-Marie Poiré (7) | |
| 1996 | Panique au Plazza | Jean-Marie Poiré (7) | TV Movie | |
| 1997 | Les Soeurs Soleil | Spectator | Jeannot Szwarc (2) | |
| 1998 | The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time | Jacquouille la Fripouille | Jean-Marie Poiré (8) | |
| 1999 | Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar | Asterix | Claude Zidi | |
| 2001 | Just Visiting | Andre | Jean-Marie Poiré (9) | |
| 2002 | Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra | Asterix | Alain Chabat | |
| Napoléon | Napoleon | Yves Simoneau | TV Mini-Series | |
| Les Misérables | Monsieur Thénardier | Josée Dayan | TV Mini-Series | |
| 2003 | Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés | Edgar Lamarck | Stéphane Clavier | |
| 2004 | The Corsican File | Rémi François | Alain Berbérian | |
| Albert est méchant | Patrick Lechat | Hervé Palud | ||
| 2005 | L'antidote | JAM | Vincent De Brus | |
| 2006 | Les Bronzés 3: Amis pour la vie | Jerome Tarere | Patrice Leconte (3) | |
| L'entente cordiale | François de La Conche | Vincent De Brus (2) | ||
| Kronprinz Rudolfs letzte Liebe | Prime Minister Taaffe | Robert Dornhelm | TV Movie | |
| 2007 | L'Auberge rouge | Pierre Martin | Gérard Krawczyk | |
| Le prix à payer | Jean-Pierre Ménard | Alexandra Leclère | ||
| Kaamelott | The Jurisconsult | Alexandre Astier | TV Series (7 Episodes) | |
| 2008 | Le malade imaginaire | Argan | Christian de Chalonge | TV Movie |
| 2009 | La sainte Victoire | Vincent Cluzel | François Favrat | |
| Le bourgeois gentilhomme | Monsieur Jourdain | Christian de Chalonge (2) | TV Movie | |
| 2011 | On ne choisit pas sa famille | César Borgnoli | Christian Clavier | |
| La cage aux folles | Georges | Dominique Thiel | TV Movie | |
| Les affaires sont les affaires | The Marquis de Porcellet | Philippe Bérenger | TV Movie | |
| 2013 | Serial Teachers | Serge Cutiro | Pierre-François Martin-Laval | |
| Le Boeuf clandestin | M. Berthaud | Gérard Jourd'hui | TV Movie | |
| 2014 | Serial (Bad) Weddings | Claude Verneuil | Philippe de Chauveron | |
| Do Not Disturb | Michel Leproux | Patrice Leconte (4) | ||
| Le grimoire d'Arkandias | Agénor Arkandias | Alexandre Castagnetti & Julien Simonet | ||
| 2015 | Babysitting 2 | Alain | Nicolas Benamou & Philippe Lacheau | |
| 2016 | Les Visiteurs: La Révolution | Jacquouille la Fripouille | Jean-Marie Poiré (10) | |
| 2017 | Un sac de billes | Doctor Rosen | Christian Duguay | |
| With Open Arms | ||||
| 2019 | Serial (Bad) Weddings 2 | |||
| Convoi exceptionnel |
Producer
- Les Visiteurs 2 : Les Couloirs du temps (1998)
- Les Visiteurs en Amérique (2001)
- Le Cœur sur la main (2001)
- Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés (2003)
Box-office
Movies starring Christian Clavier with more than a million of admissions in France.
References
- ^ "Christian Clavier". Evene.fr.
- ^ a b "Décret du 14 novembre 2005 portant promotion et nomination". JORF. 2005 (265): 17793. 2005-11-15. PREX0508812D. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ^ "Décret du 21 mars 2008 portant promotion et nomination". JORF. 2008 (71): 5024. 2008-03-23. PREX0804596D. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ^ Willsher, Kim (2012-12-24). "Actor stirs up French tax exile row". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
External links
- 1952 births
- 20th-century French male actors
- 21st-century French male actors
- Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
- French film directors
- French film producers
- French male stage actors
- French male film actors
- French male television actors
- French male screenwriters
- French screenwriters
- Living people
- Lycée Pasteur alumni
- Male actors from Paris
- Officers of the National Order of Merit (France)