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Whos was Coluche?
Coluche was born on October 28, 1944 in Paris, France. Sadly he died in 1986 at 44 years of age. He was a humorist and French actor, considered one of the greatest of them all. Son of Honorio Colucci, he adopted the pseudonym 'Coluche; at age 26, early in his career. Claiming his rudeness but according to him without falling into vulgarity, Coluche gave a new tone in the music hall genre with his freedom of expression, tackling taboos, the moral and political values of contemporary society. Prior to 1976, he held minor roles in films before taking more central characters and leading roles in the 1980s, mostly for comedies. In parallel from 1974, he became famous with a game show parody: the Schmilblick. He earned a Cesar for best actor in 1984 but for his dramatic role in Tchao Pantin. By turns provocative and stirring by his social stances, he ran in the presidential election of 1981 before retiring. He became very popular and appreciated by the media, founding the association's 'Les Restos du Coeur', relay feeder of the poor, a few months before dying in a motorcycle accident.
In the late 1960s, he decided to pursue music. Between 1966 and 1967, he song some songs by Boris Vian, Georges Brassens and Yves Montand at sidewalk cafes at Saint-Michel. He associated himself with musicians met in cabarets, with whom he started a short-lived band. Then he approaches the world of cabaret. While taking a job as a cook, it performs on stage at the Cabaret Chez Bernadette. He became acquainted with Georges Moustaki who supports him financially. Still in Paris, it appears in other cabarets: Gallery 55 and La Vieille Grille. He then worked at the cabaret La Methode as a bartender and casino manager. He met Romain Bouteille whom he will present all his life as a model.
His first sketch, is the story of a guy, making a mockery of the difficulty of telling a funny story. Following his sketches quickly earned him a popular success. He invented for the 1970 the image of the urban poor, good batter but short on ideas, entangled in words, buffeted by advertising and radio games. He claims his rudeness: "Always rude, never vulgar". In spring 1974, the impresario and producer Paul Lederman offered him to play at Theatre La Bruyere, but it's a fiasco. In 1974, he performed at the Olympia in the show called 'My farewell to music hall'. It is in this show show that his famous striped blue overalls and yellow shirt first appeared. He depicts his favorite characters, the redneck rude, unable to speak properly, hateful. On March 10, 1974, he signed the contract for first music album. As a comedian, Coluche appears for the first time on television in 1974, running games and shows.
As an actor, the consecration comes with the film Tchao Pantin by Claude Berri, where he played the dramatic role of a battered station attendant, not so different from the life he led himself. He won the Cesar for best actor in 1984. Before this success, other interpretations assure him great fame. In 1982 he played the role of Marcel Ben Hur in a satirical comedy called Two at a quarter before Jesus Christ. In 1984 he played the leading role in The Revenge of the feathered serpent of Gerard Oury. Beyond his work as a comedian, Coluche wants to embody a stirrer for ideas. In 1985, he hosted a concert against racisme and gambling. Likewise, he organized a gigantic hoax about gay marriage. From 1985 to 1986, he hosted a TV show on Europe 1. In 1985, he launched the idea of the 'Les Restos du Coeur', saying that he has an idea like that, though sometimes there are brands that hear me, I'll do a little pub all days. If there are people who are interested to sponsor a free meal we could start with in Paris. In 1985, he committed against the Ethiopian famine with singing SOS association Singers without borders, composed of famous French singers of the 1980s.
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