Christian Jean-Marie Clavier (; 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 ''French Fried Vacation'' (french: Les Bronzés, link=no, ) is a cult French comedy film directed by Patrice Leconte. The film satirizes life resorts such as Club Med. It is one of many films by the French comedy group Le Splendid. Josiane Bala ...

'' 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 René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schoo ...

. 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 , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

(Sciences Po'') —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. In 2018, he returned to the character of Asterix, this time by providing the character's voice in the animated film '' Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion''. Succeeding the character's original voice actor, Roger Carel, it was his first role in an animated movie. Clavier has played in notable duos with: *

Jean Reno Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as '' Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', '' The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission ...

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 The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's estab ...

on 13 June 1998, and promoted ''Officier'' (Officer) in 2005. He was made ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 2008. He is a friend of former French président Nicolas Sarkozy, and in 2012 emigrated to The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He denies this was as a result of Francois Hollande's punitive tax policy.

Filmography

Actor

Producer

* '' Les Visiteurs 2 : Les Couloirs du temps'' (1998) * ''

Les Visiteurs en Amérique ''Just Visiting'' is a 2001 action film, action comedy film that is an American remake of the French film ''Les Visiteurs''. It stars Jean Reno, Christina Applegate, Christian Clavier, Malcolm McDowell, Tara Reid, and Bridgette Wilson. It follow ...

'' (2001) * '' Le Cœur sur la main'' (2001) * ''

Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés ''Lovely Rita, sainte patronne des cas désespérés'' is a French film directed by Stéphane Clavier in 2003. The film stars his brother, Christian Clavier. Synopsis Accounts expert, Edgar Lamark, is auditing the naval base of Thierry Ferran ...

'' (2003)

Box-office

Movies starring Christian Clavier with more than a million of admissions in France.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clavier, Christian 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 (Neuilly-sur-Seine) alumni Male actors from Paris Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite