Patrick Benguigui (; born 14 May 1959), better known by his stage name Patrick Bruel (), is a French singer-songwriter, actor and professional
poker
Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...
player.
Biography
Early life
Patrick is the son of Pierre Benguigui and Augusta Kammoun, daughter of Elie and Céline ben Sidoun. He lived in the staff accommodation of the girls' school in
Argenteuil
Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...
where his mother was a teacher. In his youth, Bruel aspired to be a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player, but decided instead to pursue singing after seeing
Michel Sardou
Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor.
He is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, su ...
in 1975.
Acting and music careers
His first success came as an actor, in 1979's ''Le Coup de sirocco''. He continued acting in films, on television, and in the theater while pursuing his singing career. His first single, "Vide" ("Empty"), released in 1982, was not a success, but the follow-up, "Marre de cette nana-là" ("Fed up with that chick"), was a hit.
In 2003, just before his partner, the writer and playwright
Amanda Sthers, gave birth to his first child, Oscar, on 19 August, he changed his name to Bruel-Benguigui, combining his stage name with his birth name. On 21 September 2004, he wed the then 26-year-old Sthers; it was his first marriage. His second child, Léon, was born on 28 September 2005. The couple separated in 2007.
As of 2004, Bruel has acted in more than forty television and film productions, and has made five studio albums and several live albums. In 2002, Bruel released ''Entre Deux'', a double CD of classic
chanson
A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...
that features duets with
Charles Aznavour,
Jean-Louis Aubert
Jean-Louis Aubert (, born 12 April 1955) is a French singer-songwriter, guitarist, composer and producer. He went on a solo career after the split of the rock band Téléphone that he co-founded.
Early life
Born in Nantua, Ain, France in 195 ...
,
Jean-Jacques Goldman,
Alain Souchon and
Renaud, among others. It sold two million copies and made Bruel France's best paid singer of the year. At the beginning of 2005, in response to the South Asian
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
of 26 December 2004, Bruel wrote the song "Et puis la terre" with Marie-Florence Gros, with whom he had begun a long-term collaboration in 1998, to benefit the
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
. His latest album, "Des souvenirs devant", was his fourth chart-topper in France.
Poker
Bruel is a world-class professional poker player. He won a
World Series of Poker bracelet in 1998 for the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event. As of 2009, he has earned more than $900,000 in tournament play, of which his ten cash winnings at the WSOP account for $411,659. He also comments on the
World Poker Tour in France.
World Series of Poker bracelet
Los Angeles home
In the 2010s, Bruel bought a house in
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. In January 2025, the house was destroyed by the
Palisades Fire.
Philanthropy
Bruel has been a member of the
Les Enfoirés charity ensemble since 1993.
"Patrick Bruel"
(in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
Selected filmography
*'' Le coup de sirocco'' (1979) – Paulo Narboni
*'' Un pas dans la forêt'' (1980, TV Movie) – Pierre
*'' La mort en sautoir'' (1980, TV Movie) – Un 'loubard'
*'' Le Rembrandt de Verrières'' (1981, TV Movie)
*'' Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret'' (1981, TV Series) – Louis
*'' Ma femme s'appelle reviens'' (1982) – François
*'' Paris-Saint-Lazare'' (1982, TV Mini-Series) – Un lycéen
*'' Les diplômés du dernier rang'' (1982) – Philippe
*'' Le bâtard'' (1983) – Dan
*'' Le grand carnaval'' (1983) – Pierre–Marie Labrouche
*'' Les malheurs de Malou'' (1984, TV Movie) – José
*'' Marche à l'ombre'' (1984) – Le guitariste du métro (uncredited)
*'' La tête dans le sac'' (1984) – Dany
*'' Les amours des années 50'' (1985, TV Series)
*'' Le mariage blues'' (1985, TV Movie) – Michel
*'' Profs'' (1985) – Frédéric Game
*'' Suivez mon regard'' (1986) – Le musicien
*'' Attention bandits!'' (1986) – Mozart
*'' La maison assassinée'' (1988) – Séraphin Monge
*'' Champagne amer'' (1989) – Wanis
*'(1989) – Simon Atlan – un inspecteur de police juif impulsif et violent
*'' Force majeure'' (1989) – Philippe
*'' Il y a des jours... et des lunes'' (1990) – The musician who missed his plane
*'' Toutes peines confondues'' (1992) – Christophe / detective
*'' Profil bas'' (1993) – Inspector Julien Segal
*'' A Hundred and One Nights'' (1995) – Le premier orateur
*'' Sabrina'' (1995) – Louis
*'' Le Jaguar'' (1996) – François Perrin
*''K'' (1997) – L'inspecteur de police Sam Bellamy
*''Paparazzi
Paparazzi (singular form paparazzo) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people, such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities who go about their daily life routines. Paparazzi are known f ...
'' (1998) – Patrick Bruel
*'' The Misadventures of Margaret'' (1998) – Martin
*'' Hors jeu'' (1998) – Patrick Bruel
*'' Lost & Found'' (1999) – Rene
*'' Le marquis'' (2000, Short) – Le marquis
*'' Pretty Things'' (2001) – Jacques
*'' The Milk of Human Kindness'' (2001) – Laurent
*'' Une vie à t'attendre'' (2004) – Alex
*'' The Wolf'' (2004) – Nelson
*'' Comedy of Power'' (2006) – Jacques Sibaud
*'' O Jerusalem'' (2006) – David Levin
*'' A Secret'' (2007) – Maxime Nathan Grinberg / Grimbert
*'' Change of Plans'' (2009) – Le docteur Alain Carcassonne
*'' Desperate Parents'' (2009)
*'' Comme les cinq doigts de la main'' (2010) – Dan Hayoun
*''The Writer'' (2011)
*'' Paris Manhattan'' (2012) – Victor
*'' What's in a Name?'' (2012) – Vincent
*'' Les gamins'' (2013) – Le sosie de Patrick Bruel
*'' Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles'' (2014) – Philippe Dupin
*'' The Missionaries'' (2014) – Lambert Levallois
*'' Love at First Child'' (2015) – Ange
*'' Un sac de billes'' (2017) – Roman Joffo
*'' Holy Lands'' (2017) – Michel
*'' A Family'' (2017) – Vincenzo / Husband
*'' The Best Is Yet to Come'' (2019) – César
*'' Villa Caprice'' (2020) – Gilles Fontaine
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
Singles
Featured in and collective collaborations
References
External links
*
*
Biography of Patrick Bruel
from Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruel, Patrick
1959 births
Living people
People from Tlemcen
Musicians from Paris
French male singers
World Music Awards winners
French poker players
World Series of Poker bracelet winners
Poker commentators
Emigrants from French Algeria to France
Lycée Henri-IV alumni
French people of Algerian-Jewish descent
Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite
20th-century French male actors
21st-century French male actors
French male film actors
French male television actors
French male stage actors