1. Prosper Charles Bensoussan professionally known as Philippe Clair was a Moroccan-French actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and popular humorist.
12 Facts About Philippe Clair
1. 2.
Philippe Clair moved to Paris in 1950 to study acting at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts of Paris.
3.
Philippe Clair won the Bernstein and College Stars awards, honors given to the best young Parisian actors.
4.
Philippe Clair performed on stage and television with major directors and writers in shows such as L'Affaire des poisons [Affair of the Poisons] directed by Raymond Rouleau, Une femme libre [A free woman] by Armand Salacrou, and Les Iles fortunees [The Prosperous Islands] by Simon Gantillon.
5.
Philippe Clair specialized in improvisation and in writing comedy sketches.
6.
In 1965 Clair directed his first film, Declic et des claques [Clicks and Slaps] with Annie Girardot, the comic misadventures of a young pied-noir [French Algerian] in Paris.
7.
Philippe Clair continued his work as a singer: in 1967, his sketch Rien Nasser de courir which satirized the Six-Day War was banned because of its political overtones.
8.
In 1970, Philippe Clair became the leading director of popular comedy.
9.
Philippe Clair made several surreal films, such as Le Fuhrer en folie [The Fuhrer Runs Amok], which featured Henri Tisot in the role of Adolf Hitler and in which Michel Galabru plays the role of a football referee.
10.
In 2013 journalist and filmmaker Gilles Botineau joined with Philippe Clair to produce a documentary portrait titled, Plus drole que lui, tu meurs [Funnier than him, you die].
11.
Philippe Clair was not always treated kindly by the critics.
12.
The weekly French magazineTelerama opined, "Every film by Philippe Clair is worse than the last, and yet it never stops".