Robert Castel

Known for ActingBorn 1933-05-21Died 2020-12-05Bab El-Oued, Alger, Algérie

Robert Castel (in Arabic: روبرت كاستل), whose real name is Robert Adolphe Moyal, is an actor, musician and comedian, born on May 21, 1933 in Algiers in the Bab El-Oued district, Algeria. Robert Castel began as a musician, tar player, then guitarist, accompanying his father, composer violinist, and singer of light French-Arab songs. Young actor in the troupe of the Regional Center of Dramatic Art of Algiers, Robert Castel plays the role of Robert Le Bègue in the theatrical improvisation show on the life of the pieds-noirs, La Famille Hernandez, which is created by Geneviève Baïlac on September 17, 1957 in Paris. Having cut his teeth in music hall, Robert Castel began his film career at the age of 24 in Les Amants De Demain by Marcel Blistène, then in Un témoin dans la ville by Édouard Molinaro. In 1962, Robert Castel left the newly independent Algeria and settled in Paris with Lucette Sahuquet (who died in 1987), whom he married. The couple inaugurated their sketches as a duo that year, notably at the Olympia where they opened for Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich and Philippe Clay. In the 1970s, the comedian, lively and provocative, did a lot of television sketches with his favorite partner and Enrico Macias. For the big screen, this dark-haired comedian, with a clear forehead, who speaks with his hands, abandoned his favorite register. Having become the figure of "pied-noir humor" in France, he played alongside Edith Piaf in Les Amants de demain by Marcel Blistène, Pierre Richard in Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire by Yves Robert, and Isabelle Huppert in Dupont Lajoie by Yves Boisset. In 1982, he made a notable appearance in Algerian cinema by playing in Hassan taxi, directed by Mohamed Slim Riad, alongside Rouiched (Ahmed Ayad), Ouardia Hamitouche and Sidali Kouiret. He appeared in more than thirty films in total, until the early 2000s. Robert Castel kept a low profile for a few years before returning to the stage, this time in a musical, in 2007 thanks to the El-Gusto project. This project, which seeks to bring together Algerian, Jewish and Muslim musicians who were part of Hadj M'hamed El Anka's Algiers Chaâbi orchestra in the early 1950s, resulted in a documentary film that won international awards, the recording of an album and an international tour that took a troupe of 42 musicians to countries such as France, Morocco, Tunisia, Switzerland, Belgium, the United States and the Netherlands. In 2008, Robert Castel signed his autobiography, Je pose 75 [son âge], mais je retaîtres tout. He returned to the stage in 2013 to present his last one-man show, "Nostalgérie". He died on December 5, 2020 in Paris, at the age of 87.Read more

Movies & web series

Agence Interim

Midi Première

Le Train Bleu s'arrête 13 fois

Les p’tites têtes

What Did I Ever Do to the Good Lord to Deserve a Wife Who Drinks in Cafes with Men?

Le Grand Échiquier

Hassan Taxi

El Gusto

Numéro un

À la recherche de... Pierre Richard

Two Men in Town

The Sandmen

The Common Man

The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe

Champs-Elysées

Shut Up, Gulli

The Unvanquished

Too Shy to Try

Le Permis de conduire

Comiques de toujours (Vol. 1 à 4)

Teenagers

C'est facile et ça peut rapporter... 20 ans

Les Borsalini

There Once Was a Cop

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

Midi trente

Samedi soir

Three Men on a Horse

La Décharge

It's Tough for Everybody

The Conspiracy

Les Grands Moyens

Sacrés gendarmes

Take It from the Top

La Honte de la famille

One Fine Day

The Elf Case

By the Blood of Others

Le Braconnier de Dieu

The Suburbs Are Everywhere

Les gros malins

The Jews

The Lovers of Tomorrow

Par ici la monnaie

Le bahut va craquer

Bedmania

Stop Fooling Around... Soldier!

Let's Make a Dirty Movie