Christian Clavier – Wikipedia

French actor and screenwriter

Christian Clavier
Born	Christian Jean-Marie Clavier (1952-05-06) 6 May 1952 (age 70)
Occupation(s)	Actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer
Years active	1973–present

Christian Jean-Marie Clavier (French pronunciation: ​[kʁistjɑ̃ ʒɑ̃ maʁi klavje]; 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 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.

He is the brother of French film director Stéphane Clavier.

Life and career[edit]

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 (Sciences Po) ^[1]—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:

He also runs a production company, Ouille Production.

He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre national du Mérite on 13 June 1998,^[2] and promoted Officier (Officer) in 2005.^[2] He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d’honneur in 2008.^[3]

He is a friend of former French président Nicolas Sarkozy, and in 2012 emigrated to The United Kingdom. He denies this was as a result of Francois Hollande’s punitive tax policy.^[4]

Filmography[edit]

Actor[edit]

Producer[edit]

Box-office[edit]

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

	Films	Director	Year	France (entries)
1	Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra	Alain Chabat	2002	14,559,509
2	Les Visiteurs	Jean-Marie Poiré	1993	13,782,991
3	Serial (Bad) Weddings	Philippe de Chauveron	2014	12,353,181
4	Les Bronzés 3: Amis pour la vie	Patrice Leconte	2006	10,355,930
5	Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar	Claude Zidi	1999	8,948,624
6	The Visitors II: The Corridors of Time	Jean-Marie Poiré (2)	1998	8,043,129
7	Les Anges gardiens	Jean-Marie Poiré (3)	1995	5,793,034
8	Papy fait de la résistance	Jean-Marie Poiré (4)	1983	4,104,082
9	Les profs	Pierre-François Martin-Laval	2013	3,957,176
10	L’Enquête Corse	Alain Berbérian	2004	2,667,275
11	Les Bronzés	Patrice Leconte (2)	1978	2,308,644
12	La Vengeance d’une blonde	Jeannot Szwarc	1994	2,039,370
13	Grosse fatigue	Michel Blanc	1994	2,015,230
14	Le Père Noël est une ordure	Jean-Marie Poiré (5)	1982	1,582,732
15	Les Bronzés font du ski	Patrice Leconte (3)	1979	1,535,781
16	La Soif de l’or	Gérard Oury	1993	1,535,781
17	L’opération Corned Beef	Jean-Marie Poiré (6)	1991	1,475,580
18	Le prix à payer	Alexandra Leclère	2007	1,368,791
19	Twist again à Moscou	Jean-Marie Poiré (7)	1986	1,361,683
20	Just Visiting	Jean-Marie Poiré (8)	2001	1,217,623
21	Let Joy Reign Supreme	Bertrand Tavernier	1975	1,124,845
22	Je vais craquer!!!	François Leterrier	1980	1,053,217
23	Do Not Disturb	Patrice Leconte (4)	2014	1,006,867

References[edit]

External links[edit]