Farid Chopel
Acting
Biography
Farid Chopel, whose real name was Farid Amar Rabia, was born on December 4, 1952, in Paris and died on April 20, 2008, in the same city. He was a French actor and singer. The only child of Algerian immigrant parents, Farid Chopel was born in Paris and had a relatively happy childhood despite the absence of his father and the arrest of his stepfather, who was a leader in the FLN (National Liberation Front). Raised by his mother and grandmother, he initially aspired to become a doctor, until he discovered theater in high school. Blessed with an unusual physique and boundless energy, the young Chopel made his debut in experimental physical theater with the troupe "Laïla," and events quickly unfolded from there. In the late 1970s, he became the writer and performer of several famous shows, which he would perform throughout his career and all over the world, including "Chopélia," "Les Aviateurs," and "Le cri de la girafe." An icon of the 80s, Farid Chopel is first and foremost a stage performer. This didn't stop him from answering the call of cinema. Tony Gatlif offered him his first film role in "Les Princes," alongside Gérard Darmon and the director himself. Several memorable supporting roles followed, under the direction of prestigious filmmakers such as Bertrand Blier (My Best Friend's Girl, 1983), Denis Amar (The Bill, 1984), Gérard Oury (The Revenge of the Feathered Serpent, 1984), Josiane Balasko (Bag of Knots, 1984), and Agnès Varda (Jane B. by Agnès V., 1987). In the mid-1980s, his stage and film career was at its peak. Constantly involved in the nightlife scene and accumulating shows and other advertising and film appearances at a frenetic pace, Farid Chopel began a long downward spiral at the dawn of the 1990s. The reason: his severe addiction to drugs and alcohol. His addiction became so severe that he was no longer able to work. He underwent several stints in rehab. He managed to escape this hell in the early 2000s, thanks in particular to the support of his partner, Brigitte Morel. He even returned to the stage with a well-received one-man show ("Le Pont du milieu") and published his autobiography ("Farid Chopel - Et Je Danse Encore"). But the consequences of all those years of excess quickly caught up with him: the actor died on April 20, 2008, four weeks after his diagnosis, during his hospitalization at Cochin Hospital, shortly after the release of Khaled Ghorbal's moving film, "Un Si Beau Voyage," his last film. Farid Chopel is buried in the Bezons cemetery, Anémones section, division A3.
Known For
Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.
Le Grand Échiquier
For thirty years, Zone Interdite has been the magazine that documents and analyzes the upheavals in French society. Conducted over time, the investigations broadcast in the program reveal the taboos, passions, and struggles of the French people at the heart of current events.
Zone interdite
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Nulle part ailleurs
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Victoires de la musique
A piano player meets and falls in love with a beautiful and voluptuous woman who, by some strange procedure, leaves the man unable to move but with a permanent priapism. After some time he becomes sick of it and she relieves his paralysis. Eventually she gets bored and decides to leave, but he can't take it because he loves her…
The Flesh
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Merci Bernard
Nara, a 30-year-old gypsy, lives with her nine-year-old daughter Zorka and her grandmother in a public housing project in the Paris region.
Les Princes
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Descente de Police
The interests, obsessions, and fantasies of two singular artists converge in this inspired collaboration between Agnès Varda and her longtime friend the actor Jane Birkin. Made over the course of a year and motivated by Birkin’s fortieth birthday—a milestone she admits to some anxiety over—Jane B. by Agnès V. contrasts the private, reflective Birkin with Birkin the icon.
Jane B. by Agnès V.
An English historian travels to Morocco to work on a study of the painter Delacroix. He hears of a rare series of engravings and embarks on a search for them that takes him through the mysterious streets of the ancient medina. He becomes obsessed with the figure of a beautiful blond woman dressed in white that he sees there. but it appears that she may have died years before.
It's Gradiva Who Is Calling You
A long parade of actors and actresses pop up in an unconnected series of skits, vignettes, and sight gags in this comedy anthology by Jean Curtelin. Among the sketches performed is one with Jean Carmet playing a man from the sticks woefully burdened with the challenge of getting through a dog food commercial on less than one tank of intelligible French. Another skit shows a silent duel between an airport custodian and an automatic door, while another with the renowned Michel Galabru sets up a strange teacher-student exchange.
Follow My Gaze
An international intrigue with terrorists threatening to blow up the presidents of the most powerful countries.
The Vengeance of the Winged Serpent
For having wanted to defend a young girl accused of theft, a comedian finds himself in prison. Embarked in spite of himself in an escape attempt, he is condemned by a particularly incompetent court which follows without thinking the pleadings of an overzealous public prosecutor! Once incarcerated, the poor comedian has to deal with the harassment of one of the guards, a kind of dangerous sociopath frustrated with life.
L'Addition
Berg and Bela are married stunt drivers, but one night Bela dies in an accident. Jaded and reclusive, Berg becomes a nighttime security guard where he befriends a young woman, Mimi, who works nights too. Soon a shadowy figure from Bela's past comes into Berg and Mimi's lives. Berg is forced to protect Mimi and seems responsible for a murder, but the man from Bela's past who caused her so much pain won't stop until he sees Berg suffer as much as Bela did.
Wild Animals
The charming Pascal, owner of a clothing store in Courchevel, and the chubby and scruffy Micky, disc jockey in a nearby club, are best of friends. Pascal accumulates women, much to the chagrin of Micky, who is consoled of his failures by listening to his friend talk about his successes. Viviane arises, ravishing and icy, but she's seasonal. Pascal, sincerely in love, seduces her and then leaves. This is a dire situation for Micky: Pascal is far away and the beauty is so kind to him. Complications arise once Pascal returns.
My Best Friend's Girl
"Bains de minuit" (Midnight Baths) was a late-night talk show hosted by Thierry Ardisson on La Cinq in the late 1980s, filmed in the famous Parisian nightclub Les Bains Douches. Ardisson interviewed personalities from the worlds of music, film, fashion, literature, sports, and politics, seated among the audience in the club's authentic atmosphere. The concept was to immerse these personalities in the world of nightlife and festivities, far removed from traditional television studios. The interviews were often irreverent and direct, with a provocative tone that would become Ardisson's trademark. He considers this show one of his freest and most audacious creations. It helped solidify his image as a cosmopolitan, transgressive, and highly scripted late-night talk show host.
Bains de Minuit
After the death of her little boy, Anita wants to take her own life.
All Mixed Up
Adapted from the best-seller, the films is a road movie full of music and poetry, driving us from the hot districts of Marseille, to Paris, Montrealand Dakar. Paulo, the young writer, follows Richard, the old musician, in his wanderings, encounters, love stories and will share his vision of life. Richard transmits to Paulo his crazy and strange experience, opening the door to an enchanting world of passion.
A City Is Beautiful at Night
An aficionado barber lets his clerk shave a client while he watches television and mimes the bullfight being broadcast.
The Hallucinogenic Toreador
At house of Agathon get together many intellectuals and philosophers, including Socrates, to discuss the theme of love and sex: each of them intervenes to support its argument dialogical rules, within the context symposial.