Acting
Robert Castel
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.
Filmography
Browse movies and TV shows featuring Robert Castel
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
A talk show presented by Michel Drucker
Midi Première
Midi Première is a French variety show presented by Danièle Gilbert, directed by Jacques Pierre and broadcast f...
Le Grand Échiquier
Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at...
Numéro un
A French variety show.
Midi trente
Samedi soir
Système 2
Let's Make a Dirty Movie
A bumbling film crew attempts to make a porno movie.
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
A hapless orchestra player becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after h...
The Jews
Four separate stories deal with stereotypical ideas about Jews: their alleged influence on politics, the stereo...
Two Men in Town
A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed...
À la recherche de... Pierre Richard
Follow in the footsteps of burlesque actor Pierre Richard, a key figure in French cinema in the 1970s and 1980s.
Agence Interim
There Once Was a Cop
Campana, a commissar at the drugs bureau of Paris police gets an undercover job in Nice to catch an Italian-Fre...
The Common Man
Georges Lajoie is a Parisian café owner. As every summer, Georges, his wife Ginette and grown-up son Léon go on...
Take It from the Top
Tired of being a housewife, Annie wants to work. Between her professional life and her responsibilities as a pa...
The Conspiracy
Paris 1960. DeGaulle determines to end a bitter war in Algeria by granting its independence. Millions oppose hi...
The Suburbs Are Everywhere
He is a sales rep. She is a secretary. They live in the suburbs but she works in Paris. They don't see much of...
Le Train Bleu s'arrête 13 fois
Le bahut va craquer
The students of a local school unite in mutiny against their headmaster and two teachers.
The Sandmen
Alain runs Le Detour, a small cafe in Paris where Antoine works. Antoine is reunited with his sister Marie when...
The Unvanquished
In this drama that alludes to the Algerian War with France of the 1960s, Thomas is a deserter from the French F...
Le Braconnier de Dieu
A monk for thirty-seven years, Brother Gregory could not resist the temptation. Leaving the monastery for the f...
Too Shy to Try
Pierre is a hotel cashier in Vichy, so shy that he answers an ad from the Psychology Institute and can't say no...
Stop Fooling Around... Soldier!
At a French military outpost, a group of lackadaisical servicemen find plenty of time to make trouble, enjoy na...
Les gros malins
Paul Blanc runs a butcher's shop with his Neapolitan wife, the vivacious Giulia. One night, thanks to sleeping...
Teenagers
The story of Lucas and how he helps others as an angel. This is an innovative, educational drama that resembles...
By the Blood of Others
In a little French town everything goes on as usual and people seem friendly and good-natured, until the day tw...
Bedmania
A large bed recounts stories from its brief existence. Clumsy burglars, adulterated husbands and wives, homosex...
Elf, Kings of Oil
In 1988, supported by François Mitterrand, Loïk Le Floch-Prigent ran for the presidency of Elf. Alfred Sirven,...
La Honte de la famille
On the day of his marriage, the son of a Marseille king declares to his family that he wishes to engage in the...
El Gusto
El Gusto is the story of an orchestra of Jewish and Muslim musicians torn apart by war 50 years ago, and recent...
One Fine Day
François Berthier’s life is a series of unfortunate events. One day, however, a miracle occurs for François and...
It's Tough for Everybody
After losing his job, an idealistic adman starts his own agency, putting himself in the crosshairs of his jaded...
Le Permis de conduire
Michel Martenot (Louis Velle) works in a bank consumption, is recommended and intended for children. His profes...