Dany Boon | |
|---|---|
 Boon in 2018 | |
| Born | Daniel Farid Hamidou (1966-06-26)26 June 1966 (age 59) Armentières,Hauts-de-France, France |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Spouses | |
| Partner | Laurence Arné (2018–) |
| Children | 5 |
Dany Boon (pronounced[danibun]; bornDaniel Farid Hamidou on 26 June 1966) is a French actor, film director, screenwriter and producer.
Starting as a comedian during the 1990s, he found success in 2008 as an actor and director in the comedyWelcome to the Sticks. Since then, he has been involved as a screenwriter, director or both in the filmsNothing to Declare (2011),Supercondriaque (2014),Raid dingue (2017),La Ch'tite famille (2018),Stuck Together (2021) andLife for Real (2023).
Boon was born Daniel Farid Hamidou in a middle-class family in northern France. His father was born in 1930 in Issers,Algeria, and wasMuslim[1] and died in Lille, France, in 1992. He was a boxer and a chauffeur. Boon's mother, Danièle Ducatel,[2] is from northern France. ACatholic, she was a stay-at-home mother.
Heconverted to Judaism (his wife's faith) in 2002.[3]
He studied graphic arts at theInstitut Saint-Luc in Belgium.
Boon arrived in Paris in 1989, where he was a mime[4] in the streets for a living while appearing frequently on open mic nights at places such as the Treviso theatre. He borrowed his stage name,Daniel Boone, from a hero in the American television series about an American trapper.
He acted in several one-man shows.[5]
Boon is also a musician: he has done a version of "Piensa en mí"[6] ("Think of me"). He also writes his songs, for example "Le Blues du 'tiot poulet" ("The Chicken Blues").
After minor roles in movies during the 1990s he landed a role in the 1998 satireBimboland, directed by Ariel Zeitoun. Boon is deeply attached to his native region,Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In 2003 he made a show in the local dialect ofch'ti, also known asPicard. Despite the use of dialect, 600,000 copies of the DVD (which included French subtitles) were sold. No previous DVD featuring a one-man show had sold in France.[citation needed] In 2004 he was part of the main cast inPédale Dure,[7] directed by Gabriel Aghion, a critical and commercial flop. He was then offered several roles in movies, notably in the filmJoyeux Noël (Merry Christmas), which was released internationally in 2005.
In February 2008 he acted in and directed a movie entitledWelcome to the Sticks (Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis), a success in France and other countries.[8] Thiscomedy broke French box office records based on prejudices about the region. Two weeks after its release, five million people had already seen the film. After its fourth week the figure had risen to 15 million, and by 11 April the film had surpassed the viewing audience ofLa Grande Vadrouille, having been watched by more than 17.4 million people. He became the highest-paid actor in European film history, netting 26 million euros (c. 33 million dollars).[9] He was the president of the40th César Awards ceremony in 2015.[10] Boon was on the council of directors of thePathé production company and has produced several films as actor, co-producer, screenwriter or director.[11] Boon had several production companies, including 26 DB Productions, in Los Angeles, California. They produce and distribute films and TV content.[12]
Boon was also directed by French filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet in the 2009 movieMicmacs;[13] Danièle Thompson in 2009Change of Plans;[14]A Perfect Plan[15] 2012 film directed by Pascal Chaumeil, Julie Delpy's movieLolo[16] (2015) and Yvan Attal in the 2016 filmThe Jews.[17]
Raid Dingue[18] was a 2016 comedy that was a big success with the viewers but failed to convince film critics. He was the screenwriter and director of this movie and starred in it. For this film, Boon received the first César du public in the history of French cinema: this new award is given to the French film with the biggest box office of the year. AfterRaid Dingue, Boon did his sixth movie,(La Ch’tite Famille)Family is Family. It came out in 2018, the 10th anniversary ofBienvenue chez les Ch’tis.
In 2016, Boon starred in a film about anti-semitism in France,The Jews. In 2018, his Netflix show,Des-hauts-de-France,[19] premiered on Netflix. Boon voices the character of Olaf in the French dubbing of the Disney moviesFrozen,Frozen 2,Once Upon a Snowman, andOlaf Presents.[20]
He has four sons and a daughter from three marriages. With his first wife he had Mehdi, his eldest son, born in 1997. With his second wife,Judith Godrèche, he had Noé, born on 4 September 1999. With his third wife,Yaël Harris, for whom heconverted to Judaism in 2002,[21] he had Eytan, born 23 June 2005, Elia, born 20 December 2006, and Sarah, born 1 March 2010.[22]
In July 2022 Boon stated that he had been defrauded of €6 million by Irishman Terry Birles over his boat maintenances and investments in the company in charge of it. When Birles was arrested by InterPol in Panama in 2024, Boon took court action.[23][24]
