
Robert Castel
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1933-05-21
Day of Death
2020-12-05 (87 years old)
Place of Birth
Bab El-Oued, Alger, Algérie
Robert Castel
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(2017)
À la recherche de... Pierre Richard
as Self - Actor, humorist (archive footage)
(2016)
The Jews
as M. Bensoussan
(2012)
El Gusto
as Le Comédien
(2011)
Teenagers
as Pierre
(2009)
Comiques de toujours (Vol. 1 à 4)
as Self (archive footage)
(2007)
The Elf Case
as André Guelfi
(2007)
Elf, Kings of Oil
as André Guelfi
(2006)
One Fine Day
as M. Plisson
(2000)
The Sandmen
as Damien
(1983)
Le Braconnier de Dieu
as Le patron du bistrot
(1983)
C'est facile et ça peut rapporter... 20 ans
as L'agent Alfredo Moreno
(1982)
(1982)
Les p’tites têtes
as Mr. Roger
(1981)
Le bahut va craquer
as le prof d'anglais
(1980)
(1980)
Les Borsalini
as Mohamed Rico
(1980)
Sacrés gendarmes
as Gendarme Moreno
(1978)
Too Shy to Try
as Trinita, le joueur de pétanque
(1978)
Take It from the Top
as Le plombier
(1977)
Stop Fooling Around... Soldier!
as Rodriguez
(1976)
Les Grands Moyens
as Hubert Lacagne
(1976)
Let's Make a Dirty Movie
as Chouchou
(1976)
La Décharge
as Le pied-noir
(1975)
The Common Man
as Loulou
(1975)
It's Tough for Everybody
as Monsieur Gilles
(1974)
Le Permis de conduire
as L'agent de police
(1974)
Shut Up, Gulli
as Antoine
(1974)
Par le sang des autres
as Paul
(1974)
Par ici la monnaie
as Roméo
(1974)
Bedmania
as Monsieur Albert, le directeur de l'hôtel
(1973)
Two Men in Town
as André Vaultier
(1973)
The Conspiracy
as Sapporo
(1973)
The Suburbs Are Everywhere
as Marcel
(1972)
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
as Georghiu, Milan agent
(1972)
There Once Was a Cop
as Rodriguez, Manoni's man
(1969)
(1969)
Les gros malins
as Agent at the police station (uncredited)
(1969)
Three Men on a Horse
as Norber
(1964)
The Unvanquished
as Amerio
(1959)