Coluche

One of the first major comedians to regularly use profanities as a source of humor on French television. Having become a bankable star of comedy films, he also proved himself a capable dramatic performer by winning the César Award for Best Actor for his performance in So Long, Stooge (1983). Coluche also founded in 1985 the charity "Les Restaurants du Cœur" which still provides free meals and other products to people in need.

Colucci was born on 28 October 1944 in a hospital in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. His mother, Simone Bouyer (called "Monette"), worked as a florist in the Boulevard du Montparnasse. His father, Honorio Colucci, an Italian immigrant from Casalvieri, Lazio, was a painter and decorator. His father died in 1947 at age 31 from poliomyelitis; his wife struggled thereafter to raise the young Michel and his sister (Danièle, 18 months older than Michel) on a meagre salary. Coluche showed little promise at school, and left after completing his primary studies (June 1958). He tried various temporary jobs, and had several run-ins with authorities. During this time his mother bought him a guitar, which he taught himself to play. In 1964 he joined the 60th Infantry Regiment in Lons-le-Saunier, but was imprisoned for insubordination. On his return to civilian life, he worked in his mother's florist shop which she had been able to open on rue d'Aligre, and later in a larger shop which she opened near la Gare de Lyon. He found this work dull and abruptly quit, which caused a long-lasting breach with his mother. At the end of the 1960s he tried his luck as a singer in cafes, then turned to comedy.

In 1969, Coluche took part with Romain Bouteille to the founding of the Café de la Gare, a Parisian café-théâtre that would become the meeting place of a group of young comedic actors practically all of whom were to become famous: Patrick Dewaere, Henri Guybet, Miou-Miou, Martin Lamotte, etc. Among the patrons of the Café de la Gare were Georges Moustaki, Raymond Devos, Jean Ferrat, Jacques Brel, Leny Escudero, Pierre Perret and Jean Yanne. Other actors who performed the Café de la Gare early in their careers include Gérard Lanvin, Renaud, Rufus, Diane Kurys, Coline Serreau, Anémone, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko and Gérard Jugnot. Coluche's first sketch C'est l'histoire d'un mec (It's the story of a guy) was about the difficulties of telling a funny story. He quickly found success but his alcohol issues led to scuffles with Dewaere and Bouteille and eventually forced him to leave the Café de la Gare, though he later returned to perform there. He went on to found another troupe, Le vrai chic parisien (The true Parisian chic), a self-styled "Vulgar Theatre". However, Coluche's behavior caused again the working atmosphere to deteriorate and he eventually left the troupe, as he was looking forward to a solo career. Talent agent Paul Lederman, who had met Coluche in 1974 while he was performing at the Café de la Gare, endeavored to advance his career and introduce him to a more mainstream audience. It was at this point that Coluche began to dress in his well-known outfit of white tennis shoes, blue striped overalls, a bright yellow T-shirt and round glasses. One of his first widely successful routines was a parody of a TV game (Le Schmilblick). In the course of the 1970s, Coluche established himself as a very popular stand-up comedian. In 1976, he co-starred with Louis de Funès in the comedy film The Wing or the Thigh, which enjoyed great commercial success. The next year, he made his first film as a director, the historical comedy Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine, in which he also starred. However, the film failed at the box-office upon release. Coluche was disappointed in his work as a director and did not renew the experience. He then concentrated on his work as a comedian, cementing his popularity in France. While a famous entertainer, Coluche also remained controversial in France throughout his career due to his use of profanities. In 1979, following audience protests, he was sacked for vulgarity from the radio station Europe 1 where he had been hired as a conductor. The following year, he was hired at Radio Monte Carlo but was sacked ten days later for making a joke about Princess Caroline's sex life. In 1981, he became a conductor on RFM, then a "pirate" radio. Coluche was also associated with the satirical magazines Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo. In the latter publication, he had his own column, Les pauvres sont des cons (The poor are idiots) consisting of humorous photo comics about news topics. Coluche returned to film in 1980, starring in the comedy Inspecteur la Bavure (Inspector Blunder) directed by Claude Zidi, which enjoyed great commercial success and reestablished him as a bankable film star. His next box-office hits were the comedy Le Maître d'école (1981), the historical parody Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ (Quarter To Two B.C., 1982) and the comedy Banzaï (1983). Also in 1983, he starred in the film So Long, Stooge (Tchao Pantin) directed by Claude Berri, where he played his first dramatic role. His performance in that film, which mirrored his chaotic personal life, earned him the César Award for Best Actor in 1984. Not taking his Award very seriously, Coluche did not capitalize on his newfound credibility as a dramatic actor. He next starred in comedies which he saw as purely commercial affairs, including Good King Dagobert (1984), directed by Dino Risi, which was a box-office failure. Claude Berri considered casting him in a new dramatic role, that of Ugolin in Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, but Coluche's screen tests proved unconvincing; Coluche later said that he didn't feel the character. Being uncomfortable with the idea of doing a fake Southern accent, he requested an excessive salary for the film in order to ensure that Berri would not hire him. Coluche's final film role, Madman at War (1985), an Italian-French dark comedy also directed by Dino Risi, allowed him to show again greater depth in a semi-dramatic role. From October 1985 to February 1986, Coluche conducted on Canal+ the daily show Coluche 1 faux, which included jokes and parodies of TV news. Also in 1985, he returned on Europe 1 where he became the conductor of a daily show, Y'en aura pour tout le monde ('There's something in it for everyone").

Coluche's comedy skits mixed jokes, social and political satire, observational comedy, ribaldry, dark humor and occasionnally toilet humor. His material, which specialized in ridiculing authorities and institutions, was regarded as subversive. In his skits, Coluche often portrayed stupid, prejudiced people, in order to mock their narrow-minded views. He regularly used profanities, though he insisted that he was "always rude, never vulgar". He helped popularize in France the type of gross out, anarchic brand of humor associated with the magazines Hara-Kiri and Charlie Hebdo, to which he collaborated.

In a 30 October 1980 press conference at the theatre of his one-man show, Coluche announced his candidacy to the upcoming presidential election. He was treated as a joke candidate until the Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche published a poll on 14 December 1980 showing Coluche supported by 16% of potential voters. His "campaign" was supported and organized by Charlie Hebdo, with slogans such as "Before me, France was divided in two; now it will be folded in four" (more idiomatically "être plié en quatre" could be translated as "doubled over laughing"), and "Coluche - the only candidate who has no reason to lie". However, he withdrew following pressure from serious politicians - including François Mitterrand who saw him as a menace for his own candidacy - death threats, and the murder of his stage manager René Gorlin (though that murder later proved to be unconnected with Coluche's candidacy).

In September 1985, Coluche used his show on Europe 1 to launch an initiative to collect food for people in need. His idea developed into the "Restaurants du Cœur" (usually called Restos du cœur) charity. The charity (40,000 volunteers in almost 2,500 eating establishments, which serve some 600,000 daily beneficiaries) collects food, money and clothes for the needy and the homeless. Each year, a fundraising concert series is presented by singers and celebrities collectively known as "Les Enfoirés" (named after a profanity frequently used by Coluche).

At the beginning of his career, Coluche dated Miou-Miou for a time. It was he who found her stage name, which he had invented as a nickname for her. In 1969, he met Véronique Kantor, who became his girlfriend and whom he married in 1975. They had two sons, Romain (b. 1972) and Marius (b. 1976). The couple divorced in 1981. Following his separation with Véronique, Coluche, who already had problems with alcohol, developed a drug addiction. In 1982, Coluche began a relationship with Elsa Chalier, who left his friend Patrick Dewaere for him. Dewaere then committed suicide, using a shotgun that Coluche had offered him. The remorse over Dewaere's death caused Coluche to suffer from depression. He later used the pain and sorrow he was experiencing as a basis for his performance in So Long, Stooge. Coluche's girlfriend during the early eighties was Frédérique "Fred" Romano, a sex shop manager. Both struggled with drug addiction during their relationship. The lead female role of So Long, Stooge, played by Agnès Soral, was partially based on her. In 1985, Coluche endeavored to get his life back on track. At the time of his death, he was in a relationship with Frédérique Fayles-Bernstein, who later married television executive Pierre Lescure. A motorsports enthusiast, Coluche was a skilled practitioner of motorcycle racing. In March 1985, he set a world speed record (252.087 km/h; 156.64 mph) on a one-km (1000 yard) track in Italy with a 750cc motorcycle.

At 16:35 on 19 June 1986, Coluche died after crashing his Honda 1100 VFC into a truck on the "route de Cannes", a road in the commune of Opio, Alpes-Maritimes in southeastern France. He was 41. This event provoked national grief and inspired the album Putain de camion ("fucking truck") by his close friend Renaud. Some conspiracy theories have since surfaced, mainly in the book Coluche, l'accident: contre-enquête, alleging that Coluche might have been murdered. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his death, from 6 October 2016 to 14 January 2017, an exhibition about Coluche was held at Paris City Hall. In March 2011, a bronze statue of Coluche, dressed in his trademark striped dungarees, was unveiled in his hometown of Montrouge (suburb of Paris).