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Coluche

by Nicolas from France

<a href=http://www.grappa.univ-lille3.fr/~torre/Enseignement/Deug-MISASHS/2002/Presentations/coluche.jpg>Coluche</a>
Coluche

Coluche was a great artist. He was one of the most appreciated comics in France and the author of universally known sketches like "C’est l’histoire d’un mec" or "Clochard analphabète". But if he is my hero today, it is less for his talents as a humorist and actor than for his other talents in life.

His real name was Michel Colucci. He was born in Paris, in a modest Italian family, on October 28, 1944. He lost his father at 3. His mother alone brought him up and his sister. He passed his « certificat d'étude » and began odd jobs at 15. He started to sing at “Chez Bernadette” where he washed dishes. At this moment, he adopted "Coluche" as a stage name. At 23, he entered the “Café de la Gare” to do his show. But he wished to direct his own troop: he created “Le vrai Chic Parisien”. In 1974 Coluche created his one man show “Mes adieux au Music hall”.

On October 26, 1980, he announced his candidacy to the French presidential elections in 1981. He said: “I'll quit politics when politicians quit comedy - they steal my job, I steal theirs.” Coluche announced a hunger strike to denounce the boycotting of his campaign by the media of his, then he stopped the adventure in February.

After this failure, he took to drugs, he divorced and two of his friends died. He acted in a tragic film “Tchao Pantin” and won the César Award for “Best Actor.”

He stood up for himself and found new passions. He took part in the Paris-Dakar motor rally and broke the motorbike speed world record. But his true fight was again political. He demonstrated against racism, and denounced precariousness and set up the "Restos du cœur" charity in 1985. They collect food, money and clothes for the needy and the homeless.

Coluche died in an motorbike accident on June 19, 1986. He was preparing a new show. Many homages were payed to him: Renaud sang “Putain de camion” and the parliament voted the law “loi Coluche”, on a Coluche proposition, supporting the gifts by deducing them from taxes.

He is my hero because he provided himself with the means to become what he wanted to be. When he was young, he wanted to become an artist and, coming from a modest family, he manufactured his own guitar. It played wrong but allowed him to learn to play and sing. Later, he wanted to improve the society in being a candidate to the presidential elections. When he understood that he could not do much in this way, he chose another approach by proposing laws and investing himself in charity. He was very generous and gave much of his time. He managed to create his association “les restos du coeur”. He did all that staying humble. He said : “I'm not a new rich, I'm a former poor”. Today, “les restos du coeur” distributes more than 65 million meals each year.

Page created on 4/16/2007 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 8/5/2018 12:44:31 AM

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