Patrick Bruel

Biography

Early life

Patrick was born into an Algerian Sephardic Jewish family in Tlemcen, French Algeria. He is the son of Pierre Benguigui and Augusta Kammoun, daughter of Elie and Céline ben Sidoun. His parents separated in 1960, and he was raised by his mother. Together, the two emigrated to France in June 1962 just before Algerian independence. He lived in the staff accommodation of the girls' school in Argenteuil where his mother was a teacher. In his youth, Bruel aspired to be a football player, but decided instead to pursue singing after seeing Michel Sardou in 1975.

Acting and music careers

His first success came as an actor, in 1979's Le Coup de sirocco. He continued acting in films, on television, and in the theater while pursuing his singing career. His first single, "Vide" ("Empty"), released in 1982, was not a success, but the follow-up, "Marre de cette nana-là" ("Fed up with that chick"), was a hit.

In 2003, just before his partner, the writer and playwright Amanda Sthers, gave birth to his first child, Oscar, on 19 August, he changed his name to Bruel-Benguigui, combining his stage name with his birth name. On 21 September 2004, he wed the then 26-year-old Sthers; it was his first marriage. His second child, Léon, was born on 28 September 2005. The couple separated in 2007.

As of 2004, Bruel has acted in more than forty television and film productions, and has made five studio albums and several live albums. In 2002, Bruel released Entre Deux, a double CD of classic chanson that features duets with Charles Aznavour, Jean-Louis Aubert, Jean-Jacques Goldman, Alain Souchon and Renaud, among others. It sold two million copies and made Bruel France's best paid singer of the year. At the beginning of 2005, in response to the South Asian tsunami of 26 December 2004, Bruel wrote the song "Et puis la terre" with Marie-Florence Gros, with whom he had begun a long-term collaboration in 1998, to benefit the Red Cross. His latest album, "Des souvenirs devant", was his fourth chart-topper in France.

Poker

Bruel is a world-class professional poker player. He won a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1998 for the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event. As of 2009, he has earned more than $900,000 in tournament play, of which his ten cash winnings at the WSOP account for $411,659. He also comments on the World Poker Tour in France.

World Series of Poker bracelet

Los Angeles home

In the 2010s, Bruel bought a house in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. In January 2025, the house was destroyed by the Palisades Fire.

Philanthropy

Bruel has been a member of the Les Enfoirés charity ensemble since 1993.

Selected filmography

• Le coup de sirocco (1979) – Paulo Narboni
• Un pas dans la forêt (1980, TV Movie) – Pierre
• La mort en sautoir (1980, TV Movie) – Un 'loubard'
• Le Rembrandt de Verrières (1981, TV Movie)
• Les enquêtes du commissaire Maigret (1981, TV Series) – Louis
• Ma femme s'appelle reviens (1982) – François
• Paris-Saint-Lazare (1982, TV Mini-Series) – Un lycéen
• Les diplômés du dernier rang (1982) – Philippe
• Le bâtard (1983) – Dan
• Le grand carnaval (1983) – Pierre–Marie Labrouche
• Les malheurs de Malou (1984, TV Movie) – José
• Marche à l'ombre (1984) – Le guitariste du métro (uncredited)
• La tête dans le sac (1984) – Dany
• Les amours des années 50 (1985, TV Series)
• Le mariage blues (1985, TV Movie) – Michel
• Profs (1985) – Frédéric Game
• Suivez mon regard (1986) – Le musicien
• Attention bandits! (1986) – Mozart
• La maison assassinée (1988) – Séraphin Monge
• Champagne amer (1989) – Wanis
• **(1989) – Simon Atlan – un inspecteur de police juif impulsif et violent
• Force majeure (1989) – Philippe
• Il y a des jours... et des lunes (1990) – The musician who missed his plane
• Toutes peines confondues (1992) – Christophe / detective
• Profil bas (1993) – Inspector Julien Segal
• A Hundred and One Nights (1995) – Le premier orateur
• Sabrina (1995) – Louis
• Le Jaguar (1996) – François Perrin
• K (1997) – L'inspecteur de police Sam Bellamy
• Paparazzi (1998) – Patrick Bruel
• The Misadventures of Margaret (1998) – Martin
• Hors jeu (1998) – Patrick Bruel
• Lost & Found (1999) – Rene
• Le marquis (2000, Short) – Le marquis
• Pretty Things (2001) – Jacques
• The Milk of Human Kindness (2001) – Laurent
• Une vie à t'attendre (2004) – Alex
• The Wolf (2004) – Nelson
• Comedy of Power (2006) – Jacques Sibaud
• O Jerusalem (2006) – David Levin
• A Secret (2007) – Maxime Nathan Grinberg / Grimbert
• Change of Plans (2009) – Le docteur Alain Carcassonne
• Desperate Parents (2009)
• Comme les cinq doigts de la main (2010) – Dan Hayoun
• The Writer (2011)
• Paris Manhattan (2012) – Victor
• What's in a Name? (2012) – Vincent
• Les gamins (2013) – Le sosie de Patrick Bruel
• Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles (2014) – Philippe Dupin
• The Missionaries (2014) – Lambert Levallois
• Love at First Child (2015) – Ange
• Un sac de billes (2017) – Roman Joffo
• Holy Lands (2017) – Michel
• A Family (2017) – Vincenzo / Husband
• The Best Is Yet to Come (2019) – César
• Villa Caprice (2020) – Gilles Fontaine
• State of Alert (2025) - Zeev Abadi

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

Featured in and collective collaborations

References

References

1. "Bruel".
2. Flumiani, Maria Cristina. (2015-05-06). "Film e registi di oggi e di ieri". Youcanprint.
3. "L'Amour propre".
4. (30 March 2023). "Patrick Bruel à La Foire du Livre, rend hommage à la littérature : "Un livre peut changer une vie"". Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française.
5. "Patrick Bruel's profile on The Hendon Mob".
6. "Patrick Bruel".
7. Keslassy, Elsa. (15 January 2025). "French Actor and Singer Patrick Bruel on Losing His Home in Palisades Fire: 'You Get the Impression That a Bomb Has Ravaged Everything'".
8. link. (30 June 2017 (in French). ''Enfoires.com''. Retrieved 23 February 2017.)
9. Elsa Keslassy. (March 25, 2025). "French Actor Patrick Bruel on Making TV Debut in Spy Thriller ‘State of Alert’ Helmed by ‘Tehran’ Co-Director for Keshet, TF1 (EXCLUSIVE)".
10. "State of Alert (TV Mini Series 2025)".
11. "Patrick Bruel". [[Ultratop]].
12. "Patrick Bruel – Encore une fois".
13. [http://www.snepmusique.com/tops-semaine/top-albums-fusionnes/?ye=2015&we=48 Le Top du mois : Top Albums Fusionnés]
14. "Patrick Bruel – Ce soir on sort...". Ultratop.
15. (10 June 2013). "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 49, 2016)". [[Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique]].
16. "Patrick Bruel". [[Ultratop]].