Michel Leeb
Michel Leeb (born 23 April 1947) is a French humorist, actor and singer.
Michel Leeb | |
|---|---|
 Michel Leeb at the preview of the film The Wolf of Wall Street. | |
| Born | 23 April 1947 |
| Alma mater | Panthéon-Sorbonne University |
| Occupation | Humorist, actor, singer |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Height | 6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m) |
| Spouse(s) | Béatrice Malicet (2000–present) |
| Children | 3 (including Fanny Leeb and Tom Leeb) |
Early life and education
Born in Cologne, Germany, Michel Édouard Nicolas Leeb is the son of Claude Leeb, an engineer in metallurgy of German origin, and Mafalda Forno, model and hostess of Italian origin.[1] He has a sister who is two years younger named Réjane.[2] At the divorce of his parents, living in the region of Rouen, he is sent to boarding school with the Jesuits at the Saint-François-de-Sales middle school in Évreux, and then joined the Saint-Gabriel middle and high school in Bagneux.[1]
It was at that time that his repertoire of gags, imitations and facial expressions was composed, for the biggest pleasure of his school mates. He made with the presence of his French teacher Pierre Gillet, who knew how to reveal his talents, his beginnings in scenography. Indeed, he played at the Sainte-Monique church of Bagneux and the church of Sceaux the premiere of the Passion du Christ written by his teacher and inspired of Paul Claudel. He then began at the Sorbonne a master degree in philosophy, a subject that he taught in 1970 during a year and a half at the Florian classes in Bourg-la-Reine,[1] before definitely starting a career as a humorist. This experience as a teacher allowed him to practice even more his talents as an imitator, taking different foreign accents during the classes, in accordance with the studied philosopher.
Career
Humorist
Leeb is known from the audience for his imitations. His caricatures of typical characters, as well as different personalities like Jean Gabin, Édouard Balladur or Julio Iglesias, marked his fame since the beginning of the 1980s.[3] However, his career began in the 1970s, just after his period as a philosophy teacher, with his imitation of Jerry Lewis titled La machine à écrire. After this, Charles Aznavour contacted him to start his career. Nevertheless, his very first appearance was disappointing for him, where he was broadcast by Guy Lux between Johnny Hallyday and Michel Sardou, but was forgotten.
Leeb also appeared in a television advertisement for a brand of insecticide products by Bayer, the yellow Baygon for the insects who do "bzzz-bzzz", and the green Baygon for the ones who do "crrr-crrr".
In 1984, Leeb made his first performance at the Olympia, where the success allowed him to come back six months later on the same stage for the celebrations at the end of the year. His fame is confirmed in 1985 by his program Certain Leeb Show, which broke the audience records on Saturday evening on Antenne 2. In 1994, he received the humour prize by the SACEM for a solo performance that will be seen by more than a hundred thousand viewers at the Casino de Paris from 29 September 1994 to 1 January 1995.
Since 1995, his career as a humorist is exported at the international field, especially his performance at the play given to the United Nations at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the institution. In 2000, he produced himself again at the Olympia in a new play with a mixture of imitations, sketches, noises and musical interpretations. This play was expanded with performances at the Casino de Paris, then by a tour around France until 2001.
Actor
After having bought back the authors' rights of Mrs. Doubtfire, Leeb made a theatrical adaptation directed by Albert Algoud, which allowed him to play a divorced husband who is forced to drag himself into a governess in order to continue to see his children. This adaptation on stage at the Théâtre de Paris was acclaimed by the audience. Michel Leeb was also on display of the play Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose.
Singer
Leeb also performed as a singer with the Count Basie Orchestra. He pursued his adventure in the field of jazz producing himself with the Big Band Brass directed by Dominique Rieux.
Conductor
A left-hander, Leeb conducts an orchestra with the left hand, affirming to be the only one in the world to do it, even though other conductors have done that as well, these include Raphaël Pichon,[4] Donald Runnicles and Paavo Berglund.
Personal life
Michel Leeb married on 17 June 2000 the journalist Béatrice Malicet.[1] They have three children : Fanny, born on 9 June 1986, singer and composer, Elsa, born in 1988, actress, and Tom, born on 21 March 1990, comedian and singer.
Honours
- Chevalier of the Order of the Legion of Honor (2009)[5]
References
- J. Lafitte (2010). Qui est qui en France (in French). p. 1323.
- Michel and Réjane Leeb, radio program C'est de famille on Europe 1, 8 August 2011.
- Gastaut, Yvan (2000). Seuil (ed.). L'immigration et l'opinion en France sous la Ve République (in French). p. 105.
- Macassar, Gilles (8 February 2013). "Raphaël Pichon : sacré chef d'orchestre !". Télérama (in French).
- "La Légion d'honneur du Nouvel An". Le Figaro (in French). 1 January 2009.
