Michèle Laroque
Michèle Laroque at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival
Born	(1960-06-15) 15 June 1960 Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Occupation(s)	Actress, comedian, producer, screenwriter
Height	5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Partner	François Baroin (2008–present)

Michèle Laroque (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl laʁɔk]; born 15 June 1960) is a French actress, comedian, humorist, producer and screenwriter.

Early life

Michèle Laroque was born in Nice in the department of Alpes-Maritimes. She is the daughter of Romanian dancer and violinist Doina Trandabur, who fled to France to escape Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's regime in Communist Romania. Her father is French doctor Claude Laroque, who met Doina a year earlier during a tour. Michèle is also the niece of Pierre Laroque, the creator of Social Security in France. She studied economics and English, taking comedy classes at the same time in Antibes and then moving to America on a campus in Austin, Texas. In 1979, along with her best friend, she was victim of a car accident that resulted in two years of hospitalisation, a long convalescence and several months of reeducation. Following an extended coma and associated psychological trauma, she made the decision to become a comedian.^[1]

Career

Michèle Laroque at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival

She made her television début in 1988 in the humorous programme La Classe hosted by Fabrice every evening on FR3, where she met Pierre Palmade, Muriel Robin and Jean-Marie Bigard.

In 1989, she had her first role in the film Suivez cet avion and later had small roles in Le Mari de la coiffeuse (1990) by Patrice Leconte and Une époque formidable... (1991) by Gérard Jugnot and also starring him in the main role. She was nominated for the César Awards for Best Supporting Actress in La Crise (1992) and Pédale douce (1996).

She joined Les Enfoirés and is a member for the special tours and spectacles for Les Restos du Cœur. She is also the spokesperson for the association Enfance et Partage.

In 2002, she was the voice of Captain Amelia in the French version of the animated film Treasure Planet. In 2007, she appeared in an advertisement for the game Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! on Nintendo DS.

Personal life

Michèle Laroque was married to theatre director Dominique Deschamps for a brief period and later divorced.^[2] She has a daughter named Oriane (born 12 July 1995), who acted alongside her mother in the film Hey Good Looking !

Since 2008 she has been in a relationship with politician François Baroin.^[3] Her tax exile in the USA ended in 2010, her partner becoming at that time the Budget Minister of France.^[4]

Michèle Laroque is 5' 7.5" (1.71 m) tall. She is a gay rights activist.

Theatre

Filmography

Box-office

Michèle Laroque at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival

Movies starring Michèle Laroque with more than a million of entries in France.

	Films	Director	Year	France (entries)
1	The Closet	Francis Veber	2001	5,317,858
2	Pédale douce	Gabriel Aghion	1996	4,162,380
3	La Crise	Coline Serreau	1992	2,354,309
4	The Best Job in the World	Gérard Lauzier	1996	2,269,925
5	The Merry Widow	Isabelle Mergault	2007	2,210,676
6	Une époque formidable...	Gérard Jugnot	1991	1,672,754
7	Nelly and Mr. Arnaud	Claude Sautet	1995	1,521,041
8	Malabar Princess	Gilles Legrand	2004	1,470,701
9	La Maison du Bonheur	Dany Boon	2006	1,146,962
10	Hey Good Looking !	Lisa Azuelos	2006	1,066,999

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Michèle Laroque.

• Michèle Laroque at IMDb