Boon was born Daniel Farid Hamidou in a middle-class family in northern France. His father was born in 1930 in Issers, Algeria, and was Muslim,[1] and died in Lille, France in 1992. He was a boxer and a chauffeur. Boon's mother, Danièle Ducatel,[2] is from northern France. A Catholic, she was a stay-at-home mother.
Boon arrived in Paris in 1989, where he was a mime[4] in the streets for a living while appearing frequently on open mic nights at places like the Treviso theatre. He borrowed his stage name from a hero in the American television series Daniel Boone, which was about an American trapper.
Boon is also a musician; he has done a version of "Piensa en mí"[6] ("Think of me"). He also writes his own songs, for example, "Le Blues du 'tiot poulet" ("The Chicken Blues").
After small roles in movies during the 1990s, he landed a role in the 1998 satire Bimboland, directed by Ariel Zeitoun. Boon is deeply attached to his native region, Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In 2003, he made a whole show in the local dialect of ch'ti, also known as Picard. Despite the use of dialectal language, 600,000 copies of the DVD (which included French subtitles) were sold. No previous DVD featuring a one-man show had sold as well in France.[citation needed] In 2004, he was part of the main cast in Pédale Dure,[7] directed by Gabriel Aghion, a critical and commercial flop. He was then offered several roles in movies, notably in the film Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas), which was released internationally in 2005.
In February 2008, he acted and directed a movie titled Welcome to the Sticks (Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis), which was a success in France and in other countries.[8] This comedy based on prejudices held about the region, went on to break French box office records. Two weeks after its release, the film had already been seen by five million people. After its fourth week, the figure had risen to 15 million, and by 11 April, the film had surpassed the viewing audience of La Grande Vadrouille, having been watched by more than 17.4 million people. He was the highest-paid actor in European film history, netting 26 million Euro (c. 33 million dollars).[9] He was the president of the 40th César Awards ceremony in 2015.[10] Boon was on the council of directors of the Pathé production company and has produced several films as actor, co-producer, screenwriter or director.[11] Boon had several production companies, including 26 DB Productions, in Los Angeles, California. They produce and distribute films and TV content.[12]
Boon was also directed by French filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Jeunet in the 2009 movie Micmacs;[13] Danièle Thompson in 2009 Change of Plans;[14]A Perfect Plan[15] 2012 film directed by Pascal Chaumeil, Julie Delpy's movie Lolo[16] (2015) and Yvan Attal in 2016 film The Jews.[17]
Raid Dingue[18] was a 2016 comedy that was a big success with the viewers but failed to convince film critics. He was both screenwriter and director on this movie, and also starred in it. For this film Boon received the first César du public in the history of French cinema: this new award is given to the French film with the biggest box office of the year. After Raid Dingue, Boon did his sixth movie, (La Ch’tite Famille)Family is Family. It came out in 2018, the 10 year anniversary of Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis.
In 2016 Boon starred in a film about anti-semitism in France, The Jews. In 2018, his Netflix show, Des-hauts-de-France[19] premiered on Netflix. Boon voices the character of Olaf in the French dubbings of the Disney movies Frozen, Frozen 2, Once Upon a Snowman, and Olaf Presents.[20]
Personal life
He has four sons and a daughter from three different unions. With his first wife, he had Mehdi, his eldest son, born in 1997. With his second wife, Judith Godrèche, he had Noé, born on 4 September 1999. With his third wife, Yaël Harris, for whom he converted to Judaism in 2002,[21] he had Eytan, born 23 June 2005; Elia, born 20 December 2006 and Sarah, born 1 March 2010.[22]
In July 2022 Boon stated that he was defrauded of €6 million by Irishman Terry Birles and was taking court action.[23]
^"Boon Dany". Cine Passion 34 (in French). 10 June 2003. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
^Jeunet, Jean-Pierre (2009-10-28), Micmacs à tire-larigot (Action, Comedy, Crime), Dany Boon, André Dussollier, Nicolas Marié, Yolande Moreau, Epithète Films, Tapioca Films, Warner Bros., retrieved 2021-04-08
^Thompson, Danièle (2009-02-18), Le code a changé (Comedy, Drama), Karin Viard, Dany Boon, Marina Foïs, Patrick Bruel, Thelma Films, Alter Films, StudioCanal, retrieved 2021-04-08
^Chaumeil, Pascal (2012-10-31), Un plan parfait (Adventure, Comedy, Romance), Diane Kruger, Dany Boon, Alice Pol, Robert Plagnol, Quad Productions, TF1 Films Production, Scope Pictures, retrieved 2021-04-08
^Delpy, Julie (2015-10-28), Lolo (Comedy), Julie Delpy, Dany Boon, Vincent Lacoste, Karin Viard, The Film, France 2 Cinéma, Mars Films, retrieved 2021-04-08
^Attal, Yvan (2016-06-01), Ils sont partout (Comedy), Yvan Attal, François Bureloup, Tobie Nathan, Benoît Poelvoorde, La Petite Reine, Films Sous Influence, Entre Chien et Loup, retrieved 2021-04-08
^Boon, Dany (2017-02-01), Raid dingue (Action, Comedy, Romance), Alice Pol, Dany Boon, Michel Blanc, Yvan Attal, Pathé, Les Productions du Ch'timi, TF1 Films Production, retrieved 2021-04-08
