
Coluche
Actor · Died June 19, 1986, aged 41 · Paris, France
Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci (28 October 1944 – 19 June 1986), better known under his stage name Coluche, was a French stand-up comedian, film actor, activist and philanthropist. He adopted Coluche as a stage name at age 26, as he began his entertainment career. He became known for his irreverent attitude towards politics and the establishment, and he incorporated this into much of his material. Coluche was one of the first major comedians to regularly use profanities as a source of humor on French television. Having become a bankable star of comedy films, he also proved himself a capable dramatic performer by winning the César Award for Best Actor for his performance in So Long, Stooge (1983). Coluche also founded in 1985 the charity "Les Restaurants du Cœur" which still provides free meals and other products to people in need. Early life Colucci was born on 28 October 1944 in a hospital in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. His mother, Simone Bouyer (called "Monette"), worked as a florist in the Boulevard du Montparnasse. His father, Honorio Colucci, an Italian immigrant from Casalvieri, Lazio, was a painter and decorator. His father died in 1947 at age 31 from poliomyelitis; his wife struggled thereafter to raise the young Michel and his sister (Danièle, 18 months older than Michel) on a meagre salary. Coluche showed little promise at school, and left after completing his primary studies (June 1958). He tried various temporary jobs, and had several run-ins with authorities. During this time his mother bought him a guitar, which he taught himself to play. In 1964 he joined the 60th Infantry Regiment de Lons-le-Saunier, but was imprisoned for insubordination. On his return to civilian life, he worked in his mother's florist shop which she had been able to open on rue d'Aligre, and later in a larger shop which she opened near la Gare de Lyon. He found this work dull, and suddenly quit, which caused a long-lasting breach with his mother. At the end of the 1960s he tried his luck as a singer in cafes, then turned to comedy. In 1969, Coluche took part with Romain Bouteille to the founding of the Café de la Gare, a Parisian café-théâtre that would become the meeting place of a group of young comedic actors practically all of whom were to become famous: Patrick Dewaere, Henri Guybet, Miou-Miou, Martin Lamotte, etc. Among the patrons of the Café de la Gare were Georges Moustaki, Raymond Devos, Jean Ferrat, Jacques Brel, Leny Escudero, Pierre Perret and Jean Yanne. Other actors who performed the Café de la Gare early in their careers include Gérard Lanvin, Renaud, Rufus, Diane Kurys, Coline Serreau, Anémone, Gérard Depardieu, Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko and Gérard Jugnot. Coluche's first sketch C'est l'histoire d'un mec (It's the story of a guy) was about the difficulties of telling a funny story. He quickly found success but his alcohol issues led to scuffles with Dewaere and Bouteille and eventually forced him to leave the Café de la Gare, though he later returned to perform there. ... Source: Article "Coluche" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Read moreShow less
Biography from TMDB.
- October 28, 1944
- June 19, 1986 (aged 41)
- Paris, France
- Actor
- 14 on MovieCove · 27 credits in all
What are Coluche's films like?
Across their 13 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
A split, not a type: Ironic 3 · Wry 1 · Earnest 6
Light 11 · Serious 2 · Dark 0
A split, not a type: Grounded 7 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 3
Gentle 5 · Charged 8 · Intense 0
A split, not a type: Steady 6 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 12
Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 2
Casual 11 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 11 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 12 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 7 of 9 analyzed roles.
Show the 9 rolesHide the roles
- Shapeshifteras Gérard Duchemin in The Wing or The Thigh? (1976)
- Allyas L'inspecteur Charbonnier in Les vécés étaient fermés de l'intérieur (1976)
- Heroas L'inspecteur Michel Clément in Inspector Blunder (1980)
- Heroas Gérard Barbier in Le maître d'école (1981)
- Heroas Ben-Hur Marcel in Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ (1982)
- Heroas Michel Bernardin in Banzaï (1983)
- Heroas Micky in My Best Friend's Girl (1983)
- Heroas Dagobert 1er in Le bon roi Dagobert (1984)
- Heroas Loulou Dupin in La vengeance du serpent à plumes (1984)
Moods and endings
- Happy10
- Bittersweet1
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Coluche's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 2 of their 14 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Coluche's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
27 credits, 14 with a MovieCove page; 52 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)

Coluche 1 faux (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)

Madman at War (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)

All Mixed Up (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)

Les rois du gag(1985)
Midcredits score: 19th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 12th percentile of all films
Le bon roi Dagobert(1984)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
So Long, Stooge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1983)

My Best Friend's Girl(1983)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Banzaï(1983)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Elle voit des nains partout ! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1982)

Le maître d'école(1981)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all films
Signé Furax(1981)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Inspector Blunder(1980)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films
You Won't Have Alsace-Lorraine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)

Drôles de zèbres (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)

The Wing or The Thigh?(1976)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
La Cloche tibétaine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1974)

La Ligne de démarcation (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)

The Big Store(1973)
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Themroc(1973)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
The Year 01 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)

Troubleshooters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)

Donkey Skin(1970)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
The Man with Connections (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1970)
Career shape
Star power in the 99th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 27 titles from 1970 to 2014.
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
How do Coluche's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 42nd percentile, the median of all 14; across their 13 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 53rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th5
Shape of the crowd
8 of their 14 titles are Broadly Agreed.
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed8
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the acting 70/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles; fans 79, detractors 49. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Coluche work with?
People who share at least 2 of Coluche's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Pierre Grunstein shares the most, 6.
Directors
- Claude ZidiShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Banzaï (1983), Inspector Blunder (1980), The Wing or The Thigh? (1976), The Big Store (1973)See all 5 shared titles with Claude Zidi

Writers
- Michel FabreShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Banzaï (1983), The Wing or The Thigh? (1976), The Big Store (1973)See all 4 shared titles with Michel Fabre
- Didier KaminkaShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Banzaï (1983)See all 2 shared titles with Didier Kaminka

- Gérard BrachShared titles: Le bon roi Dagobert (1984), My Best Friend's Girl (1983)See all 2 shared titles with Gérard Brach

Actors
- Michel SerraultShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Le bon roi Dagobert (1984), Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ (1982), The Big Store (1973)See all 4 shared titles with Michel Serrault

- François PerrotShared titles: Banzaï (1983), My Best Friend's Girl (1983), Inspector Blunder (1980)See all 3 shared titles with François Perrot

- Mathilda MayShared titles: My Coluche (2026), Les rois du gag (1985)See all 2 shared titles with Mathilda May

- Thierry LhermitteShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), My Best Friend's Girl (1983)See all 2 shared titles with Thierry Lhermitte

Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Vladimir CosmaShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Banzaï (1983), Inspector Blunder (1980), The Wing or The Thigh? (1976)See all 4 shared titles with Vladimir Cosma

- Nicole SaunierShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Banzaï (1983), Inspector Blunder (1980)See all 3 shared titles with Nicole Saunier
- Jean-Jacques TarbèsShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), Banzaï (1983)See all 2 shared titles with Jean-Jacques Tarbès
- Henri DecaëShared titles: La vengeance du serpent à plumes (1984), Inspector Blunder (1980)See all 2 shared titles with Henri Decaë

Producers
- Pierre GrunsteinShared titles: La vengeance du serpent à plumes (1984), Banzaï (1983), My Best Friend's Girl (1983), Le maître d'école (1981), Inspector Blunder (1980), The Wing or The Thigh? (1976)See all 6 shared titles with Pierre Grunstein

- Claude BerriShared titles: Banzaï (1983), My Best Friend's Girl (1983), Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ (1982), Le maître d'école (1981), Inspector Blunder (1980)See all 5 shared titles with Claude Berri

- Bernard ArtiguesShared titles: The Wing or The Thigh? (1976), The Big Store (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Bernard Artigues
Mixed roles
- Georges BellerShared titles: Les rois du gag (1985), The Big Store (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Georges Beller
