- Born
- Birth nameSacha Noam Baron Cohen
- Height6′ 4″ (1.93 m)
- British actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the son of Daniella (Weiser), a movement instructor, and Gerald Baron Cohen, a clothing store owner. His father, born in England and raised in Wales, was of Eastern European Jewish descent, while his mother was born in Israel, to German Jewish parents. He was educated at a private school, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Hertfordshire, and went on to read History at Christ's College, Cambridge. Baron Cohen had an interest in performing from an early age, forming a breakdancing group as a teenager and acting in amateur plays with a Jewish youth group. While at university he joined the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, and took part in such plays as "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "Fiddler on the Roof".
Upon leaving University, Baron Cohen briefly worked as a model, before moving on to work as a host on a satellite TV station. In 1995, Channel 4 put out an open call for new presenters, and Baron Cohen sent in a tape featuring himself in character as an Albania TV reporter (an early prototype for Borat). He was hired and worked on various 'youth TV' projects before, in 1998, appearing in The 11 O'Clock Show (1998) which became a cult hit thanks to his character, Ali G. Ali G proved so popular that a spin-off show Da Ali G Show (2000) and film Ali G Indahouse (2002) where produced.
America soon beckoned with a stateside version of Da Ali G Show. Feature film work followed with Baron Cohen providing the voice of Julien in Madagascar (2005) and appearing as Jean Girard alongside Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006). He followed this with the smash-hit Borat (2006), for which he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for a writing Oscar. His other film work includes supporting roles in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Hugo (2011), and starring in the title roles of Brüno (2009), The Dictator (2012), and The Brothers Grimsby (2016).- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpouseIsla Fisher(March 15, 2010 - present) (filed for divorce, 3 children)
- ChildrenOlive Cohen
- ParentsGerald Baron CohenDaniella Weiser
- RelativesErran Baron Cohen(Sibling)Ash Baron-Cohen(Cousin)Simon Baron-Cohen(Cousin)
- His characters Ali G, Borat, Brüno and Admiral General Aladeen
- Tall, thin frame
- Propensity for strange, exaggerated accents
- Intentionally irritating, bizzare characters
- Regularly cast in period pieces as annoying comic relief/antagonists
- In contrast to his characters, he is a soft-spoken, gentlemanly Cambridge man who considered pursuing a PhD before going into comedy.
- Appears on talk shows in character; he has rarely appeared as his real self. Nevertheless, he did appear as himself on the Golden Globe Awards show in 2007, as well as on the NPR radio talk show "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. He was also asked to appear in character (as Borat) at the Oscars, but refused and went as himself.
- Gave 2004 Harvard class day address in character as Ali G.
- When Baron Cohen made a surprise appearance as Ali G at the 2016 Academy Awards (it was truly a surprise-show producers had told him not to do it), his wife, Isla Fisher had to be complicit in the prank, and smuggled the Ali G costume into the awards ceremony under her dress. She then had to stand outside a door backstage at the Oscars while Baron Cohen changed inside and producers kept knocking to see what he was up to. "I had to lie to everyone, which made me feel really guilty," Fisher said on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Afterward Fisher said she "went straight to the bar, I'm not gonna lie.".
- For Borat, Sacha takes about 6 weeks to grow body, head, and facial hair. For Ali G., the facial hair takes about 4 weeks to grow. When preparing for Brüno, he shaves all of his hair (including body hair), and works out and cleans his body vigorously.
- Borat is based actually on a guy I met in southern Russia. I can't remember his name. He was a doctor. The moment I met him I was totally crying. He was a hysterically funny guy, albeit totally unintentionally.
- I remember, when I was in university I studied history, and there was this one major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw. And his quote was, 'The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.' I know it's not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but I think it's an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic.
- I've been in a bizarre situation, where a country has declared me as its number-one enemy. It's inherently a comic situation. I mean, it's always risky when you don't go down the normal route. I wish I would've been there at the briefing that Bush got about who I am, who Borat is. It would have had to be great.
- I think that, essentially, I'm a private person, and to reconcile that with being famous is a hard thing. So I've been trying to have my cake and eat it too - to have my character be famous yet still lead a normal life where I'm not trapped by fame and recognizability... I guess I've been greedy. Maybe it's time to let go.
- It's wonderful that the films are successful, but every new person who sees the movie is one less person I can be 'Borat' or 'Brüno' with again, so finishing a movie means having to say goodbye. Admitting that you're never going to play the character again is like saying goodbye to a loved one. And that's hard.
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) - $1,000,000
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