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Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born October 13, 1971) is an English comedian and actor notable for his successful and controversial comic characters, including Ali G (a junglist from West Staines, England), Borat (a Kazakh reporter) and Bruno (a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion reporter).

All three characters are featured in Da Ali G Show, an often unscripted program in which Sacha Baron Cohen conducts interviews, as one of his three characters, with people who ostensibly believe that the interviews are sincere and legitimate.

His work has been recognized with a BAFTA award, and earned an Emmy nomination.

Personal life

Family

Baron CohenBaron is not a title of nobility, but the first part of his compound surname, an Anglicization of Baruch was born in Hammersmith, London, England to an Orthodox Jewish family. He is the second of three sons of Gerald Baron Cohen and Daniella Weiser. His father owns a menswear shop in Piccadilly, and is originally from Wales, and his paternal grandfather was born in Pontypridd. His mother, who taught at a school of movement, is a native of Israel and the daughter of a ballet dancer from Germany. She is a Persian Jew.http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1883923,00.htmlhttp://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1808442126/biohttp://www.juf.org/news_public_affairs/article.asp?key=7568http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2877/. His brother Erran Baron Cohen, a composer and trumpet player with Middle Eastern influences and a founding member of the British electronica world-music group Zöhar, collaborated in the Borat film.

Baron Cohen is the second cousin of University of Cambridge Professor of Developmental Psychopathology Simon Baron-CohenEmpathizing with Simon Baron-Cohen's cousin, August 04, 2004..

Education

The Baron Cohens lived a comfortable middle-class life. Sacha attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, a private school in Elstree. He then attended Christ's College at the University of Cambridge where he read history under Niall Ferguson, among others, and wrote his dissertation on Jewish involvement in the American Civil Rights movement, focusing especially on the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner in Mississippi.

At the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, Baron Cohen acted in plays such as Cyrano de Bergerac and Fiddler on the Roof, in which he played Tevye. He was not a member of the Cambridge Footlights, though his long-time collaborator Dan Mazer was, and Baron Cohen performed in at least one Footlights show.

Israel & Judaism

Sacha was a member of, and in 1989 first acted (in Neil Simon's play Biloxi Blues) with,[1] the Jewish Zionist youth movement group "Habonim Dror."[2]

He spent a year in Israel at Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra as part of the Habonim Dror Shnat program before going to university.[3]

Baron Cohen is an observant Jew. He keeps kosher, and generally observes the Jewish Sabbath, refusing to answer the phone on shabbat.[4][5][6]

As a supreme jest, understood by few, while playing Jew-bashing Borat he frequently speaks in Hebrew. He also sings the lyrics from an old Hebrew folk song, and identifies his country's greatest scientist, who discovered that a woman's brain is the same size as that of a squirrel, as "Dr. Yarmulke."

Engagement

Baron Cohen is engaged to Australian actress Isla Fisher, and the pair plan to wed in a traditional Jewish wedding. Fisher has converted to Judaism, and received the blessing of Baron Cohen's practising Jewish parents. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-9474353-details/%27I+is+marrying+me+Julie%27/article.do

Career

Early career

In 1995, Channel 4 was planning a replacement for its series The Word, and put out an open call for new television presenters. Baron Cohen sent in a tape of himself in the character of Kristo, a fictional television reporter from Albania (who developed into the Kazakhstani Borat), which caught the attention of a producer. Baron Cohen bided his time by working for a Swindon-based television company, and his first feature film appearance occurred during this period.

Ali G, and rise to celebrity

After brief stints at prestigious investment banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, Baron Cohen went back into acting, appearing during 2-minute sketches as his fashion Bruno on The Paramount Comedy Channel during 1998. He shot to fame when his comic character Ali G, an idiotic wannabe gangsta rapper, started appearing on The Eleven O'Clock Show on Channel 4, which first went to air September 8 1998.

Da Ali G Show began in 2000, and won the BAFTA for best comedy series in the following year. Also in 2000, Ali G appeared in Madonna's music video "Music."

Ali G Indahouse

In 2002, Ali G was the central character in the feature film Ali G Indahouse, in which he is elected to the British Parliament and foils a plot to bulldoze a community centre in his hometown, Staines. His television show was brought to the United States in 2003 (with new episodes set in America) for HBO.

Interviews

Ali G's interviews with famous people (often politicians) gained notoriety partly because the subjects were not privy to the joke that Baron Cohen was playing a comedic character. On at least one occasion, the interviewee was merely told that Ali G had a popular show on MTV that kids watched. The resulting willingness of Ali G's targets to answer his frequently risqué questions often created surprising conversations. Notable interviewees have included astronaut Buzz Aldrin, writer Gore Vidal, real estate mogul Donald Trump, former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, Egyptian millionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, former US Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, political commentator Pat Buchanan, Professor Noam Chomsky, soccer player David Beckham, former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali (whom Baron Cohen, in his Ali G character, referred to as 'Boutros Boutros Boutros Boutros-Ghali'), British ex-Conservative MP Neil Hamilton, and journalist Andy Rooney -- the latter being one of the few personalities who grew extremely frustrated and abruptly ended the interview, prompting Ali G to ask "is it 'cos I is black?," and to accuse Rooney of being "racialist."

Borat and Bruno

Baron Cohen's third alter ego is 'Brüno', a gay Austrian fashion show presenter with a Nazi streak, who often lures his subjects into unwittingly making provocative statements and engaging in embarrassing behaviour, as well as leading them to contradict themselves, often in the same interview. Brüno asks the subjects to answer 'yes or no' questions with either "Vassap" for yes, or "Ich Don't Think So" for no, or on their opinions "achya" or "nicht nicht." http://www.BrunoMovie.tv

Plans are underway for Cohen to bring Bruno to the big screen, and after an intense bidding war that included such hollywood powerhouses as DreamWorks, Sony, and 20th Century Fox; Universal Pictures paid a reported $42.5 million for the rights to the movie. According to insiders, Cohen himself is getting paid $13 million upfront, and will also receive 15% of the box office take. That means if the film (tentatively titled Bruno) does as well as Borat, Cohen stands to make approximately $30 million.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, a feature film with 'Borat' at the centre, was screened at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and released in the United Kingdom November 2, 2006, and in the United States on November 3, 2006. The film is about a journey across the United States in an ice cream van, in which the main character is obsessed with the idea of marrying Pamela Anderson. It is said to be an unscripted mockumentary, but includes interviews (with various American citizens) that poke fun at the hobgoblins of American culture, including sexism, racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and jingoism. It debuted at the # 1 spot in the US, taking in an estimated $26.4 million in just 837 theaters averaging $31,600 per theater, the third highest per-theater average of all-time for movies opening wide (500 screens or more) behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Spider-Man. It easily outdistanced the expected # 1 movie of the weekend Disney's The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, which landed at the # 2 spot, earning an estimated $20 million in 3,458 cinemas.

Aside from the comic elements of his characters, Baron Cohen's performances are interpreted by some as reflecting uncomfortable truths about his audience. He juxtaposes his own Jewish lineage with the anti-Semitism of his character Borat. In one sketch from the TV show and not included actually in the film, Borat goes to a bar singing an anti-Semitic song called 'Throw the Jew Down the Well', with many in the bar singing along.Borat: Throw The Jew Down The Well

Baron Cohen garnered much attention at the premiere in Toronto when he arrived as Borat on the red carpet in a carriage pulled by six 'peasant' women, while he and his horse rode effortlessly. [7]

Other appearances

Baron Cohen guest-starred in the finale of the fifth season Curb Your Enthusiasm, with Dustin Hoffman as a guide to Heaven. He also provided the voice of the lemur king, King Julien, in Dreamworks' children's movie Madagascar (2005), and appeared as Will Ferrell's archrival Jean Girard in the 2006 hit Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Baron Cohen has twice presented the MTV Europe Music Awards, first as Ali G on November 8, 2001, in Frankfurt, Germany, and then as Borat on November 3, 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal.

He also delivered the 2004 Class Day address at Harvard University as Ali G, the day before the graduation ceremony.

At the 2006 MTV Movie Awards, Borat introduced Gnarls Barkley's performance of "Crazy," where he made various crude sexist remarks about Jessica Simpson, and Borat's appearance was cut from subsequent rebroadcasts.

Baron Cohen is a supporter of Comic Relief, and (as Ali G) has hosted interviews with, among others, soccer player David Beckham and wife Victoria, for the benefit of the charity.

Controversies

Baron Cohen has encountered several controversies regarding some of his comic characters.

• Citizens of Glod, (which means "mud" in Romanian), the Romanian village in which the opening scenes of Borat were filmed, are attempting to sue the makers of Borat. They assert the intent of the film was misrepresented to them, and that the poorest members of their village were made to look like "savages." "Borat film 'tricked' poor village actors", Daily Mail, November 11, 2006.

• In an interview with Neil Hamilton in 2000, Ali G offered Hamilton what was allegedly marijuana, which Hamilton accepted and smoked, creating some minor controversy in the British media.

• Baron Cohen has had some troubles because of racist or prejudiced comments his characters have made (see Da Ali G Show). HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer has replied to the criticisms: 'Through his alter-egos, he delivers an obvious satire that exposes people's ignorance and prejudice in much the same way All in the Family did years ago.' [8]

• The government of Kazakhstan threatened Baron Cohen with legal action after the MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony in Lisbon, and the authority in charge of the country's country-code top-level domain name removed the website that he had created for his character Borat (previously: http://www.borat.kz currently: http://www.borat.tv/) for alleged violation of the law — specifically, registering for the domain under a false name. The New York Times, (among others), has reported that Baron Cohen, (in character as Borat), replied: "I'd like to state that I have no connection with Mr. Cohen and fully support my government decision to sue this Jew.""British comic responds to legal threat against 'Borat'", CBC, Friday, Nov. 25, 2005.

He was, however, recently defended by Dariga Nazarbayeva, a politician and the daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stated 'We should not be afraid of humour and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think.'"Daughter of Kazakhstan's president defends Borat", CBC, Friday, April 21, 2006.

The deputy foreign minister of Kazakhstan has recently invited Baron Cohen to visit the country, stating that he could learn that 'women drive cars, wine is made of grapes, and Jews are free to go to synagogues.' "Kazakh invite for Borat creator", BBC News, Thursday, October 19, 2006.

• Cohen encountered another problem around his Borat character. Two of the three college students who play three fraternity brothers, which appear in Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, are suing the filmmakers, asserting that they were duped into declaring racial slurs in the film. They say they were given drinks prior to signing a legal agreement consenting to appear in the film, and were told that the film would not be shown in America.

Performer vs. characters

Baron Cohen has often been confused with the identity of one of his characters. When he posed as Borat to host the MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, the central Hungarian news wire agency MTI reported that the host was 'Borat Sagdiyev'.MTI reporting from MTV Europe Music Awards As most Hungarian newspapers and television networks take MTI as their official source, the misinterpretation of the character spread rapidly in Hungary, with some sources (such as TV2) emphasising that a Kazakhstani news reporter hosted the awards, while others (such as Index.hu) noticed and pointed out the error.Index.hu article on the reporting error

TV, radio, and magazine appearances

Baron Cohen rarely does interviews out of character. However, in 2004, he did the talk show circuit appearing as himself on The Daily Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Howard Stern Show [9], and others. He also did an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, published in November 2006, that the magazine labeled "his only interview as himself."

Director Larry Charles explains that Baron Cohen generally appears in character partly to "protect the product," by focusing public interest on his characters rather than himself.[10] His other reason, Newsweek claims, is that Baron Cohen is fiercely private: "...according to the UK press, his publicists denied not only that he attended a party for "Borat"'s recent London premiere, but also that a party even occurred." [11]

Awards & nominations

• 1999 - Won British Comedy Award, Best Male Comedy Newcomer for: "The 11 O'Clock Show" (1998)

• 2000 - Nominated BAFTA TV Award, Best Entertainment Performance for: "The 11 O'Clock Show" (1998)

• 2000 - Nominated National Television Award, UK, Most Popular Comedy Performer for: "Da Ali G Show" (2000)

• 2000 - Won TV Quick Award, TV Personality of the Year for: "Da Ali G Show" (2000)

• 2001 - Won BAFTA TV Award, Best Comedy (Programme or Series) for: "Da Ali G Show" (2000) (shared)

• 2001 - Won BAFTA TV Award, Best Comedy Performance for: "Da Ali G Show" (2000)

• 2003 - Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (Alternative) for: "Da Ali G Show" (2003) (shared)

• 2003 - Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for Non-Fiction Programming for: "Da Ali G Show" (2003) (shared)

• 2004 - Nominated Golden Satellite Award, Best Performance by an Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical for: "Da Ali G Show" (2003)

• 2005 - Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for: "Da Ali G Show" (2003) (shared)

• 2005 - Nominated Emmy Award, Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program for: "Da Ali G Show" (2003) (shared)

Miscellany

• Sports Illustrated's November 6 2006 issue contains is a column called "Skater vs. Instigator," which draws various amusing "parallels" between Sacha Cohen and figure skater Sasha Cohen, ranging from the significance of the number 4 to both of them, to interest shown in them by various redheads.

• He returned to Israel in 2005 to coach the Machon Frisbee team in a play-off match at Kibbutz Revivim. Machon came back to to win after being down 2-8, and Baron Cohen was awarded the kibbutz's highest honor for his efforts.[12]

Filmography

Footnotes

External links

• Sacha Baron Cohen interview with NPR's Robert Siegel
• Official Borat Homesite (created after the original site, www.borat.kz, was taken down by the Association of Kazakh IT Companies)
• Sacha Baron Cohen in the news
• The Jolly Boys Last Stand
• Yahoo biography
• ThrowawayyourTV.com Sacha Baron Cohen Video Archive
• Borat's Myspace
• Sasha Baron Cohen's characters video collection
• 'Borat' Earns Glorious $26.4M in Debut
• Borat Audio Soundboards

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