Sacha Baron Cohen

Birthday: 13 October 1971, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Birth Name: Sacha Noam Baron Cohen

Height: 191 cm

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: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (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 Grimsby (2016). Show less «

I think that, essentially, I'm a private person, and to reconcile that with being famous is a hard t...Show more »

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. Show less «

I've been in a bizarre situation, where a country has declared me as its number-one enemy. It's inhe...Show more »

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. Show less «

It's wonderful that the films are successful, but every new person who sees the movie is one less pe...Show more »

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. Show less «

Borat is based actually on a guy I met in southern Russia. I can't remember his name. He was a docto...Show more »

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. Show less «

It seems to me that Martin Scorsese makes films for himself. He is an artist. And he's one of the la...Show more »

It seems to me that Martin Scorsese makes films for himself. He is an artist. And he's one of the last remaining artists out there, and I think we should respect that. Show less «

I remember, when I was in university I studied history, and there was this one major historian of th...Show more »

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. Show less «

[on a scene in Hugo (2011)] So I have a bath with the dog. What happens under the bubbles is our bus...Show more »

[on a scene in Hugo (2011)] So I have a bath with the dog. What happens under the bubbles is our business. Show less «

Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen's FILMOGRAPHY

Sacha Baron Cohen'S roles

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