Amidou

Amidou

Born: August 2, 1935
Died: September 19, 2013
in Rabat, Morocco
From Wikipedia

Hamidou Benmessaoud (Arabic: حميدو بنمسعود‎; 2 August 1935 – 19 September 2013), best known as Amidou, was a Moroccan-French film, television and stage actor.

Born in Rabat, at 17 Amidou moved to Paris to attend the CNSAD. In 1968 he made his debut on stage, in Jean Genet's Les paravents.

Amidou is probably best known for his association with director Claude Lelouch, with whom he has shot eleven films, including the Lelouch's film debut Le propre de l'homme (1960). He made his debut in a Maroccan film in 1969, starring in Soleil de printemps directed by Latif Lahlou. His career includes roles in Spaghetti Westerns like Buddy Goes West and several American productions, including William Friedkin's Sorcerer, John Frankenheimer's Ronin and John Huston's Escape to Victory.

In 1969 Amidou was awarded best actor at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for his role in Life Love Death by Claude Lelouch, later he won best actor awards at the Cairo Film Festival (for Pursuit by Leila Triquie) and at the Tangier Film Festival (for Rachid Boutounes' Here and There). In 2005, he received at the hands of Martin Scorsese a Lifetime Career Award at the International Film Festival of Marrakech. He was also the first Moroccan actor to have won an acting award at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Art.

Amidou died on 19 September 2013 in Paris, France. He was 78.

Movies for Amidou...

Aïcha : Vacances infernales
Title: Aïcha : Vacances infernales
Character: M. Bouamaza
Released: June 20, 2012
Type: Movie
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Aïcha : La grande débrouille
Title: Aïcha : La grande débrouille
Character: M. Bouamaza
Released: September 7, 2011
Type: Movie
Rid of her rival Gloria, Aïcha will do everything to make her boss proud, with Ginette's help. Patrick presents her with a love ultimatum: their mothers must meet. And to top it off, things are getting worse in the neighborhood.
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Aïcha : Job à tout prix
Title: Aïcha : Job à tout prix
Character: Mr. Bouamaza
Released: March 2, 2011
Type: Movie
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Comme les 5 doigts de la main
Title: Comme les 5 doigts de la main
Character: Lakdar
Released: April 28, 2010
Type: Movie
Five brothers similar yet different, raised by a mother widowed too early. One of them had left the family when he returns, pursued by a gang of smugglers, he find shelter in his family while reveling them a dark secret. The five brothers, together, will find the energy to defend themself and the means to avenge the memory of their murdered father...
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Aïcha
Title: Aïcha
Character: M. Bouamaza
Released: May 13, 2009
Type: Movie
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Ali Baba and the 40 thieves
Title: Ali Baba and the 40 thieves
Character: Le Caliphe
Released: November 10, 2007
Type: Movie
The story of Ali Baba, who takes on forty thieves to save the Caliph of Baghdad and prevent a war between the Orient and the Occident.
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Title: Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves
Character: le Khalif
Released: October 29, 2007
Type: TV
Set in and around Bagdad of the old times ALI BABA AND THE 40 THIEVES is the highly entertaining tale of kind but luckless Ali, played by French superstar Gérard Jugnor who finds himself unwilling in the centre of multiple difficult situations.
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Argana
Title: Argana
Character: Hamou
Released: January 1, 2007
Type: Movie
After the death of her husband Amghar, killed by the settlers, Tamghart resists the maneuvers of the traitor Hammou who quietly negotiates, despite the villagers, the elimination of the argan tree to pass a road. But Rachid’s bitter struggle, back in the village after long years of study abroad, puts an end to Hammou’s evil schemes.
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Heaven's Doors
Title: Heaven's Doors
Released: January 1, 2006
Type: Movie
As co-directed by brothers Swad and Imad Noury (and produced by their mother, Pilar Cazorla), The Moroccan picture Heaven's Doors (2005) employs an episodic narrative, with three related substories presented sequentially. The Nourys shoot the episodes in distinct cinematographic styles (and with distinct overtones) suited to each tale, recalling Humberto Solas's masterpiece Lucia (1969).
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Here and There
Title: Here and There
Released: October 2, 2004
Type: Movie
“Rahal” immigrated to Europe forty years ago. Scandalized by the behavior of his eldest son who participated in a heist, he decides to return to Morocco for good. In his native country, “Rahal” intends to take matters into his own hands. Events take another detour.
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And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
Title: And Now... Ladies and Gentlemen...
Character: l'inspecteur de police
Released: May 29, 2002
Type: Movie
A jazz singer and a British jewel thief are brought together by their mutual desire to forget the past.
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Une histoire d'amour
Title: Une histoire d'amour
Released: January 1, 2002
Type: Movie
Aziz meets Wafaa, a young prostitute and tries to get out of his condition. His task won't be easy.
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Spy Game
Title: Spy Game
Character: Dr. Ahmed
Released: November 18, 2001
Type: Movie
On the day of his retirement, a veteran CIA agent learns that his former protégé has been arrested in China, is sentenced to die the next morning in Beijing, and that the CIA is considering letting that happen to avoid an international scandal.
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Rules of Engagement
Title: Rules of Engagement
Character: Dr. Ahmar
Released: April 7, 2000
Type: Movie
A Marine Colonel is brought to court-martial after ordering his men to fire on demonstrators surrounding the American embassy in Yemen.
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Hideous Kinky
Title: Hideous Kinky
Character: Sufi Sheikh
Released: November 17, 1998
Type: Movie
In 1972, disenchanted about the dreary conventions of English life, 25-year-old Julia heads for Morocco with her daughters, six-year-old Lucy and precocious eight-year-old Bea.
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Ronin
Title: Ronin
Character: Man at Exchange
Released: September 25, 1998
Type: Movie
A briefcase with undisclosed contents – sought by Irish terrorists and the Russian mob – makes its way into criminals' hands. An Irish liaison assembles a squad of mercenaries, or 'ronin', and gives them the thorny task of recovering the case.
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Title: Vivement dimanche
Character: Self
Released: September 20, 1998
Type: TV
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Soleil
Title: Soleil
Character: Mokzar
Released: June 11, 1997
Type: Movie
During a happy evening, the famous professor Levy, one of the masters of cardiac surgery, collapses, struck by a heart attack. His whole life comes back to him, and in particular his childhood, enlightened by a loving and beloved mother.
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Lalla Hobby
Title: Lalla Hobby
Released: December 15, 1996
Type: Movie
As Haj Moussa is caught by border guards while trying to reach Gibraltar in a small boat, he is sent to prison, and his family tries to help him return home, while his wife tries to procure money for the household and run the business.
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Unveiled
Title: Unveiled
Character: Det. Brahms
Released: August 3, 1994
Type: Movie
An American woman uses herself as bait to help a CIA agent trap an alleged serial killer in Morroco.
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The Big Pardon 2
Title: The Big Pardon 2
Character: Si Ali
Released: December 9, 1992
Type: Movie
The mobster Raymond Bettoun gets out of prison and joins his son Maurice in Miami, a drug trafficker who is about to launch a huge operation. But he falls into a trap and a war begins in which Raymond will fight a last battle to try to save his son and what remains of his family.
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The Beautiful Story
Title: The Beautiful Story
Character: Le berger
Released: March 18, 1992
Type: Movie
A film with emphasis on visuals and music, the plot concerns characters who meet in present time, mainly the male gypsy Jesus, and the female thief and con-artist Odona, who share parallel experiences from lives 2000 years in the past. These stories are juxtaposed.
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Hot Chocolate
Title: Hot Chocolate
Character: Beauregard
Released: January 1, 1992
Type: Movie
B.J. Cassidy, a rich businesswoman, has to invest several billion dollars for fiscal reasons. She undertakes to buy back a small French factory, specialized in chocolate truffles...
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Brothers in Arms
Title: Brothers in Arms
Character: Le Kabyle
Released: March 15, 1989
Type: Movie
Simon, a Jewish police inspector, arrests Karim, a Muslim, in the bust of a drug smuggling cargo ship, only to realize that Karim is an undercover agent from the military intelligence, whose mission he was not aware of. The two men pursue the narc investigation, which will lead them to confront middle eastern terrorists together.
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Bitter Champagne
Title: Bitter Champagne
Character: Slim
Released: January 1, 1986
Type: Movie
In North Africa, a father and his illegitimate son are in love with the same woman.
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The Night Wears Suspenders
Title: The Night Wears Suspenders
Released: April 20, 1985
Type: Movie
Jézabel, a worldly young woman, takes hold of Ariel, a shy and inexperienced young man, and leads him by hook or by crook through the wild side of Paris nightlife.
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Farewell Fred
Title: Farewell Fred
Character: Poupée
Released: January 30, 1985
Type: Movie
Fred is a gambler and deep in debt. He owes crime boss Victor a lot of money and the time to pay has come. He decides to take a massive risk to refund his debts and agrees to kill a man. Fred knows he has to pay his debt and that the only way to do it is to carry out the hit arranged by Victor.
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Les p’tites têtes
Title: Les p’tites têtes
Character: Prince Douzami
Released: June 9, 1982
Type: Movie
Henri, Daniel and Xavier have just opened a travel agency in Paris. Henri runs the agency while Daniel and Xavier go on trip to take care of the group of tourists in Morocco. The troubles begin when Xavier and Daniel arrive in Morocco and discover that Henri has closed the agency in Paris and hasn't booked any hotels or attractions for the trip. Without any money, Daniel and Xavier decide to continue the journey. Their luck is their meeting with the rich Prince Douzami who falls in love with one of the tourist, Marilyn, and he decides to help them. The trip is still disturbed by two criminals Mata and Harry who want to take a microfilm that daniel has unfortunately swallowed.
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Escape to Victory
Title: Escape to Victory
Character: André
Released: June 17, 1981
Type: Movie
A group of POWs in a German prison camp during World War II play the German National Soccer Team in this powerful film depicting the role of prisoners during wartime.
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Les avocats du diable
Title: Les avocats du diable
Released: May 19, 1981
Type: Movie
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Buddy Goes West
Title: Buddy Goes West
Character: Girolamo / Eagle Eye
Released: May 14, 1981
Type: Movie
Trinity series star Bud Spencer returns to the Wild West in director Michele Lupo's comic tale of an outlaw drifter, Buddy, who is mistaken for a doctor after his Indian companion inadvertently steals a bag of surgical instruments. When a band of murderous outlaws attempts to overrun the small town Buddy is passing through, the presumed medico shows that his true talent is cracking skulls. Music is composed by Ennio Morricone.
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Sorcerer
Title: Sorcerer
Character: Kassem / 'Martinez'
Released: June 24, 1977
Type: Movie
Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.
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Rosebud
Title: Rosebud
Character: Kirkbane
Released: March 24, 1975
Type: Movie
In a bold coup a Palestinian terrorist group captures the yacht Rosebud and kidnaps the millionaires five daughters on it. At first they demand film clips to be shown on major European TV stations. Undercover agent Martin is hired to hunt the terrorists down.
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Man in the Trunk
Title: Man in the Trunk
Character: Abdul
Released: October 12, 1973
Type: Movie
A beautiful and thoroughly modern young French women, Francoise, gets involved with an Israeli agent working in Libya. The agent is exposed and in order to save his life, he has to be smuggled out of the country in a trunk ("valise"). Francoise and the agent get through a lot of turbulent adventures, in the process of which the thoroughly liberated young woman also seduces a Libyan agent and an Egyptian officer, who also fall wildly in love with here.
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The Punishment
Title: The Punishment
Character: Raymond
Released: June 28, 1973
Type: Movie
Britt, deluxe call-girl, is punished by the brothel owner because she was not accomodating enough to a customer. From now on, she must obey to all customers sadistic wishes, or else.
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Touch and Go
Title: Touch and Go
Character: Ali
Released: September 1, 1971
Type: Movie
North Africa, December 1942. Valentin, a professional gardener ruined by the bombings of 1940, has fled to Tunis, where he traffics stolen goods, transporting them from Libya to Tunisia on an old boat.
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Smic, Smac, Smoc
Title: Smic, Smac, Smoc
Character: Robert 'Smoc'
Released: September 1, 1971
Type: Movie
Charles, Jean and Amidou are workmen at the La Ciotat shipyards and live in the same construction facility. One day, Amidou leaves them to marry Catherine, a salesgirl. The trouble for Charles and Jean is that going to their friend's wedding means buying new clothes, which is problematic given their low income Moreover, they are determined to make this day an unforgettable one, despite their lack of money. Will they be able achieve their aim?
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The Crook
Title: The Crook
Character: Bill
Released: November 20, 1970
Type: Movie
A thief known as Simon the Swiss faces up and downs in his criminal profession.
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Countdown to Vengeance
Title: Countdown to Vengeance
Character: Macias
Released: January 29, 1970
Type: Movie
10 years ago, François Nolan and his brother have been betrayed by one of their accomplices after a break-in. During the fight with the police, Francois's brother was killed, and a cop disfigured by François. Now, François is back for revenge. As nobody knows who the traitor was, the former accomplices lose their head. The disfigured cop is also waiting for the right moment to take his revenge on François.
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Life Love Death
Title: Life Love Death
Character: François Toledo
Released: January 29, 1969
Type: Movie
François Toledo, married businessman and father, falls head-over-heels in love with Janine, a work colleague. However, he is soon found out: after three dates, he strangles some prostitutes, when, the victim of blackmail, he becomes dishonored. He is taken to court, and sentenced to be killed by a guillotine.
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Soleil de Printemps
Title: Soleil de Printemps
Released: January 2, 1969
Type: Movie
The story of a young man of peasant origin, a minor official in Casablanca, which can not adapt to life in the big city.
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Heartbeat
Title: Heartbeat
Character: Etienne
Released: October 30, 1968
Type: Movie
The mistress of a wealthy man misses material comforts when she leaves him for a younger lover.
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The Girl Across the Way
Title: The Girl Across the Way
Released: January 14, 1968
Type: Movie
A young student visits the home of a friend who has all the good looks, women and luck. Every day, through binoculars from his friend's window, he sees a young girl in front of her home. Although attractive, the woman's face has been badly scarred. He finds out her phone number and the two engage in pleasant conversation. He gets up enough nerve to ask to meet her in person, but the socially inept young man becomes paralyzed with fear. He again summons the courage to meet with her before he is plagued with fear once again.
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Sorrel Flower
Title: Sorrel Flower
Character: Francis, le porte-flingue d'Albert Roza
Released: September 22, 1967
Type: Movie
Catherine is left unmarried and pregnant when her mobster sweetheart is killed in this gangster comedy. With the help of another unmarried mother-to-be, Catherine goes looking for the stash of cash buried by her lover before his death. Soon other thugs and her suspicious neighbors are following their every move in an attempt to recover the lost loot...
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Live for Life
Title: Live for Life
Character: photographe
Released: September 13, 1967
Type: Movie
Famous TV newscaster Robert Colomb is married to Catherine, but is continually unfaithful to her. Then he meets, and becomes fascinated with Candice.
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Les grands moments
Title: Les grands moments
Released: September 30, 1966
Type: Movie
Four prisoners are gathered in the same cell. Each tells the others how he got there.
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Brigade Anti Gangs
Title: Brigade Anti Gangs
Character: Nez Cassé
Released: August 18, 1966
Type: Movie
The struggle between a ruthless leader of a bank robbers - Raymond Pellegrin - and the cops who are determined to put him in jail for long.
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To Be a Crook
Title: To Be a Crook
Character: Amidou
Released: June 1, 1965
Type: Movie
Four young people, tired of working life, decide that they can earn money from crime than they can from work. The film follows their training at the first "crime school", as well as their work.
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La parole est au témoin
Title: La parole est au témoin
Character: (voice)
Released: November 17, 1963
Type: Movie
Mustapha, a cab driver in Paris, charges a customer in a hurry, without realizing that he is in a hurry to escape his pursuers after robbing a jewelry store. The next day, reading the newspapers, Mustapha becomes aware of the role he has played in this affair, and would gladly assist the police if a fortuitous incident didn't make him fear the criminals' vengeance. It's a cruel dilemma in which he is both suspected by some and threatened by others. Weak but honest, he manages to get out of this predicament at the risk of his life!
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Thé a la menthe
Title: Thé a la menthe
Released: January 1, 1962
Type: Movie
A man sits at a cafe in Paris and watches the world go by.
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The Right of Man
Title: The Right of Man
Released: September 30, 1961
Type: Movie
At a friend's house, Claude meets Janine. The two young people spend the day wandering around Paris, from the café to the Foire du Trône, together or on their own. An exploration of the construction of a couple from two singularities.