Smaïn Fairouze

Smain, born Smain Fairouze on January 3, 1958, in Constantine, Algeria, is a French comedian, humorist, writer, actor, and director of Algerian descent. Born to an unknown father and mother, he was taken in by the children's ward of the civil hospital, and in 1960 was brought to France, where he joined a foster family. His adoptive father was an Algerian street sweeper and his adoptive mother a Moroccan cleaning lady. He attended the Notre-Dame school in Saint-Mande and then the Saint-Michel high school.

Smain began with a long career in cafe-theatre in the 1980s, performing in small Parisian cabarets, before meeting Philippe Bouvard, who offered him a place in his Theatre de Bouvard. There he met Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan, Pascal Legitimus, and Seymour Brussel, with whom he formed the comedy group Les Cinq. Choosing the solo show, he found success in productions including English beur in 1986, T'en veux ? in 1989, and Comme ca se prononce in 1996, for which he won a Moliere, a Victoire de la musique, and a Grand Prix Sacem. He was also offered cinema roles, notably in L'Oeil au beur(re) noir, which received the Cesar for best first film in 1988.

In 2008, he recorded Le Carnaval des animaux by Camille Saint-Saens with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande, writing the libretto. In 2009, he was part of the jury of the show France has incredible talent during its fourth season. In 2012, he returned to the stage of the Theatre Rive Gauche in the play Reactions en chaine, and in 2019 he participated in the first season of The Masked Singer, finishing tenth. He was made an Officier de l'ordre national du Merite in 2024.