Screenwriter, actor, and director, the collaborator of Claude Zidi had his hand in cult films Les Sous-doués, Banzaï, and Les Ripoux. He was 81 years old.
“Didier Kaminka contributed to the heyday of French comedy in the 1970s and 1980s,” recalls the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, in a tribute statement. A prominent figure in French comedy, Didier Kaminka passed away on Tuesday at the age of 81, his son announced to AFP on Saturday.
Screenwriter, actor, and director, the collaborator of Claude Zidi had his hand in cult films Les Sous-doués, Banzaï, and Les Ripoux. He died from an illness at his home in Labbeville in Val-d’Oise, where he filmed many scenes for his movies. A ceremony to pay tribute to him will be held on Friday in Paris.
Successful Social Comedies
Born on April 22, 1943, in Paris, Didier Kaminka began his career as an actor in the late 1960s. He thus appeared in the black comedy Poussez pas grand-père dans les cactus by Jean-Claude Dague. In 1973, actor Pierre Richard invited him to co-write his third feature film Je sais rien mais je dirai tout, in which he plays a minor role.
Numerous successful social comedies followed, for which he signed the dialogues, often in collaboration with director Claude Zidi, such as Les Sous-doués (1980) with Daniel Auteuil and Michel Galabru, Banzaï (1983) with Coluche, Les Ripoux (1984) with Philippe Noiret, Les rois du gag (1985) with Gérard Jugnot and Thierry Lhermitte. Or La Totale!, which James Cameron would adapt in the United States with Arnold Schwarzenegger under the title True Lies.
Didier Kaminka also directed films, such as Promotion canapé (1990) and Ma femme me quitte (1996), which he directed, as well as appearing in front of the camera in La Dormeuse Duval (2017) by Manuel Sanchez, where he plays a painter, marking his last screen appearance.