

In 2006, he acted in the historical movie Days of Glory (which he co-produced), paying tribute to the North-African soldiers who fought for France during the Second World War. He acted in the movies Zonzon (1998), international box-office hit Amélie (2001), domestic hit Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002), and Angel-A (2005, directed by Luc Besson). On the same channel, he contributed to another show, H, along with Éric Judor and Ramzy Bedia. He took Le Cinéma de Jamel to television on Canal+ in 1998. He debuted on Radio Nova, with a film review show, Le Cinéma de Jamel and on television around 1996-1997 on cable channel Paris Première, in a TV show co-produced by Radio Nova and the channel. In 1995, he was spotted by the bosses of Radio Nova, Jacques Massadian and Jean-François Bizot, who made him famous (Massadian would become his manager). In December 2004, he was going to perform on stage on the French island of Réunion, but Debbouze cancelled, claiming illness, as Michel Admette's parents had organized a demonstration against his arrival.

Debbouze was sued by the victim’s family for manslaughter but the case was dismissed for lack of proof. He lost the use of his right arm in the accident, which killed another young man, Jean-Paul Admette, the son of the singer Michel Admette from Reunion. On 17 January 1990, at the train station in Trappes, he was struck by a passing train travelling at 150 km/h. He is the eldest of six siblings: Jamel, Mohamed, Hayat, Karim, Rachid and Nawel Debbouze. They returned in 1979 and settled in Trappes in 1983, in the Paris region, where Debbouze spent the rest of his childhood.

His family, from Taza, moved back to Morocco the following year. Jamel Debbouze (born 18 June 1975) is a French-Moroccan actor, comedian, producer, director, and screenwriter.Debbouze was born in Paris, France.
