Festivals & Events
Interesting Facts about Habib Benglia, a French Actor

On August 25, 2023, a Google Doodle honored French actor Habib Benglia on his 128th birthday. Benglia was the first actor of African-born actor to be cast in important roles in both theater and film.

Interesting Facts about Habib Benglia
- Actor Habib Benglia, who was born in Algeria, made his home in France. From the 1930s to the 1950s, he was active in the French film industry.
- He was the first French-African actor to be cast in significant roles in both theater (appearing in more than 100 plays) and film, including Renoir and Pujol movies, among others.
- On 25th August 1895, Habib Benglia was born in Oran, Algeria. Timbuktu was where he was raised before he went to study in France.
- He enjoyed theater and frequently attended plays, but his dream job was to become an agricultural engineer.
- Habib Benglia was inspired to audition for plays after a talent scout noticed him reciting poetry to friends.
- He went on to star in Le Minaret, Aphrodite, and L’Oedipe Roi de Bouhélier.
- Benglia pursued acting after being demobilized from World War I.
- He received a prominent role in The Emperor Jones in 1923.
- As a result, 27-year-old Habib Benglia became the first black actor to play the lead role in a production at the national French theater.
- Un soir à Bamako (An Evening in Bamako), one of the dramas he later composed, was broadcast on television in 1950.
- In movies like Dainah la Métisse, Sola, and Les Mystères de Paris, Benglia played the lead roles. However, Benglia’s attempts to play more flexible roles were mostly thwarted by colonial film.
- His performances in the movies La Belle Équipe (1936), La Bandera (1935), and La Grande Illusion (1937) are what made him most well-known.
- Benglia started his acting career by appearing in plays in Algeria and Paris.
- In 1933 in the film La Bandera, he made his film debut.
- He later made appearances in more than 30 movies, such as La Belle Équipe, La Grande Illusion, and La Règle du Jeu.
- Habib Benglia had two children with actress Madeleine Renaud, whom he was married to.
- Habib Benglia died in Paris on April 15, 1959.
- Habib Benglia appeared in more than a hundred plays at this time despite discrimination and racism.
- The legacy of Habib Benglia, one of the pioneers of Black theater and film in France, continues to be prominent for all underrepresented actors.
- On August 25, 2023, Google featured a Google Doodle on its homepage to celebrate Habib Benglia’s 128th Birthday.
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