Biography
Amidou, born Hamidou Benmessaoud, was a Moroccan-French film, television and stage actor. He moved to Paris at the age of 17 to train at the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique (CNSAD) and made his stage debut in 1968 in Jean Genet's Les paravents.
He was closely associated with director Claude Lelouch, appearing in eleven of his films from Le propre de l'homme (1960) onwards. His international credits include Sorcerer (1977) as Kassem / 'Martinez', Escape to Victory (1981), Ronin (1998) and Spy Game (2001). He also appeared in Spaghetti Westerns such as Buddy Goes West (1981).
Amidou received best actor awards at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival for Life Love Death (1969), the Cairo Film Festival and the Tangier Film Festival. In 2005 he was presented with a Lifetime Career Award at the Marrakech International Film Festival. He died in Paris on 19 September 2013.
