Sacha Baron Cohen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sacha Baron Cohen
Baron Cohen in 2024
Born	Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (1971-10-13) 13 October 1971 (age 53) London, England
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge École Philippe Gaulier
Occupation	Actor comedian performance artist
Years active	1995–present
Spouse(s)	Isla Fisher ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2025)​
Children	3
Relatives	Erran Baron Cohen (brother) Ash Baron-Cohen (cousin) Sir Simon Baron-Cohen (cousin) Dan Baron Cohen (cousin)
Awards	Full list

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor and comedian. He is famous for creating and playing funny, satirical characters. These characters include Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Aladeen from the movie The Dictator.

His work often uses satire, which is a type of humor that points out problems in society. Through his characters, he has won many awards. These include two BAFTA TV Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He has also been nominated for three Academy Awards.

Baron Cohen has starred in many movies. He wrote and acted in films like Borat (2006) and its sequel in 2020. He also acted in serious dramas like The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020). For that role, he was nominated for an Academy Award.

Many people also know him as the voice of King Julien XIII in the Madagascar movies. He also voiced Uncle Ugo in the Disney and Pixar film Luca (2021).

Early Life and School

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen was born in London, England, on October 13, 1971. His family is Jewish. His mother, Daniella, was a photographer, and his father, Gerald, owned a clothing store. He has two older brothers, Erran and Amnon. Erran is a composer and often works with Sacha on his films.

Baron Cohen went to private schools. He then studied history at Christ's College, Cambridge, a famous university. He graduated in 1993. While at university, he acted in plays like Fiddler on the Roof. After university, he studied to be a clown in Paris with the famous teacher Philippe Gaulier.

Career Beginnings

Baron Cohen was a fan of comedians like Peter Sellers and the group Monty Python. He said Peter Sellers was a big influence on his comedy. After college, he worked as a model for a short time.

In the mid-1990s, he started hosting television shows. In 1995, he sent a video of himself to a TV channel looking for new presenters. A producer liked it, and he began hosting a show called Pump TV. He also trained to be a clown, which he said was very important for his success.

Famous Characters

Baron Cohen is best known for the unique characters he created. He often stays in character during interviews to make them funnier and more surprising.

Ali G

Baron Cohen as his character Ali G giving a speech at Harvard University in 2004.

Ali G was one of his first famous characters. Ali G is a fictional character from the town of Staines, near London. He pretends to be a journalist and interviews real people, often asking them silly questions.

The character first appeared on a British TV show called The 11 O'Clock Show in 1998. He quickly became very popular. This led to his own show, Da Ali G Show, which won a BAFTA award. In 2002, he starred in the movie Ali G Indahouse.

The funny part of the Ali G interviews was that the famous people he talked to did not know he was a comedian. They thought he was a real, but very strange, interviewer.

Borat Sagdiyev

Baron Cohen as Borat in 2006.

Borat Sagdiyev is another one of Baron Cohen's famous characters. Borat is a fictional journalist from Kazakhstan. The character's humor comes from his strange views on culture and his clueless behavior.

In 2006, the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was released. In the film, Borat travels across the United States to make a documentary. The movie was a huge success and made Baron Cohen famous worldwide. He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for playing Borat.

The movie was a "mockumentary," meaning it looked like a real documentary but was actually a comedy. Many of the people Borat interviewed were not actors. They did not know they were part of a comedy film. Baron Cohen used the character to show how people can have prejudiced ideas.

He brought the character back for a sequel in 2020, called Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

Brüno Gehard

Brüno is a flamboyant and fashion-obsessed TV host from Austria. Like his other characters, Brüno interviews people who do not realize he is a comedian. His goal is to make fun of the worlds of fashion and celebrity.

In 2009, the movie Brüno was released. To promote the film, Baron Cohen appeared as Brüno at events, creating funny and shocking moments. For example, he appeared at the MTV Movie Awards and landed in the lap of the rapper Eminem. It was later revealed that the stunt was planned.

Admiral General Aladeen

In 2012, Baron Cohen starred in the movie The Dictator. He played Admiral General Aladeen, the ruler of a fictional country called the Republic of Wadiya. The character was a satire of real-life dictators.

To promote the movie, he attended the Academy Awards dressed as Aladeen. He carried an urn that he pretended held the ashes of the former North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il. He then "accidentally" spilled the ashes, which were actually flour, on the TV host Ryan Seacrest.

Other Movie and TV Roles

Besides his own characters, Baron Cohen has acted in many other films. He played the villain Jean Girard in the comedy Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006). He also appeared in the musical film Sweeney Todd (2007).

He worked with director Martin Scorsese on the movie Hugo (2011). In 2012, he played the role of M. Thénardier in the movie version of the musical Les Misérables.

In 2019, he starred in the Netflix series The Spy, where he played the real-life Israeli spy Eli Cohen. This was a serious role that showed his range as an actor. In 2020, he played the activist Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7.

In 2025, he appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Ironheart as the villain Mephisto.

Activism and Charity

Baron Cohen uses his fame to support causes he believes in. He and his former wife, Isla Fisher, have donated large amounts of money to charities. For example, in 2015, they gave money to Save the Children to help vaccinate children in Syria. They also donated to help Syrian refugees.

He is a strong critic of social media companies. He believes they do not do enough to stop the spread of hate and lies online. In 2019, he gave a speech where he called these companies "the biggest propaganda machine in history."

In 2023, he spoke at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, a famous event from the Civil Rights Movement.

Personal Life

Baron Cohen met Australian actress Isla Fisher in 2001. They got married in 2010 in a Jewish ceremony in Paris. They have three children: two daughters and a son. The family lived in London and Los Angeles before moving to Sydney, Australia. In April 2024, the couple announced that they had filed for divorce in 2023. The divorce was finalized in June 2025.

Baron Cohen is proud of his Jewish heritage. He speaks Hebrew and tries to follow some Jewish customs. He spent a year in Israel working on a kibbutz, which is a type of community farm.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Sacha Baron Cohen para niños

• List of British actors
• List of British comedians
• List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain
• List of Jewish Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of Golden Globe winners