Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is a British actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral General Aladeen. He adopts a variety of accents and guises for his characters and interacts with unsuspecting subjects who do not realise they have been set up. At the 2012 British Comedy Awards, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award and accepted the award in-character as Ali G. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy. In 2018, The Times named him among the 30 best living comedians.
Baron Cohen has produced and/or performed in comedic films such as Ali G Indahouse (2002), Borat (2006) and its sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), Brüno (2009), and The Dictator (2012). He has also appeared in dramatic films including Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Martin Scorsese's Hugo (2011), Tom Hooper's Les Misérables (2012), and Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020). In 2016, he starred in Grimsby and co-starred in Alice Through the Looking Glass. His voice acting roles include King Julien XIII in the Madagascar film series (2005–2012) and Uncle Ugo in Luca (2021).
Beginning his career in television, Baron Cohen was named Best Newcomer at the 1999 British Comedy Awards for The 11 O'Clock Show. He created and starred in Da Ali G Show (2000–2004), receiving two BAFTA Awards. His next television project, Who Is America? (2018) for Showtime, saw him nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy. In 2019, he portrayed Eli Cohen in the limited series The Spy for OCS and Netflix, for which he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.
Baron Cohen has two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, three Golden Globe Award nominations, resulting in two wins for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his work in the feature film Borat and its sequel. In 2021, he received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance as Abbot "Abbie" Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago 7. He has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Actors Branch since 2008.
Early life
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen was born into a Jewish family in the Hammersmith area of London on 13 October 1971. His mother, photographer Daniella (née Weiser), was born in British Mandatory Palestine in 1939. His father, editor-turned-clothing store owner Gerald Jerry Baron Cohen (1932–2016), was born into a Belarusian family of Ashkenazi Jews in London and grew up in the Welsh town of Pontypridd. Baron Cohen's paternal grandfather, Morris Moses Cohen, added "Baron" to his surname. His maternal grandmother, Liesel (née Levi), lived in Haifa and trained as a ballet dancer in Germany before fleeing the Nazis in 1936. He has two older brothers: Erran, a composer with whom he often collaborates, and Amnon. His cousins include autism researcher Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, playwright Dan Baron Cohen, and filmmaker Ash Baron-Cohen.
Baron Cohen was first educated at the independent Catholic St Columba's College in St Albans, before moving on to attend the independent Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree. He then studied History with a focus on antisemitism at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1993 with upper-second-class honours. As an undergraduate, he wrote his thesis on the role of Jewish activists in the American civil rights movement. He was a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club, where he performed in shows such as Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano de Bergerac, as acted in shows with the Labour Zionist youth movement Habonim Dror. He played the cello while growing up, and made his original television debut as a cellist on Fanfare for Young Musicians.
