Comedian Gad Elmaleh Reflects on Childhood in Casablanca and Influential Caregiver

Gad Elmaleh grew up in the economic capital. He fondly remembers his youthful love for his 1st grade teacher, "for a basic reason, because she was blonde, and in Morocco, a blonde woman is a minority." But one memory in particular has marked him forever.

During a stay in Morocco, he wanted to see Fatima again. "A few years ago when I was in Morocco, I wanted to see the woman who was very present in my life and who also raised me. This woman’s name is Fatima," he explained. He made an appointment with her in a chic hotel where he was staying. "There were a lot of people waiting for me, fans of the show who wanted to take pictures," he recalls. Fatima, wearing a headscarf and a djellaba, was waiting patiently. "She says nothing, she waits very dignifiedly [...] and when I’m done, I go sit with her, and I tell her I’m sorry."

Fatima, with great wisdom, replied to him: "It’s no problem. It reminded me of when you were a baby and I would walk you around the streets of Casablanca in your stroller. You had such big, blue eyes that everyone would stop and look at your eyes. And I would pretend that you were my son." An anecdote that deeply touched Gad Elmaleh. "She stunned me and I said to myself that what she had seen was the love, the pure side of it all, while I was in ’resta’ mode."

https://youtu.be/xrFMtrfzLrY