Lionel Abelanski

Lionel Abelanski — Biography

Lionel Abelanski is one of French cinema's familiar supporting faces, known for character work that moves easily between comedy and drama. He reached his widest audience as Shlomo in Radu Mihaileanu's Holocaust-themed Train of Life, and went on to appear in a long run of French productions.

Born in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, he trained as an actor at Cours Florent. He reached the screen in the mid-1990s with titles such as A Saturday on Earth. After Train of Life in 1998 he played Mathias in Les parasites, Simonnet in Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre and Roland in Nationale 7. Around 2004 he took very different parts in The Great Role (Simon Laufer), The Pleasure Is All Mine (Oscar), Alive (José) and An Innocent Little Game (Patrick), followed by Not Here to Be Loved and Je déteste les enfants des autres.

Later he appeared as Guy in 15 ans et demi, as Jean-Paul Carrère in The Concert and as Serge in Rue Mandar. In The First, the Last he played the man in the warehouse, and in Bernadette (2023) the driver Yvon. On television he is also linked to Caméra Café. He is married to Nathalie Levy-Lang.