Shoes

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Gender

Female

Birthday

1952-09-13

Place of Birth

Alger, Algeria

Biyouna

Biography

Biyouna (بيونة), whose real name was Baya Bouzar (باية بوزار), was an Algerian actress, singer, and dancer born on September 13, 1952, in Belcourt, a working-class neighborhood of Algiers, and died on November 25, 2025, at the Beni Messous Hospital in Algiers, at the age of 73, from lung cancer. A major figure in Maghrebi culture, she is remembered as a free-spirited, popular artist deeply attached to Algeria. Born into a family where music played a significant role, particularly through her sister, the singer Leïla El Djazaïria, Biyouna developed a passion for singing, dancing, and acting at a very young age. As a teenager, she first joined Fadela Dziria's troupe, where she sang in the choir and played percussion, before forming her own group with which she performed at weddings and popular festivals in Algiers. By seventeen, she was already performing in the capital's cabarets, before becoming a dancer at the famous Copacabana at nineteen, which brought her to the attention of the artistic community. Her acting career began in the early 1970s when director Mustapha Badie spotted her and gave her the role of Fatma in the television series La Grande Maison, adapted from the novel by Mohammed Dib. This first major role made her instantly popular with the Algerian public and opened the doors of television and film for her, where her fiery temperament, humor, and outspokenness became her trademark. She then distinguished herself by alternating between melodramas, comedies, and one-woman shows, establishing herself as a key figure on Algerian television. From the late 1990s onward, Biyouna's career took off in France, notably with the film *Le Harem de Madame Osmane*, followed by *La Voisine* and *Viva Laldjérie*, which brought her to the attention of a wider audience. In 2007, she captivated audiences in *Délice Paloma*, where she portrayed Madame Aldjéria, a charismatic mafia matriarch, a role often considered one of the highlights of her filmography. Her singular presence, her deep voice, and her ability to blend tragedy and comedy made her a sought-after actress for numerous directors on both sides of the Mediterranean. At the same time, Biyouna pursued a successful musical career, releasing the album Raid Zone in the early 2000s, followed by Une blonde Dans La Casbah, projects blending Algerian influences with contemporary Franco-Algerian arrangements. She also participated in musical productions such as Fellag's Casbah Opera and lent her voice to various projects. She also became a star of television series, notably with Nass Mlah City, broadcast during Ramadan, and the Tunisian series Nsibti Laaziza, where her colorful characters left a lasting impression on Maghrebi audiences. The last years of her life were overshadowed by illness, lung cancer, which she battled for several years and which was regularly discussed in the Algerian and French media. She passed away on November 25, 2025, in Algiers, at the Beni Messous hospital, after her health deteriorated due to respiratory complications. She leaves behind a career spanning more than half a century and immense popularity, a symbol of a free, audacious, funny, and moving female artist who navigated the changing times without ever abandoning her personality or her language, moving seamlessly between Algerian Darija, colloquial Arabic, and French.

Known for

On n'est pas couché

On n'est pas couché

On n'est pas couché was a French talk show broadcast on France 2 on Saturdays at 11 p.m., hosted by Laurent Ruquier assisted by various columnists.

Amanda

Amanda

The program combines comedy, celebrity, musical guests, and human-interest stories.

Tomboy

Tomboy

One morning Noureddine, who always considered himself a little boy, discovers that his mother Fatima lied to him for 11 years and, in fact, he is a girl.

Belleville Cop

Belleville Cop

When a childhood friend from Miami gets killed after he comes to warn of encroaching drug gangs, Baaba moves to Miami and teams up with a local officer to bring down the criminals.

La Voyante

La Voyante

Véra Bellini fights with her psychic friends for their gift to be recognized by medicine. But her opponent Doctor Pelletier thoughly resists and will reveal a difficult secret about Vera's life.

Aïcha

Aïcha

A few miles from Paris, on the other side of the northern ring road, stands a ghetto neighborhood with countless rows of dilapidated apartment buildings, their concrete crumbling and iron rusting. A multiracial community has long been rooted here, while most native French families have deserted the area. In tower 216 lives a "model" family of Algerian origin, the Bouamazzas. Our heroine, Aïcha, 25, the eldest daughter, is held up as an example by the whole community. But Aïcha can no longer bear the weight of the community: she wants to spread her wings, gain her independence, and finally cross the Rubicon.

Neuilly sa mère, sa mère !

Neuilly sa mère, sa mère !

In 2008, Sami Benboudaoud discovered the hell of Neuilly-sur-Seine. Ten years later, now that everything is for the best for Sami who brilliantly completes his studies of political science, nothing will go for his cousin Charles of Chazelle.

The Age of the Stateless

The Age of the Stateless

Sira, a former refugee, works as a translator for OFPRA (the French Office for the Protection of Stateless Persons and Migrants). She unscrupulously fleeces her clients, selling them fictions she creates to convince the authorities.

The Source

The Source

A comedy/drama set in a village and centered on a battle of the sexes, where women threaten to withhold sexual favours as long as the men refuse to install a water pipe.

Queens of the Ring

Queens of the Ring

More than anything, 30-year-old Rose longs to be reunited with Mickaël, her estranged 11-year-old son who has been placed with a foster family and blames his mother for their long separation. When she discovers that Mickaël is crazy about wrestling, Rose thinks she's found a way to melt the ice: she'll put together a tag team with three girlfriends from the store where all four work as checkout girls...

Le Grand Bazar

Le Grand Bazar

L’Incendie (El Harik)

L’Incendie (El Harik)

In 1939 in eastern Algeria, Omar, a young boy of ten, lives with his family in a room in Dar Sbitar, a house shared by several families who overcome the trials they go through every day to ensure their subsistence. Her deceased father is Aïni, the mother, who bleeds herself from all four veins to keep her children and their grandmother alive. The families of Dar Sbitar share their intimacy and their daily life, this life animates the big house, which itself becomes a character in its own right. "El Harik" (The Fire), is an Algerian drama series in 10 episodes adapted from Mohamed Dib's trilogy "The Big House", "The Fire" and "The Loom".

Aïcha : Vacances infernales

Aïcha : Vacances infernales

Aïcha : La grande débrouille

Aïcha : La grande débrouille

Rid of her rival Gloria, Aïcha will do everything to make her boss proud, with Ginette's help. Patrick presents her with a love ultimatum: their mothers must meet. And to top it off, things are getting worse in the neighborhood.

Nass Mlah City

Nass Mlah City

Nass Mlah City is a 2002-2006 Algeria comedy TV series directed by Djafar Gacem and broadcast by ENTV. It first aired in Algeria on 6 November 2002 and has since produced well over 52 episodes.