Trivia

In 1967 (according to other sources already in 1960) he created the comical and somewhat simple-minded character of "Abderraouf" based on the example of a former schoolmate known to generations of Moroccans.

After attending the Koran school in the mosque in his neighborhood in the old town of Casablanca, he attended an elite school that only accepted a few Moroccan students - in addition to Tounsi, the future Prime Minister Maati Bouabid and the politician Abdellatif Semlali. However, Tounsi had to leave school after primary school to support his family financially.

Tounsi was a Moroccan actor and comedian.

In 1953 he joined the national liberation movement against the French colonial power and was imprisoned for a year. In prison, he began acting out theater scenes with other inmates.

After his release from prison, he first worked in a cemetery, then as a laborer at the car manufacturer SOMACA. He also founded a theater company with friends and former fellow prisoners, which appeared in cafés and performed adaptations of Molière's texts.

He rose to popularity thanks to the introduction of television to Morocco.

He created the character Abderraouf, which became heavily popular in Morocco. The character, which he created in the 1960s, was an embodiment of stupidity.

An ophan from Casablanca imprisoned by colonial authorities in the French protectorate, Tounsi discovered his passion for the theatre while in detention.

After more than 25 years of presence on stage and on television, Tounsi gradually became quieter from the mid-1990s. At the bottom of his career, he struggled to find engagements. He himself attributed this to dishonest organizers, venues that were too expensive and disagreements with the state broadcaster RTM. On the other hand, critics judged that the character of Abderraouf had outdated itself and had become too predictable; Tounsi didn't develop it a bit over the decades, and the audience finally got tired of it.

From 2005 he made a comeback and found recognition among younger colleagues in his field; the successful Moroccan-born French actor and comedian Jamel Debbouze referred to him, and he was honored at festivals.