Sacha Baron Cohen

Book excerpt: The first biography of the comedic genius behind the cult favorite TV show "Da Ali G Show" and the high grossing—and gross out—smash film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. If the millions of fans who flocked to the blockbuster films Borat and Talladega Nights tuned in to Sacha Baron Cohen's interviews on late night TV hoping to see the man behind the characters, they were sure to be disappointed. Who exactly is this Sacha Baron Cohen, who has everyone from TV personalities to the government of Kazakhstan all riled up? Did he fool all the politicians and luminaries who made such idiots of themselves on "Da Ali G Show" or did it just look like it? Was it the RV-driving Southern good ole frat boys in Borat—Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan who got taken for a ride or were their on-camera remarks fair game? And how did he get a fiancée as foxy as Isla Fisher, the babe from "Wedding Crashers"? Tracing his roots as the soft-spoken son of an English clothier, biographer Tracy follows Cohen's path to Cambridge, where he ditched the idea of pursuing a Ph.D. for an infinitely trickier comedy career. As we wait to see just what Cohen will come up with next, Tracy gets to the man behind the characters—and details the outrageous moves Cohen has made in character as the boorish English hip-hop journalist Ali G, the tender and tactless Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev, and more