Jacques Martin (TV host)
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Jacques Martin (June 22, 1933 – September 14, 2007) was a French TV host and producer.
Martin was born in Lyon, Rhône-Alpes. In the late 1960s he formed a comical duet of hosts on radio Europe 1 with French actor Jean Yanne.
In the early 1970s, he was the sidekick of Danièle Gilbert, the host of Midi Première. Martin created and hosted such popular satirical TV shows such as Le Petit Rapporteur ("The Little Snitch , 1975 - 1976, TF1) and La Lorgnette ("The Opera Glasses", 1976 - 1977, Antenne 2). He also tried a film career, writing and directing one film (Na !, 1973) and playing in others such as La Passante du Sans-Souci, without great success.
An operetta fan, he enjoyed presenting TV shows mixing popular and classical music, such as Musique and music, which he prepared with the help of French composer Pierre Porte, invariably singing himself a few operetta arias himself during the show.[citation needed]
He was a great discoverer of talents throughout his career, with future success such as Pierre Desproges, Stéphane Collaro, Laurent Ruquier or Laurent Gerra. He was also good at creating new concepts for television shows, the most famous being Le Petit Rapporteur and L'École des Fans. He was particularly apt at interacting with small children on television, which was the reason of the success of L'École des Fans. On a side note, L'École des Fans was the first television appearance of French singer Vanessa Paradis, in 1980; she was 7 years old.
He was also a regular of the radio show Les Grosses Têtes. A lover of fine French cuisine, one of his sons, David, is a famous French cook. He was also an admirer of Sacha Guitry, whom he enjoyed to quote and whose mannerisms he tried to emulate.
[edit] Illness/Death
Until 1998, he was hosting the entire afternoon of France 2 on Sundays, with a show called Dimanche Martin. Martin died, aged 74, from cancer, on 14 September 2007 in the Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz, where he had settled.
[edit] Family and children
He has been married and divorced twice; his second wife, Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, was the second wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy and France's first lady.
He had eight children from four different women:
- With his first wife Anne Lefèvre, he had two children: David Martin, cook and television host and Élise Martin.
- With actress Danièle Évenou, he had two sons: Frédéric Martin, a radio host, and Jean-Baptiste Martin, actor.
- With his second wife Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, he had two daughters: Judith Martin and Jeanne-Marie Martin.
- With his last wife, who survives him, Céline Boisson, he had two children: Juliette Martin and Clovis Martin.
