(Mollégès) Several hundred people paid a final tribute on Wednesday to the French actor and singer Guy Marchand, in Mollégès, a picturesque village in the south of France, where he lived in recent years.

After a religious ceremony in the Saint-Pierre-es-Liens church in Mollégès, long applause punctuated the placement in the funeral vehicle of the coffin of the former detective Nestor Burma, who died in Cavaillon, around ten kilometers from Mollégès, December 15.

A photo of the artist playing the clarinet, one of his favorite instruments, accompanied by one of his hats, was placed on the coffin.

“What did I like about him? Everything… the physique, the voice. He knew how to do everything. He was such a brilliant man, a good crooner, a good artist,” 76-year-old admirer Suzette Ricciotti told AFP.

Others regretted the absence of personalities at the funeral, like Mireille and Alain Bouterin, admirers of the singer: “We are very sad to see that no one from showbiz accompanied this great gentleman, who was still a great actor and a great singer, a great musician, a very beautiful person”.

Several of the musician friends of the author of Destinée, La passionata and Moi je suis Tango were present to make this gathering a “joyful and festive” moment, as requested by his children, Ludivine and Jules Marchand.

“He’s a man with a heart like that. And today, it was me who left with him. He was a man who helped everyone,” said Mickey, his bodyguard for 45 years, with emotion.

In addition to his career as a singer, Guy Marchand has several nominations for the César for Best Supporting Role. He obtained this reward once, in 1982, when he played one of the police officers in Claude Miller’s Garde à vue, where Lino Ventura played the main role.

He had played in numerous feature films, notably comedies, such as Les sous-doués en vacances and Ripoux contre ripoux by Claude Zidi, P’tit con by Gérard Lauzier, Ma femme… s’appelle Maurice by Jean-Marie Poiré and was appeared in the series Ten percent and The minute old.