A legendary figure of the PAF always in the memories. 20 years ago, host Guy Lux died on June 13, 2003 at the age of 83 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. After a funeral celebrated at Saint-Pierre church in the presence of several celebrities such as Sheila, Bernard Montiel, Mireille Mathieu and Chantal Goya, the famous producer rests in the cemetery of Saint-Gratien, located in Val-d’Oise.
During his lifetime, Guy Lux was one of the protagonists who transformed the audiovisual industry in France at its beginnings in the 1950s and 1960s. A man of many hats, he reinvented entertainment over the years. Attracting millions of followers in front of their post, the success of the host was no longer to be proven.
Guy Lux did not hesitate to use his outspokenness to say what he thinks of the critics. As in 1989 in this cult interview for Télérama. “I lasted because your newspaper didn’t like my shows!” He exclaimed to the magazine that headlined his punchline. From radio to the ORTF, the famous host has created, produced or presented programs that have become cult.
What sequences marked your youth? Planet plunges back into your memories in pictures. In 1962, Guy Lux was at the origin of the game Intervilles which he imagined with Claude Savarit. In this famous duel between the cities of four corners of France, he animated this popular entertainment until the 1990s in several versions. Before giving way to other animators, he also distinguished himself for his memorable moments with his companions Léon Zitrone and Simone Garnier.
We cannot forget to mention Le Schmilblic, the entertainment event of the years 1969-1970 on the first ORTF channel. During each show, Guy Lux had to make the candidates guess an object presented in close-up on a photo. An enigmatic game where the most discerning could ask simple questions to try to find the solution. With a big prize to be won.
In 1978, Guy Lux orchestrated the Loto-Chansons variety show every Saturday afternoon on television. It is in particular the host who announced live, to the whole of France, the death of Claude François on March 11, 1978 when the singer was expected to perform in Le rendez-vous du dimanche, Michel Drucker’s program . A TV moment that deeply marked the PAF.
In 1981, host Guy Lux was at the controls of the game L’Escargot broadcast every Saturday afternoon on Antenne 2 (formerly France 2). An entertainment in which the candidates had to answer questions or take up challenges by throwing dice on a giant chessboard.
In the 1980s, we also found Guy Lux at the presentation of the Miss France 1987 election on FR3 and Europe 1. Broadcast for the first time on television and radio, the beauty contest directed by Geneviève de Fontenay was the theater of quacks live. Confusion in the votes with the standard, scrambles in the classification of the dauphines, this evening was long for the famous host who did not hide his dissatisfaction. It is finally a young Alsatian, Nathalie Marquay, who will win the title of most beautiful woman in France.
