Raymond Devos: under what circumstances did the comedian die?

He was one of the comedians who handled the French language like no one else. In December 2005, Raymond Devos suffered a stroke before being hospitalized again at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris in February 2006. On June 15, 2006, he died tragically at his home, surrounded by his sister, his nephew and his private secretary, as a result of acute pulmonary oedema. His funeral, which took place in the church of Saint-Remy-lès-Chevreuse, brought together many stars such as Line Renaud, Jean Rochefort, Michel Legrand, Jean-Pierre Brialy or even Dany Boon.

“He was a comedian above all the others, he was completely apart in our universe (…) He was an enlightened poet who almost touched on the metaphysics of things”, declared Michel Leeb on LCI and to add: “It is in the use of words, in the work of words, in the sculpture of words, something original, magical, clownish, gigantic, gargantuan”.

During his career, Raymond Devos was able to impose his style which is still today inimitable, described for some as absurd. “The imagination is my pied-à-terre. An example. Before, I was in a hotel, one-eyed by the way, it cost an arm and a leg. In this hotel, the owner gave me every time 37. And there were only 36 rooms. I spent my nights looking for my 37. Until the day I realized that 37 was the hallways,” he said.

Back in pictures on the funeral of the Belgian artist in June 2006.