She made her debut on television more than half a century ago! It was in 1964 that Danièle Gilbert, then barely 21 years old, arrived at the ORTF as a speaker. Three years later, her career as a host was launched with the presentation of the program Sept et Deux.
Subsequently, the future “Grande Duduche”, as Jacques Martin nicknamed her, chained the popular programs broadcast at midday. Like Midi Magazine (1968-1971), Télé Midi 72 (1972), Midi Trente (1972-1975) and Midi Première (1975-1982).
Invited in August 2015 on Europe 1, Danièle Gilbert said that she had learned of her eviction from Midi Première in the newspaper: while she was credited with a friendly relationship with Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (who was mayor of her hometown), she was sacked following the election of François Mitterrand. Denying any friendship with the former president, she explains. “I was not involved in politics, I come from a family where we have no connection with personalities, notables, etc”.
This is followed by a crossing of the desert for Danièle Gilbert who finds herself without a show. She then did some entertainment in shopping centers, recorded a few songs (I don’t forget you, Boom boom, etc.) and, following a fraud case, spent a few days in prison in 1991.
But two years later, business picked up and Danièle Gilbert returned to animation. In 2004, she even made a remarkable appearance on the reality TV show La Ferme des celebrities on TF1. Finally, after a few animations here and there, the host was seen in 2014 in programs for the general public, such as Vivement dimanche and Touche pas à mon poste, as a guest. The following year, she declared on Europe 1 to be ready to host a program. “I’m always ready, but no one wants me!”
Another highlight in her career: Danièle Gilbert made a lot of noise by posing naked in the magazine Lui, in 1988. A daring challenge that the former star of the small screen still boasts about in her interviews. “I was the best seller of the newspaper”, she rejoiced on Europe 1.
If this sexy cover earned him a lot of criticism from public opinion at the time, Danièle Gilbert did not regret her choice, even revealing a few anecdotes. “I had a few clothes on me, just gloves. I was very dressed,” she says, adding. “It didn’t bring me anything money-wise because I didn’t ask for royalties, but it’s fun. I like experiments, challenges. I like doing what’s not for me at the start”, concludes the one who almost presented Le Journal du Hard on Canal .
In March 2016, Danièle Gilbert confided in the magazine Intimacy on his private life, and in particular on the one who shared his life for a quarter of a century, Patrick Scemama. “Patrick is the man of my life,” she confessed. “Even after 25 years, I miss him when I’m not with him. Despite all these years together, we continue to have a separate apartment, but in the same building. That may be the secret too…” .
Suffering from a neurological problem, her husband is very weak in his health and the facilitator stayed close to him to accompany him in this ordeal. On October 31, 2018, Patrick Scemama would die at the age of 75, leaving his widow in sorrow. “It’s very hard for me […]. I miss him terribly every day. When I think of him, it’s painful. Leaving at 75 is very young… It’s the man of my life and there will be no others”, she confided to the tabloid Here Paris.
Then in a recent interview on Non Stop People, the actress (seen in an episode of the Day where everything changed, on Chérie 25) paid him a beautiful tribute. “He was someone exceptional, I admired him,” assured the septuagenarian. “He was someone extra, very intelligent, a little more than the average, a little nicer than the average, a little more modest than the average and above all very lively”.
