Funeral of Philippe Bouvard in Cannes: a last smiling tribute

The funeral of journalist and radio host Philippe Bouvard, who died on August 24 at the age of 96, took place on Monday at the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage church, in Cannes, where he had retired in recent years.

The actress Marianne James, the comedians Jacques Mailhot or Chantal Ladesou, Gilles Lanoue, the last living director of Grosses Têtes who had worked with him for sixteen years... Many people, despite this day when the media returned to Paris, wanted to participate in the last tribute to the creator of Grosses Têtes, the cult RTL show born in 1977.

“Play dead” on the day of his burial

Among the personalities present were also many of his colleagues from RTL where he had made his debut in 1965. Such as Régis Ravanas, former president of the station, Jonathan Curiel, its current manager, and Jérôme Godefroy, former editorial director. Former colleagues from Le Figaro and Nice-Matin, newspapers with which Philippe Bouvard had collaborated, were also part of the tribute paid to the journalist. A tribute that he wanted to smile.

“Even in the worst circumstances he couldn’t resist a good word,” noted Nathalie, one of his daughters… “Death is never more than one day in life, the last, it seems,” she smiled, revealing some of her father’s humorous traits. Or again: “I have always avoided funerals, to the point of playing dead on my own day.”