Pierre Desproges
Known For
Acting
Born
1939-05-09 in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Died
1988-04-18
Biography
Pierre Desproges (9 May 1939 – 18 April 1988) was a French humorist. He was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis. According to himself, he made no significant achievements before the age of 30. From 1967 to 1970, he worked as: life insurance salesman, opinion pool investigator, "lonely hearts" columnist, horse racing forecaster, and sales manager for a styrofoam beam company. From 1970 to 1976, he worked for the newspaper L'Aurore. Starting in 1975, he became a "reporter" on Le petit rapporteur (The Little Snitch), a satirical TV show hosted by Jacques Martin. He caught the public's attention with unconventional interviews of celebrities, among them novelists Françoise Sagan or Jean-Edern Hallier. He appeared for the first time on stage at the Olympia theater during a Thierry Le Luron show. Among other things, he became very famous for his Chroniques de la haine ordinaire (Chronicles of Ordinary Hatred), a 1986 radio show. In the 1980s, he appeared daily on Le tribunal des flagrants délires (a pun on the French term "flagrant délit" meaning red-handed), a comedy show where celebrities were judged in mock-trials. Desproges held the part of the prosecutor for more than two years, a part for which his verve, his scathing humour and his literary erudition were ideally suited. In 1982, he created La minute nécessaire de Monsieur Cyclopède, a series of shorts for TV, where he played an omniscient professor. He answered to metaphysical and nonsensical questions such as "How to make King Louis XVI fireproof?", proved that Beethoven was not deaf but stupid, and explained why the improbable encounter between the Venus de Milo and Saint Exupéry's 'Petit Prince' was a fiasco. Each episode ended with the catchphrase: "Étonnant, non?" ("Astonishing, isn't it?") In 1984, he had his first stand-up show at the Théâtre Fontaine. In 1986, his second stand-up, Pierre Desproges se donne en spectacle was presented at the Théâtre Grévin. He started work on a third stand-up, and the drafts were ultimately published in 2010. In 1987, doctors discovered he had inoperable lung cancer in an advanced stage, and his relatives, in agreement with the doctors, decided to hide the condition from him, so he could spend his final days quietly. He died in 1988, from a disease he had bitterly laughed at time and time again, often saying "I won't have cancer: I'm against it". He is buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His epitaph reads: "Pierre Desproges est mort d'un cancer, étonnant, non?" ("Pierre Desproges died of cancer, astonishing, isn't it?"). ... Source: Article "Pierre Desproges" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Most Known For
Midi Première
as Self
Apostrophes
as Self
Champs-Elysées
as Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
as Self
Numéro un
as Self
30 millions d'amis
as Self
Les Jeux de 20 heures
as Self
Merci Bernard
Minichronique
as Bertin
Minichronique
as le présentateur
Minichronique
as Le prêtre
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
as Self (archive footage)
Le Petit Rapporteur
as Self - Panelist
Signé Furax
as Le présentateur TV
Triple sec
L'Âge d'or de la pub
as Self (archive footage)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
as Self (archive footage)
Droit de Réponse
as Self
Les Pieds dans la mayonnaise : Les Irrévérencieux des années 70
as Self - actor (archive footage)
Le Tribunal Des Flagrants Délires
as Le procureur