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French journalist, TV presenter, radio host and cultural titan Philippe Bouvard has died aged 96.
Known as the creator of RTL’s daily comedy radio programme Les Grosses Têtes, which he hosted from 1977 to 2014, Bouvard was a great discoverer of comic talent and one of France’s foremost columnists.
He hosted the television program Le Petit Théâtre de Bouvard from 1982 to 1986 and helmed the radio programme Allô Bouvard from 2014 until his retirement in 2025 at age 95, after a career of more than 60 years in radio.
Bouvard holds the world record as the presenter with the most time and seasons at a single radio station.
Since the news of his death on Monday, tributes have poured in from the worlds of television and comedy, as well as politics.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that “France has lost a free spirit”.
He wrote the following tribute on X: “Philippe Bouvard will have accompanied generations of French people with his voice, his wit, his freedom of tone, and his humor -this quintessentially French taste for the witty remark. France loses a free spirit, a Grosse Tête. Thoughts to his family, his loved ones, and all those who listened to him and loved him.”
Born on 6 December 1929 in Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne), Philippe Bouvard was renowned for his curiosity, wit, mischievous sense of humour and infectious laughter.
He started his career as a journalist and published more than 30,000 articles and over 50 books. Throughout his time on RTL, he launched the careers of numerous comedians and actors, such as Muriel Robin, Mimie Mathy, Michèle Bernier, Pascal Légitimus, the duo Chevallier and Laspalès, and countless others.
When announcing his retirement last year, Régis Ravanas, Managing Director of RTL Radio in France, said that Bouvard had “revolutionised radio”, while Gauthier Hourcade, Director of Programming, praised him as “a cultured pioneer of humour on the airwaves” with a “lively, independent and impertinent spirit”.
Reacting to his death, fellow French journalist and TV host Michel Drucker remembered a man who was “exceptionally talented”.
He told RTL that Bouvard was “a man of many talents: an author, a writer, a tireless worker, someone who knew this profession inside out”, a man who will “leave an indelible mark”.
RIP Philippe Bouvard 1929 – 2026