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Thierry Ardisson

French television producer and host (1949–2025) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thierry Ardisson
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Thierry Ardisson (French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi aʁdisɔ̃]; 6 January 1949 – 14 July 2025) was a French television producer and host.[2] He was also a film producer, writer, and advertising executive.

Quick facts Born, Died ...

He began his career in advertising by founding the agency Business, then moved into print media. He made his television debut in the late 1980s with shows such as Bains de minuit and Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches. After a brief withdrawal in the early 1990s, the man nicknamed “the man in black” returned with several successful programs.

Some of his television programs are considered among the most influential and have some of the longest run times in French television, notably Paris Dernière,Tout le monde en parle, On a tout essayé (as producer), and Salut les Terriens!, later renamed Les Terriens du samedi!.

He was the author of several books, including best-sellers such as Louis XX – Contre-enquête sur la Monarchie and Confessions d’un Baby boomer. In 2013, he released and produced the French movie Max.[3]

Ardisson was a Legitimist French Royalist and a friend of Louis Alphonse de Bourbon (Louis XX), the current Legitimist claimant to the French throne.[4]

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Early life

Thierry Ardisson was born on January 6, 1949, in Bourganeuf, in the Creuse department, where his family had temporarily relocated for a construction project.[5] He spent part of his early childhood in Algeria, where his father worked on restoring the Mers El Kébir military base. He has a younger brother, Patrick.

Thierry’s parents are originally from the Nice region in southern France. His mother, Juliette Renée Gastinel (1930–2022), was a homemaker, and his father, Victor Ardisson (1925–2004), was a civil engineer working in the Bâtiment et Travaux Publics (BTP) construction sector, notably for the company founded by André Borie, which required the family to move frequently.

In 1957, the family moved to Arêches in the Beaufortain area of Savoie, as his father was assigned to the construction of the Roselend Dam, one of France’s largest. Ardisson attended Collège Saint-Michel (Annecy) and later earned a degree in English from the University of Montpellier Paul Valéry.

At age 17, while working as a DJ at the Whisky à Gogo nightclub in Juan-les-Pins, Ardisson had a first homosexual experience, which he details in his autobiography Confessions d'un baby-boomer.[6]

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Career

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Early career in advertising and journalism

Thierry Ardisson began his career as a copywriter in advertising. In 1969, he moved to Paris and was hired in the sales promotion department at BBDO, then at TBWA, and later at Ted Bates, before co-founding his own agency, Business, in 1978 with Éric Bousquet and Henri Baché.[7]

While working at Business, Ardisson invented the 8-second TV ad format, enabling advertisers with limited budgets to access TV advertising.[8]

As a copywriter, he is also credited with creating several memorable advertising slogans for French consumers:

These slogans foreshadowed gimmicks used in his later television shows, such as Magnéto, Serge! (addressed to Serge Khalfon) and Qu'est-ce qu'on écoute, Corti? (about DJ Philippe Corti).

The Business agency also supplied "turnkey" articles to the French press, including the series L’Hebdo des Savanes and Descentes de Police.

In the mid-1970s, Ardisson contributed to the underground magazine, Façade[7] alongside Alain Benoist, Jean-Luc Maître, and Laurent Laclos. During this period, he is a regular at Le Palace nightclub.

In 1984, Ardisson was hired as the vice-director of publications for the Hachette-Filipacchi press group. He subsequently took over the magazine L’Écho des savanes, which he temporarily renamed L’Hebdo des Savanes. The topics covered, considered too provocative, led to his discharge.[7]

But in 1992, he worked a new partnership with Hachette-Filipacchi and launched the magazine Interview.[1] A year later, after losing a plagiarism lawsuit brought by the American magazine Interview, he was forced to rename it Entrevue. He eventually sold his shares of the company back to Hachette-Filipacchi in 1995.[14]

In 1998, together with Francis Morel, Alexis Kebbas and the Springer editions, Ardisson launched the consumer magazine J’économise (“I save up”) which peaked at 420,000 prints.[15]

Career in television

1980s

In 1980, in the course of the interviews that his agency Business conducted for French newspapers and magazines, Ardisson interviewed French tennis player Yannick Noah who admitted to smoking hashish and that tennis players regularly took amphetamines before the games, a scandal that led to his first appearance on television.[16]

In 1985, Ardisson adapted his press interviews (called Descente de police) for the French TV network TF1, but the concept – too brutal and provocative – got censored by French media authorities. TF1 kept him to host the show Scoop à la une.[17] He then coproduced the show À la folie pas du tout from 1986 to 1987, hosted by later-famous news anchor host, Patrick Poivre d’Arvor.[18]

In 1987, Ardisson sold his shares of his advertising agency Business and founded the TV production company Ardisson & Lumières.

From 1987 to 1988, Ardisson produced for the TV network La Cinq the show Face à Face, hosted by Guillaume Durand, as well as Bains de minuit, a late-night show shot in the then-trendy night club Les Bains Douches that he hosted.[19] From 1988 and 1990, he hosted the show Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches, shot in the Parisian theater Le Palace and aired on French TV channel Antenne 2.[20] For this show, he created the concept of “formatted interviews” such as “interview first time,” “self-interview” or “stupid questions.” During the same period, he coproduced the show Stars à la Barre.[21]

1990s

Afterwards, Ardisson hosted the show Télé Zèbre, which introduced two famous French comedians: Yvan Le Bolloc'h and Bruno Solo.[22] From 1991 to 1992, he hosted the late-night game show Double jeu with Laurent Baffie, a show that was also considered too provocative and was canceled by TV network Antenne 2 in early 1993.[23] From 1992 to 1994, he produced the shows Frou-Frou,[24] Graines de Stars[25] and Flashback.

In 1995, Ardisson produced and hosted Paris Dernière on the French cable channel Paris Première.[26] In 1997, he hosted Rive droite / Rive gauche with Frédéric Beigbeder, Élisabeth Quin and Philippe Tesson.[27]

In 1998, Ardisson joined France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) to host Tout le monde en parle each Saturday at prime time, alongside Laurent Ruquier, Linda Hardy, Kad et Olivier and Laurent Baffie.[28]

2000s

From 2003 to June 2007, Ardisson hosted 93, faubourg Saint-Honoré on Paris Première, a dinner in his Parisian apartment with a panel of various celebrities.[29]

At the end of the 2005–2006 season, Ardisson left France 2 after a contractual disagreement (regarding his involvement with the competing TV channel, Paris Première) and joined the French semi-private TV network Canal+.[30] from November 2006 onwards, he produced and hosted the show Salut les Terriens ! every Saturday night at access prime time.[31] The show attracted 750K viewers the first year it ran.[32]

2010s and 2020s

Starting in December 2010, Ardisson hosted the show Tout le monde en a parlé for the TV channel Jimmy. The show aired three seasons.[33]

In October 2014 the audience of the show Salut les Terriens! reached 1.4 million viewers, which made it the most popular show for Canal+.[32]

Career in film

Thumb
Ardisson on the set of Salut les Terriens ! in February 2014 (Plaine Saint-Denis)

In 2005, Ardisson created the Ardimages group to produce feature films and television series.[34]

In 2007, he made an appearance in the French-Quebecois film Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) by Denys Arcand. He played himself on the set of Tout le monde en parle.

In 2012, Ardisson produced his first feature film, Max, directed by Stephanie Murat with Joey Starr and Mathilde Seigner, and distributed by Warner Bros.[35][36]

In 2013, Ardisson began producing a second feature film, Memories directed by Jean-Paul Rouve and starred Michel Blanc, Annie Cordy, Chantal Lauby and Audrey Lamy.[37]

In 2015, he produced Comment c'est loin, a feature film directed by Orelsan and Christophe Offenstein. The following year, he produced a film retracing the golden years of Le Palace.

Career in radio

On 29 August 2014 Ardisson joined Laurent Ruquier’s "Les Grosses Têtes" on RTL.[38]

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Personal life

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Thierry Ardisson married Christiane Bergognon in June 1970. Shortly afterward, he discovered that she was cheating on him and attempted suicide by slashing his wrists in a bathtub; he was saved just in time.

In 1974, during a trip to Bali with his wife, they were introduced to the use of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Thierry Ardisson has publicly spoken several times about his drug use.

On April 2, 1988, he married Béatrice Loustalan, a sound designer. The couple had three children: two daughters, born in 1989 and 1991, and a son, born in 1996. In August 2010, Béatrice Ardisson announced their separation.

Beginning in November 2009, he was in a relationship with French journalist Audrey Crespo-Mara,[39] whom he married on June 21, 2014. The couple remained together until his death.

In 2018, Thierry Ardisson stated in an interview with Le Journal du dimanche that he earned “between 15,000 and 20,000 euros per month.” He added: “If I do too much television at the expense of more noble activities, it’s because I am venal; I love money.[40]”

Political Views

Ardisson described himself as a royalist, more specifically a supporter of constitutional monarchy in the style of the Westminster system. Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Anjou and legitimist pretender to the throne of France, is the godfather of his daughter Ninon.[41]

Death

Thierry Ardisson died[42][43][44] on 14 July 2025 at the age of 76 at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. He had been diagnosed with liver cancer in 2012.[45][46] Shortly before the official announcement, a rumor of his death circulated on social media, spread by blogger Clément Garin. In response, Audrey Crespo-Mara announced her intention to pursue legal action[47][48]

His funeral took place on 17 July 2025 at the Church of Saint-Roch in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The farewell private ceremony was conducted by Father Daniel Duigou and Father Henri Imbert and followed a black dress code, in accordance with his wishes. Thierry Ardisson was buried on 19 July 2025 at the Ménerbes cemetery in the Vaucluse region.

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Controversies

In February 1994, he admitted to having plagiarized 70 lines in his first book, Pondichéry. In 2005, an investigation by Jean Robin revealed that Thierry Ardisson had indeed committed plagiarism in several works: Désordres à Pondichéry by Georges Delamarre (1937), De Lanka à Pondichéry by Douglas Taylor (1931), and Créole et Grande Dame by Yvonne Gaebelé (1956) — totaling about sixty pages overall.[49][50]

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Broadcasts

Regular broadcasts

  • 1985 : Descente de police on TF1
  • 1985–1986 : Scoop à la une on TF1
  • 1987–1988 : Bains de minuit on La Cinq[51]
  • 1988–1990 : Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches on Antenne 2
  • 1990–1991 : Télé zèbre on Antenne 2
  • 1991–1992 : Double jeu on Antenne 2
  • 1992 : Le bar de la plage on Antenne 2
  • 1993 : Ardimat on France 2
  • 1994 : Autant en emporte le temps on France 2
  • 1994 : Long courrier on France 2
  • 1995–1997 : Paris Dernière on Paris Première
  • 1997–2004 : Rive droite / Rive gauche on Paris Première
  • 1998–2006 : Tout le monde en parle on France 2
  • 2001–2002 : Ça s'en va et ça revient on France 2
  • 2003–2004 : Opinion publique on France 2
  • 2003–2007 : 93, faubourg Saint-Honoré on Paris Première
  • 2010–2014 : Happy Hour on Canal+
  • Since 2006 : Salut les Terriens ! on Canal+
  • Since 2010 : Tout le monde en a parlé on Jimmy

Special broadcasts

  • June 1990 : Rolling Stones : les jumeaux impossibles on Antenne 2
  • January 1993 : Cœur d'Ardishow on France 2
  • 2001 : La Nuit Gainsbourg on France 2
  • October 2002 : Bedos/Ardisson : on aura tout vu ! on France 2
  • 2002 : Le père noël n'est pas une ordure on France 2
  • June 2002 : Spéciale Maillan-Poiret on France 2
  • April 2003 : Le Grand Blind Test on France 2
  • 2004 : 60e anniversaire du Débarquement (avec Michel Drucker) on France 2
  • April and May 2005 : Le Plus Grand Français de tous les temps on France 2
  • April 2008 : Ardisson : 20 ans d'antenne on Jimmy
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Bibliography

Novels

  • Thierry Ardisson, Cinemoi, Paris, Éditions du Seuil, coll. « Cadre Rouge », October 1, 1973 (ISBN 2020012243)
  • Thierry Ardisson, La Bilbe, Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1975 (ISBN 9782020042253)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Rive droite, Paris, Éditions Albin Michel, February 11, 1983, 216 p. (ISBN 2226016848)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Pondichéry, Éditions Albin Michel, January 1, 1993 (ISBN 978-2226061171).

Essays

  • Thierry Ardisson, Louis XX – Contre-enquête sur la Monarchie 1986 (ISBN 2855653347), sold over 100,000 copies.[52]
  • Thierry Ardisson, Louis XX, Paris, Éditions Gallimard, coll. « Folio », 11 mars 1988, 249 p. (ISBN 2070379124)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Pondichéry, 1994 (ISBN 2226061177)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Le Petit livre blanc. Pourquoi je suis monarchiste, Paris, Plon, 4 octobre 2012 (ISBN 978-2259217484)

In Collaboration

Autobiography

  • Thierry Ardisson, Les années provoc, Paris, Éditions Gallimard, coll. « Docs Témoignage », 1er novembre 1998, 347 p. (ISBN 2080676350)
  • Thierry Ardisson & Philippe Kieffer, Confessions d'un babyboomer, Paris, Flammarion, 15 octobre 2004, 358 p. (ISBN 208068583X)

Contributions

  • Thierry Ardisson (collectif), Dix ans pour rien ? Les années 80, Paris, Éditions du Rocher, coll. « Lettre recommandée », 1990 (ISBN 2268009114)
  • Thierry Ardisson (postface), Peut-on penser à la télévision ? La Culture sur un plateau, Paris, Éditions Le Bord de l'eau/INA, coll. « Penser les médias », 2010, 290 p. (ISBN 2356870644)
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Television

  • Thierry Ardisson & Laurent Baffie, Tu l'as dit Baffie ! Concentré de vannes, Paris, Le Cherche midi, coll. « Le Sens de l'humour », 21 April 2005 (ISBN 2749103851)
  • Thierry Ardisson & Jean-Luc Maître, Descentes de police, Paris, Love Me Tender/Business Multimedia, 1984, 139 p. (ISBN 2749101441)
  • Thierry Ardisson (collectif), Paris dernière. Paris la nuit et sa bande son, Paris, M6 Éditions, 10 November 2010, 320 p. (ISBN 2915127808)
  • Thierry Ardisson & Philippe Kieffer, Tout le monde en a parlé, Paris, Flammarion, 2012, 360 p. (ISBN 9782081221260)
  • Thierry Ardisson & Philippe Kieffer, Magnéto Serge !, Paris, Flammarion, 2013, 300 p. (ISBN 9782081280298)
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Videography

  • Thierry Ardisson, Paris interdit. Découvrez les endroits les plus interdits de Paris, documentaire, 1997. (VHS)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Les Années Double Jeu, Arcades Vidéo, 2010. (ASIN B00443PSOM)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Les Années Lunettes Noires pour Nuits Blanches, Arcades Vidéo, 2010. (ASIN B00443PSO2)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Les Années Tout le monde en parle, Arcades Vidéo, 2010. (ASIN B00443PSOW)
  • Thierry Ardisson, La Boite noire de l'homme en noir, Arcades Vidéo, 2010. (ASIN B00443PSNS)
  • Thierry Ardisson, Les Années Paris Première, M6 Vidéo, 2011. (ASIN B005JYUWSW)
  • Collectif, Où va la création audiovisuelle, BnF/Ina, 201168.[53]
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Music

  • Instant Sex. Le Disque souvenir de l'émission culte Double Jeu de Thierry Ardisson, vinyle, 1993.
  • La Musique de Tout le monde en parle, compilation, Naïve, 2002.

He is cited in a song by Renaud, Les Bobos : « Ardisson et son pote Marco » (reference to Marc-Olivier Fogiel).

See also

References

External links

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