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Catherine Langeais, born Marie-Louise Terrasse, (9 August 1923 in
Valence,
Drôme
Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. – 23 April 1998 in
Mantes-la-Jolie
Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, from the centre of the capital. Mantes-la-Jolie is a subprefe ...
,
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...]
presenter and actress.
Biography
Her father was André Terrasse (1890-1951), an economic journalist and secretary to the
Alliance démocratique
Democratic Alliance (''Alliance démocratique'', AD) was a short-lived political party in Quebec, Canada, founded by the Montreal journalist and politician Nick Auf der Maur. This left-of-centre political party was mainly based among the anglopho ...
, and her mother was Marthe Brossette, daughter of François Brossette, mayor of
Givors
Givors (; frp, Givôrs) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France.
Location
It lies at the confluence of the Rhone and the Gier about south of Lyon and on the main road between that city and Sai ...
. The family lived in Paris from 1933.
On 28 January 1938, at the age of fourteen, when Marie-Louise was at a school dance, she was introduced by her brother to the politician and future president of the French Republic
François Mitterrand. In March 1940, in spite of her youth, they became engaged, but they separated on 15 January 1942, when the Germans occupied France. During that time he sent her more than 300 letters and poems.
[*Jean-Marc Terrasse, ''Catherine Langeais, la Fiancée des Français''] Then in 1944 Mitterrand married
Danielle Gouze whom he met in a resistance network, and Marie-Louise married a Polish count Antoine Gordowski, with whom they had two children, Jean-Michel and Élisabeth. They separated in 1949 and divorced in 1954.
Television
Initially recruited to present the programmes of the new national television network
RTF in 1949, Catherine Langeais was probably the most popular lady presenter (''speakerine'') of French television, from the end of the 1950s through the 1970s. It was she who welcomed
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
viewers in the first international on-line television broadcast, the Franco-British week of July 1952, thanks to the new conversion standard which was to allow, a year later, the international broadcast of the Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth II, and later the inauguration of the
Eurovision song contest.
In parallel with introducing programmes, Catherine Langeais took part in diverse light entertainment programmes in the years 1950–1960, such as ''"C'est arrivé à 36 chandelles"'' and ''"La séquence du spectateur"'' (later renamed ''"La séquence du téléspectateur"''), as well as the cookery programme ''"
Art et magie de la cuisine"'' with the chef
Raymond Oliver
Raymond Oliver (27 March 1909 – 5 November 1990) was a French chef and owner of Le Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris, one of France's great historical restaurants. Oliver detested '' nouvelle cuisine'', preferring the rich ingredients favored ...
.
A chronic illness, which she concealed for a long time, made the job difficult but did not prevent her from working until 1955. Patiently, although ill, she continued with her programmes (''"A vous de juger"'', ''"La séquence du téléspectateur"'', and some children's programmes). On Sunday 5 January 1975, she emotionally closed the broadcasts of the first channel (
ORTF), which was replaced the next day with the new public company Télévision Française 1 (
TF1) in which she did no more than the voice-overs of the ''"La séquence du téléspectateur"'', while her husband
Pierre Sabbagh
Pierre Sabbagh (18 July 1918 – 30 September 1994) was a major personality in French television, as a journalist, producer and director.
Pierre Alain Sabbagh was born in Lannion (Côtes-d'Armor) and died in Paris. He was the younger son of ...
was director of programmes for the second channel.
In 1987, François Mitterrand presented her with the
Légion d'honneur
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
award for her undeniable imprint on the history of French television.
Personal life
She married television producer and director
Pierre Sabbagh
Pierre Sabbagh (18 July 1918 – 30 September 1994) was a major personality in French television, as a journalist, producer and director.
Pierre Alain Sabbagh was born in Lannion (Côtes-d'Armor) and died in Paris. He was the younger son of ...
, creator in 1949 of the first daily television news channel in the world. They had no children.
Behind the official image she presented as "la fiancée des français", obsessed with appearance, she was a complex, courageous woman who throughout her life secretly fought illness. She died from
multiple sclerosis in 1998 and was buried in
Valmondois cemetery near Paris.
Biography
A biography was written by her nephew
*Terrasse, Jean-Marc, ''Catherine Langeais, la Fiancée des Français'', Paris, Fayard, 2003
Filmography
Actress:
*''
Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?'' (1959)
* ''
All the Gold in the World
''All the Gold in the World'' (French: ''Tout l'or du monde'') is a 1961 French-Italian comedy film directed by René Clair and starring Bourvil, Alfred Adam and Philippe Noiret.
It was shot at the Billancourt Studios in Paris. The film's sets ...
'' (1961)
*Par-dessus le mur (1961)
*Un clair de lune à Maubeuge (1962)
*Le Scandale (1967) (uncredited)
As herself:
*La Séquence du spectateur (1953) (narrator in TV series)
*
C'est arrivé à 36 chandelles
''C'est arrivé à 36 chandelles'' is a French film directed by Henri Diamant-Berger, it was released in cinemas on October 16, 1957.
Plot
A young woman is distraught that she can't marry the man she loves but finds happiness whilst appearin ...
(1957)
Notes
References
*Langeais, Catherine, ''Le Courrier de mon coeur'', Paris, Solar, 1968
*Sabbagh, Pierre, ''Encore vous, Sabbagh!'', Paris, Stock, 1984
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langeais, Catherine
1923 births
1998 deaths
People from Valence, Drôme
French film actresses
French television presenters
20th-century French actresses
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Neurological disease deaths in France
Deaths from multiple sclerosis
People with multiple sclerosis
French women television presenters