Philippe Labro (27 August 1936 – 4 June 2025) was a French author, journalist, and film director. He worked for RTL, ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...

'',

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

, and Antenne 2. He received the

Prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual France, French list of literary awards, literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 19 ...

for his autobiography ''L'Étudiant étranger'' in 1986.

Career

At the age of eighteen, Labro left France to study at

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He then travelled across the United States. On his return to Europe, he became a reporter. From 1960 to 1962, during the

Algerian war The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

, Labro was a member of the military. He then returned to his journalistic activities. While covering the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

for French newspaper ''

France-Soir ''France Soir'' () was a French newspaper that prospered in physical format during the 1950s and 1960s, reaching a circulation of 1.5 million in the 1950s. It declined rapidly under various owners and was relaunched as a populist tabloid in 2006 ...

'', he met

Jack Ruby Jack Leon Ruby (born Jacob Leon Rubenstein; March 25, 1911January 3, 1967) was an American nightclub owner who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald on November 24, 1963, two days after Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Born in Chicago, R ...

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

days before he shot and killed

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

; he was thus subsequently officially interviewed by the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...

. He wrote and directed many films and was a close friend of

Jean-Pierre Melville Jean-Pierre Grumbach (20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), known professionally as Jean-Pierre Melville (), was a French filmmaker. Considered a spiritual godfather of the French New Wave, he was one of the first fully-independent French filmmake ...

, as he recalls in the 2008 documentary '' Code Name Melville''. From 1985 to 2000, he was director of programmes at RTL becoming the vice president of the station in 1992. In April 2010, he became Commander of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Death

Labro died on 4 June 2025, in Paris at the age of 88, from cancer.

Selected filmography

* '' Without Apparent Motive'' – with

Jean-Louis Trintignant Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-World War II, war era. He starred in m ...

(1971) * '' The Inheritor'' – with

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward, frequently portraying police officer ...

(1973) * '' (Chance and Violence)'' – with

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a ...

and Katharine Ross (1974) * '' L'Alpagueur (The Hunter Will Get You)'' – with

(1976) * '' (Cover Up)'' – with Claude Brasseur,

and

Jean-Claude Brialy Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director. Early life Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...

(1983) * '' Rive droite, rive gauche'' – with

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

Nathalie Baye Nathalie Marie Andrée Baye (; born 6 July 1948) is a French film, television, and stage actress. She began her career in 1970 and has appeared in more than 80 films. A ten-time César Award nominee, her four wins were for ''Every Man for Himsel ...

and Carole Bouquet (1984)

Selected bibliography

* ''Un Américain peu tranquille'' (1960) * ''Des feux mal éteints'' (1967) * ''Ce n'est qu'un début'' (1968) * ''Des bateaux dans la nuit'' (1982) * ''Des cornichons au chocolat'' (1983) * ''L'Étudiant étranger'' (1986) * ''Un été dans l'Ouest'' (1988) * ''Le Petit Garçon'' (1988) * ''Quinze ans'' (1992) * ''Un début à Paris'' (1994) * ''La Traversée'' (1996) * ''Rendez-vous au Colorado'' (1997) * ''Manuella'' (1999) * ''Je connais gens de toutes sortes'' (2002) * ''Tomber sept fois, se relever huit'' (2003) * ''Franz et Clara'' (2006) * ''Les Gens'' (2009) * ''7 500 signes'' (2010) * ''On a tiré sur le Président'' (2013) * ''Le Flûtiste invisible'' (2013) * ''Ma mère, cette inconnue'' (2017) * ''J'irais nager dans plus de rivières'' (2020) * ''Deux gimlets sur la 5ème avenue'' (2024)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Labro, Philippe 1936 births 2025 deaths Deaths from cancer in France People from Montauban 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French autobiographers French film directors French television executives French television presenters Commanders of the Legion of Honour Prix Interallié winners Washington and Lee University alumni Paris Match writers French expatriates in the United States