The year 2024 was marked by the disappearance of many French celebrities. Music, cinema, literature… Here are the personalities who left us this year.
How to say goodbye… The years pass, punctuated by the disappearance of famous men and women. And 2024 did not pass through the drops, with many personalities bowing out. A look back at these figures who shaped French culture and who passed away this year.
Alain Delon
He had died 24 times on screen, but it was the year 2024 that proved fatal to him. Died at the age of 88, the icon of French cinema Alain Delon had captivated the public in “Plein Soleil” and “La Piscine”, his eyes as blue as chlorinated water. An emblematic actor of the second half of the 20th century, the former companion of Romy Schneider will remain famous for his roles in “The Samurai”, “The Cheetah” and “Rocco and His Brothers”.
Françoise Hardy
She had rocked the time of love, friends and adventure. The muse of yéyé youth Françoise Hardy died on June 11 at the age of 80. With her fringe tamed and her gaze as if stuck in childhood, the singer behind the songs “Comment te dire adieu” and “My friend the rose” will have left her mark on entire generations, with intimate texts listened to as a personal message.
Michel Blanc
He was the eternal bachelor in “Les Bronzés”. As a snow star, Michel Blanc died on October 3 at the age of 72. He who had sought to shed his endearing loser label will have managed to expand his repertoire. A Michel Blanc in darker films, like in “The Witnesses”, without ever really letting go of comedy, with “Evening Outfit” or “Come to my house, I’m staying with a friend”. He was Jean-Claude Dusse with a D like Dusse, and Michel Blanc with an M like Merveilleux.
Mate
She had become a figure in local cuisine, Marie-Thérèse Ordenez, better known as Maïté on television, died on December 21 at the age of 86. A Landaise with an artichoke heart who has become the cream of French gastronomy, with her “Cuisine des Mousquetaires”. Between an ostrich steak recipe and a sequence of ortolan tasting that has become cult, the disappearance of Maïté left a void among the French, here she is mourned like a madeleine.
Bernard Pivot
Passionate about letters, Bernard Pivot had marked (even traumatized) entire generations with his homonymous dictations. The lover of words died on May 6, at the age of 89, period. With his television shows “Apostrophes” then “Bouillon de culture”, he served the soup of authors of the time, his thick eyebrows like parentheses flying over his files. President of the Goncourt Academy, the journalist and writer earned his reputation, and leaves behind a busy life, without a blank page.
Patrice Laffont
In consonants and vowels, Patrice Laffont had left his mark on the small screen. Well installed in the middle of the lounges, the flagship host of the hit shows “Des Chiffres et des Lettres”, “Pyramide” and “Fort Boyard” left us on August 7, two weeks before blowing out his 85th candle. Always further, always higher, the star host wore multiple hats. As an actor in “Le Gendarme de Saint Tropez” or as a lyricist for Michel Sardou, the son of the publisher Robert Laffont left in five letters: farewell.
Anouck Aimée
She bore her name as an adjective, Anouck Aimée, dazzling in “A Man and a Woman” by Claude Lellouch, disappeared on June 18 at the age of 92. A French Audrey Hepburn, angelic face and black liner on her cat’s eyes, enigmatic on the screen in “La dolce vita” by Federico Fellini. Jacques Demy then added her to his gallery of actresses as charming as they were insolent, by offering her the role of Lola in the eponymous film. An unclassifiable icon of the New Wave, Anouck Aimée has set sail, heading for the blue sky.
Robert Badinter
Deeply humanist, lawyer Robert Badinter died on February 9 at the age of 95. This son of Jewish immigrants, whose family had been decimated during the Shoah, had made his life a fight: that of justice. A brilliant statesman when he became Keeper of the Seals, his name will forever be engraved in the law. The unwavering defender of the abolition of the death penalty will have ended up crossing his path.
Niels Arestrup
He was one of the “mouths” of French cinema and theater. On December 1, the curtain fell on actor Niels Arestrup, who died at the age of 75. A face with hard features, contrasting with his blue eyes, capable of embodying an immoral father in “The Beat My Heart Stopped”, a mafia “godfather” in “Un Prophète” or an impassive chief of staff in “Quai d’Orsay. Three films, for three Césars for Best Supporting Role. If he shone in the shadows, Niels Arestrup is now part of the lights.
Alexis Grüss
He had made a whole circus of his life. Alexis Grüss, the patriarch of the marquees, died on April 6 at the age of 79. After fifty years of hard work and equestrian shows in the capital as part of the “Folies Grüss”, the master squire had passed on to his family rigor and versatility, a taste for excellence as a war horse.
After the death of these many personalities, certain projects will see the light of day posthumously. This is the case of Michel Blanc, starring in 2025 in the film “Routard”, a comedy about the eponymous guides, then in “La Cache”, the action of which takes place in May 1968.
