It’s a show that changed their lives. Young actors in the 1970s, Didier Bourdon, Bernard Campan and Pascal Légitimus made themselves known to the general public thanks to the Théâtre de Bouvard. It was when they left this program two years later that they founded, with Smaïn and Seymour Brussel, the troupe that made them successful: Les Cinq, which later became Les Inconnus.
The tense relations between Didier Bourdon and Philippe Bouvard
This great adventure of the Théâtre de Bouvard ended badly and relations are still strained with Philippe Bouvard more than 50 years later. “Him, I don’t know (if he’s still mad at us), but I do.”admits Didier Bourdon in an interview given to the Sunday Tribune. “It’s not honest for a 55-year-old man, well established in the media, to blame us after two years of Théâtre de Bouvard because we decided to become independent. He rotted us, promised to make us miserable” he adds before explaining the reason for Philippe Bouvard’s anger. “We began to perform in small venues, and the four organizers took advantage of our notoriety, without informing us, to add under the posters stuck in the streets “Seen at the Théâtre de Bouvard”. Who took the opportunity to sue us, considering his name and his show used and usurped”he explains, revealing that justice ruled in favor of Philippe Bouvard.
Didier Bourdon, ready to make peace with Philippe Bouvard?
This trial, which resulted in the actors paying a large sum to Philippe Bouvard in compensation, led them to change the name of the group. The Five, who had lost two members, then became Les Inconnus, a name chosen to ironize the fact that Bouvard accused them of profiting from his notoriety. Still bitter while telling this story, Didier Bourdon nevertheless admits to our colleagues that he hesitated to reconnect with Philippe Bouvard recently. “I still blame Bouvard, even if I hesitated to call him after hearing him on the radio. He’s really not in good shape”he slips.
