Catherine Langeais, born Marie-Louise Terrasse, (9 August 1923 in

Valence Valence or valency may refer to: Science * Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms * Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory * Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...

, Drôme – 23 April 1998 in Mantes-la-Jolie, Yvelines), was a French television presenter and actress.

Biography

Her father was André Terrasse (1890-1951), an economic journalist and secretary to the Alliance démocratique, and her mother was Marthe Brossette, daughter of François Brossette, mayor of Givors. 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 François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

. 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 RTF may refer to: Organisations * African Union Regional Task Force, the military operation of the RCI-LRA, 2011–2018. * Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, a broadcaster in France, 1949–1964 * Russian Tennis Federation, the national gover ...

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 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 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, and later the inauguration of the

Eurovision song contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. 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 Art et magie de la cuisine was a French television cooking show, it was created by the chef Raymond Oliver, and was co-presented by Catherine Langeais. The show was broadcast from December 6, 1954, to 1967 on RTF. Origins In 1953, RTF RTF may ...

"'' with the chef Raymond Oliver. 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 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 par ...

) 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 award for her undeniable imprint on the history of French television.

Personal life

She married television producer and director

, 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 Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

in 1998 and was buried in

Valmondois Valmondois () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department in Île-de-France in northern France. Valmondois station has rail connections to Persan, Creil, Pontoise and Paris. Local attractions * Musée des tramways à vapeur et des chemins de fer ...

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? ''Pourquoi viens-tu si tard?'' (also known as ''Why Do You Come So Late?'' or US title: ''Too Late to Love'') is a 1959 French drama film directed by Henri Decoin and starring Michèle Morgan and Henri Vidal. Plot Reporter-photographer Walter H ...

'' (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