Jean-Christophe Averty (; 6 August 1928 – 4 March 2017) was a French television and radio director, and Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique. Many of his television productions from the 1960s were early examples of French video art. His studies were used in the following decades by the research groups of the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA).

Biography

Averty was born in Paris. A graduate of the IDHEC film school, he started in television in 1952 at the then French Television Office. He directed over five hundred programs for television and radio, across all disciplines: fiction, documentary, drama, variety, and jazz. His many awards include an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

award in the United States. Averty was appointed Satrap of the College of 'Pataphysique in 1990, due to his fascination for

Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play ''Ubu Roi'' (1896). He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, ...

and Pataphysique. Averty made his reputation on his strong character, his taste for provocation and his sense for innovative television. His 1963 series ''The Green Grapes'' was infamous for a recurring sequence of a baby being put through a grater. A keen connoisseur of jazz, Averty filmed the Jazz à Juan festival for many years. The pianist

Martial Solal Martial Solal (born August 23, 1927) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Biography Solal was born in Algiers, French Algeria, to Algerian Jewish parents. He was persuaded to study clarinet, saxophone, and piano by his mother, who was an opera ...

paid him a tribute in one of his compositions: ''Averty, c'est moi'' (Averty that's me). Over 28 years, he hosted 1,805 episodes of his radio show ''Les Cinglés du music-hall'', based on his own collection of jazz and variety

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that he had bought in

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s around the world. The show was cancelled in 2006 under

Jean-Paul Cluzel Jean-Paul Cluzel (born 29 January 1947) is a French government official and politician. Among other positions, he has served as Inspector General of Finance, director of the Paris Opera, and CEO of Radio France Internationale and Radio France. ...

's chairmanship of Radio France. The French section of the shows was based on notebooks entrusted to him by André Cauzard, filled with daily details of pre-war jazz music events. Averty directed television shows where he applied his singular style to showcase the greatest

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

singers such as Françoise Hardy,

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, Sylvie Vartan, Juliette Gréco, Georges Brassens, Dalida,

France Gall Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall (9 October 1947 – 7 January 2018), known professionally as France Gall, was a French ''yé-yé'' singer. In 1965, aged 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg. Between 1973 and 1992, s ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

, Gilbert Bécaud, Guy Marchand,

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death. He released s ...

, Tino Rossi, and Jean Sablon, and as well as foreign musicians such as

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. In 1969 Averty directed the TV movie ''

Le Songe d'une nuit d'été ''Le songe d'une nuit d'été'' (''A Midsummer Night's Dream'') is an opéra-comique in three acts composed by Ambroise Thomas to a French libretto by Joseph-Bernard Rosier and Adolphe de Leuven. Although it shares the French title for Shakespeare ...

'', starring Claude Jade,

Christine Delaroche Christine Delaroche (born 24 May 1944) is a French actress and singer. She has appeared in 21 films and television shows since 1965. She starred in the 1966 film ''Un monde nouveau'', which was directed by Vittorio De Sica. Filmography * ''Mouc ...

and

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, and filmed entirely in bluescreen. His television creations are landmarks in their use of video as a mode of artistic expression. Averty made great use of characters filmed against a blue screen, overlaid on a drawn background. Examples are ''Sapeur Camembert'', based on the eponymous work of Georges Colomb, and a production of

Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with t ...

's classic play Chantecler. Averty was one of the last salaried directors of the French Production Company. In 2012, he entrusted the management, conservation and safeguarding of the rights of all of his television and radio works to the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA); nearly a thousand television programs on jazz, sports, fashion, variety and the theater.

Awards and distinctions

* 1965

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

* 1991

Legion of Honour 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, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Averty, Jean-Christophe 1928 births 2017 deaths Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux French film directors French television directors French radio presenters French television presenters