Philippe Gildas (born Philippe Lepêtre; 12 November, 1935 – 28 October, 2018) was a French journalist.

Biography

Beginning his career in 1962, Gildas became the director of information for an RTL radio station. Born as Philippe Lepêtre, he took the name Gildas as a pseudonym over the radio. In 1969, Gildas turned to French Public Radio and Television (ORTF). In 1972, he became editor in chief of ORTF, although it was dissolved in 1974. He was editor in chief at

France Inter France Inter () is a major French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is a " generalist" station, aiming to provide a wide national audience with a full service of news and spoken-word programming, both serious and entertaining, li ...

from 1973 to 1974, and then worked at

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pr ...

from 1975 to 1986 as editor in chief and deputy director of information. Gildas began working for

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

in 1985 as a director, and launched his own talk show, ''Gildas Direct''. He left the show in 1987 to direct ''Nulle part ailleurs'', and Philippe Risoli took over as director of the talk show. ''Nulle part ailleurs'' was a comedic talk show that took serious issues and put a humorous spin on them. Gildas won a

7 d'or The ''7 d'Or'' or ''Sept d'Or'' ( French for "Seven of Gold" or "Golden Seven") was a French television production award (similar in nature to the Emmy Awards), presented by '' Télé 7 Jours'' (a weekly French magazine with listings of TV show ...

award for the show in 1994 and 1997. In 2001, Gildas was promoted to president of CNews after a deal with Canal+. In 2007, he launched Vivolta, a television network aimed at

Baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...

. In 2010, Gildas published an autobiography titled ''Comment réussir à la télévision quand on est petit, breton, avec de grandes oreilles ?''. In 2018, Gildas made his final television appearance in the TV documentary ''La Télé des années 80 : les Dix Ans qui ont tout changé'', aired on

France Télévisions France Télévisions (; stylized since 2018 as ) is the French national public television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the integration of the public television channels France 2 (formerly Antenne 2) and France 3 (form ...

. Philippe Gildas died on 28 October 2018 following a battle with cancer. He was buried on 5 November 2018 at the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gildas, Philippe 1935 births 2018 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Deaths from cancer in France People from Auray French people of Breton descent 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French television presenters French radio journalists French television talk show hosts French television executives French autobiographers