Michel Polac
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|
Michel Polac | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 April 1930 |
| Died | 7 August 2012 (aged 82) Paris |
| Occupation | Journalist |
Michel Polac (10 April 1930, Paris — 7 August 2012, Paris) was a French journalist for print media, radio, and television. He was also a television producer, writer, literary critic, and filmmaker.
Early life
[edit]Born into a Parisian bourgeois family on 10 April 1930, Michel Polac was the son of a Jewish World War I veteran who supported the Vichy regime and tragically died in Auschwitz during World War II. Polac only learned about his father's fate fifty years later.[1][2][3]
He was the nephew of Clara Goldschmidt, André Malraux's wife.[4] Polac married a woman ten years his senior, an heiress from the Kadjar dynasty, but they separated after a few weeks. He later married Dominique, a journalist from Vogue magazine, with whom he had a daughter, Juliette.[5] After their separation, he married Nadia.
Career
[edit]In 1947, at the age of 17, Polac was discovered by Jean Tardieu and joined the Club d'essai, an experimental media lab of the French Broadcasting System (RDF). While still a high school student, Polac ran a student newspaper that was circulated in Parisian high schools. He took on various jobs, such as a factory worker, insurance salesman, and a sailor on a fishing boat.[6]
In 1951, he pitched the idea for Entrée des auteurs, a radio program to discover new theatrical talent. He became a literary critic at the journal Arts in 1953 and later joined the editorial team of L'Express. At Jean Tardieu's request, Polac co-created Le Masque et la Plume in 1955, a radio show about literature and theater, which is still broadcast on France Inter.
In 1956, he published his first novel, La Vie incertaine, with the backing of literary figures Jean Paulhan and Albert Camus. Over the next decades, Polac worked on various shows and films, including a documentary on Louis-Ferdinand Céline and his award-winning film Un fils unique.[7][7]
In 1981, after a ten-year absence from television, he launched Droit de réponse on TF1. Known for its unpredictable debates and frequent incidents, the show ran until 1987. Polac then continued his literary and television career on various channels, eventually joining Charlie Hebdo as a literary columnist in 1997. In 1999, he signed a public appeal for the right to die with dignity.[8][9][10]
Michel Polac died on 7 August 2012 from exhaustion, after several illnesses. He was buried in Cabrerolles, in the Hérault region. Many public figures, including Guy Bedos, Jean-François Kahn, and Éric Zemmour, paid tribute to him.[11]
Controversies
[edit]Polac's career was not without controversy. Notable incidents include his participation in the show Ripostes in 2000, where a heated exchange with author Marc-Édouard Nabe led to the cancellation of the episode. Later, in 2007, during a confrontation with journalist Daniela Lumbroso, he was accused of pedophilic remarks in his journal, which further tarnished his reputation.[12][13]
Publications and films
[edit]Polac authored numerous books and directed several films, including Un fils unique (1969) and La Chute d'un corps (1973). His writings range from novels to essays, with works such as Mes Dossiers sont les vôtres (1986) and La Vie incertaine (1956) marking key points in his literary journey.
Throughout his life, Michel Polac remained a prominent and controversial figure in French media, known for his bold opinions and varied contributions to journalism, literature, and film.
References
[edit]- ^ "Michel Polac ne répond plus". Libération.
- ^ "Polac" – via BnF Catalogue général (http:// catalogue.bnf.fr).
- ^ "Michel Polac, critique écorché, polémiste populaire et ronchon". Le Point. 7 August 2012.
- ^ "Mes années Gallimard". L'Express. 9 May 2007.
- ^ "Interview "Check up" de Michel Polac". Archived from the original on 10 July 2010.
- ^ "Radio France | Écoutez en ligne vos radios". Radio France.
- ^ a b "Michel Polac, le promeneur intranquille". www.telerama.fr. 8 August 2012.
- ^ ""Droit de réponse" : la fièvre du samedi soir". Le Figaro. 17 July 2009.
- ^ "Ces émissions qui ont révolutionné la télé : "Droit de réponse"". Le Nouvel Obs. 1 August 2015.
- ^ "En vidéo... Jérôme Garcin chez Michel Polac". Le Nouvel Obs. 8 August 2012.
- ^ "Raphaël Sorin : « Avec Droit de réponse, Michel Polac a créé un". Evene.fr. 8 December 2007.
- ^ "La 5e censure un débat avec Michel Polac". Le Nouvel Obs. 2 June 2000.
- ^ "Mort de Michel Polac, celui par qui le scandale arrive - L'Humanité". 8 August 2012.
