Acting
Sep 19, 1947
Reims, Marne, France
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
Acting
Biography
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (PPDA; né Patrick Jean Marcel Poivre; born 20 September 1947) is a French TV journalist and writer. He is a household name in France, and nicknamed "PPDA". With over 30 years and in excess of 4,500 editions of television news to his credit, he was one of the longest serving newsreaders in the world until he was fired in 2008. He presented his last newscast on TF1 on 10 July 2008. Since 2021, a total of 27 women have accused Patrick Poivre d'Arvor of sexual assault or rape that would have allegedly happened during decades prior. Seventeen women filed a formal complaint. Among them, eight did so for alleged rape. Patrick Poivre was born in Reims, France. He obtained his Baccalauréat at 15, the year he became a father. He then studied Oriental Languages at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales and Law. Poivre claims to be descended in the male line from Jacques Poivre, brother of Pierre Poivre, an 18th-century nobleman in the time of Louis XV, "d'Arvor" being Jacques Poivre's pseudonym. Poivre, his siblings and his three surviving children legally changed their surname to Poivre d'Arvor in 1994. Poivre started training as a journalist at the Centre de formation des journalistes (CFJ) at 22. He obtained his first job in 1971 on France Inter as morning newsreader. In 1974, at the time of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's accession to the Presidency, Poivre joined Antenne 2. He made his first TV appearance there in 1975, and was presenter for news bulletins from 16 February 1976 to 28 July 1983. After a brief stint with Canal+, he joined TF1 in 1986 for the Sunday program A la folie pas du tout and Ex Libris, from Frederic Lepage. On 31 August 1987, he became presenter for the weekday news of TF1 at 8 pm from Monday to Thursday. He is satirised in the French puppet show Les Guignols de l'info on Canal+, where his alter ego is the puppet PPD, the news presenter. In 2004, Poivre was cast in a minor voice-only role as a newscaster in the French version of the Pixar animated film The Incredibles (Les Indestructibles). On 9 June 2008, it was announced that by Laurence Ferrari would replace Poivre d'Arvor as presenter of the 8 pm news. He made his last broadcast on 10 July. In an interview, he said that there was "no objective" reason for his dismissal, but declined to comment on "rumours" of political interference. Since January 2009, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor presents La traversée du miroir on France 5. He also presented L'avis des autres on Arte. In July 2009, he was approached by the I-Télé channel to presentThe18h-20h. But he declined the invitation. In June 2010, he led a team in the French TV show Fort Boyard. His greatest controversy prior to his being accused of rape was the faked interview - actually footage of a press conference with added questions - he purported to have made with Cuban president Fidel Castro, broadcast on 16 December 1991. Télérama journalist Pierre Carles exposed this fraud, which Poivre blamed on his colleague and co-interviewer Régis Faucon, after the latter had departed TF1. ... Source: Article "Patrick Poivre d'Arvor" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Feature Films (25)
We follow Marcel Ophuls' two journeys to Sarajevo in 1993. He is starting a documentary about war correspondants. But this also becomes a reflexion about truth and life. The form consists in many interviews of mostly French and American journalists and reporters of television or newspapers.
The Troubles We've Seen
Chris Marker, intrigued by the sight of yellow cats perched on walls on the streets of Paris, films the major national and international sociopolitical events of the early 2000s.
The Case of the Grinning Cat
In 2002, serial killer Patrice Alègre was sentenced to life imprisonment for five murders. Gendarme Roussel, the main investigator of this case, believes that he will make him confess to other unsolved crimes in Toulouse. Two ex-prostitutes give a series of names of presumed accomplices of the killer, among them Dominique Baudis, then president of the CSA. He decides to face the case alone. Around him, it is silence: not an official support of his political family. Almost twenty years later, we return to the Baudis affair to try to understand it, with the testimonies of Pierre and Benjamin Baudis, his sons, François Hollande, Camille Pascal and the main protagonists.
The Baudis affair, the murderous rumor
On April 2, 1995, the television channel Canal+ censored the documentary "Pas vu à la télé" (Not Seen on TV), directed by Pierre Carles, which had been commissioned a few weeks earlier by the program director, Alain de Greef. "Pas vu à la télé" was slated to be featured in Canal+'s "TV Day" segment, under the heading "Television, Power, Morality." Carles recounted this censorship in the feature film "Pas vu pas pris" (Not Seen, Not Caught), released in theaters on November 18, 1998. It drew over 160,000 viewers. Eighteen years later, "Pas vu à la télé" remains unaired on French television. As for "Pas vu, pas pris," it has still not been broadcast on French television. However, it has been shown on television in Belgium, Quebec, and Switzerland. Since then, nine billionaires now control more than 80% of the media in France, while eleven of them account for 57% of the television audience.
Not Seen, Not Caught
Television & Series (11)
A game show set and filmed on the real Fort Boyard in France. The contestants have to complete in physical and endurance challenges to win prize money.
Fort Boyard
The program combines comedy, celebrity, musical guests, and human-interest stories.
Amanda
In each episode, 3 celebrities who have never met go on a 24-hour break in the countryside. A moment out of time to meet and talk about love, friendship, life with its obstacles and surprises.
The Unexpected Getaway
For thirty years, Zone Interdite has been the magazine that documents and analyzes the upheavals in French society. Conducted over time, the investigations broadcast in the program reveal the taboos, passions, and struggles of the French people at the heart of current events.
Zone interdite
Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.
