Michel Drucker celebrates his 80th birthday this September 12! Her difficult childhood, her crazy friendship with Johnny, her crush on Dany Saval, her adopted daughter, her failed career, her (serious) health concerns... Find out everything you (perhaps) didn't know about the Taulier of the PAF.

Michel Drucker celebrates his 80th birthday this September 12! An essential figure in the PAF, the man with the red sofa continues to live on our small screen. An animator with a face that could not be more familiar... that we don't know so well! The presenter of Can't wait for Sunday has seen green and mature steps throughout his career. Secrets and crazy anecdotes about the Taulier du PAF.

Latest news on Michel Drucker

Michel Drucker: son enfance difficile

Michel Drucker was born in 1942 in Vire, Calvados. He grew up raised by a father, Abraham Drucker, a country doctor, and a mother, Lola Schafler, a nurse. The young boy grows up in a ' very anxious atmosphere '...and for good reason, his father had strong demands.' He wanted his three sons to all be 'number 1's. So he set the bar very high when I was already very young ', he recalled to France info .

Michel Drucker wanted to be a doctor

If we can hardly imagine Michel Drucker without his mythical red sofa and far from the spotlight, the host very nearly headed for a completely different career. ' I wanted to be a doctor like my father. It failed... I had a taste for others, I wanted to see people, talk to people. I was not a loner “, he explained to FranceInfo .

How he infiltrated the TV industry

It was by meeting the announcer Catherine Langeais that Michel Drucker set foot in the world of television. Already sure of his desire to work as a journalist, he asked her to arrange an appointment with her husband, Pierre Sabbagh, at the time a television producer. A bold initiative that pays off, since Michel Drucker lands an internship at Sports Sunday in 1964... before being hired at the ORTF. We know the rest!

Michel Drucker: son coup de foudre pour Dany Saval

In 1972, the young host met the gaze of a certain Dany Saval on the set of the show With the heart , presented by Claude Francois . From this meeting, Michel Drucker is convinced: the pretty blonde is the woman of his life! Shortly after, he takes his courage in both hands and confesses to Dany Saval his feelings: ' I thought about it all evening, all night, you are the woman of my life '.

Why Claude François resented him

Conquered by this declaration, the actress falls into the arms of the young journalist … to the great displeasure of Claude François, who had taken it into his head to seduce Dany Saval! For two years, the singer, hurt in his ego, does not speak to Michel Drucker. But the facilitator does not care. He saw his love in broad daylight. On July 28, 1973, Dany Saval and Michel Drucker got married.

His adopted daughter

With Dany Saval, Michel Drucker has no biological children, but adopted Stéfanie Jarre, his wife's daughter, when she celebrated her 30th birthday. ' Stéfanie was born in very complicated conditions. Dany would have taken risks by falling pregnant again “, explained the presenter in Gala .

The day Johnny almost 'pushed up on La Défense'

The animator was the faithful friend of Johnny Hallyday and had some great adventures with the rocker! In 1998, when the singer was to perform at the Stade de France, he called Michel Drucker just before his concert. 'He asked me to drop him from a helicopter above the crowd on the stadium like in the movie Apocalypse now. After four months of preparation, and arriving above La Défense, he said to me 'stop it immediately, I'm dizzy and I think I'm going to puke on La Défense '', had told the presenter, in Do not touch My TV .

Michel Drucker was close to death

In the summer of 2020, Michel Drucker is experiencing serious health concerns. He was first stricken with a endocarditis infection, then has to undergo a triple bypass and even risks the amputation of his leg. ' We only know when we wake up if, on the cerebral level, everything has gone well. I said, 'no, if it goes wrong, you unplug me. You're unplugging me 'cause I can't see myself coming back to TV disabled '' he said on the show. 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Drucker, in paradise with Romy, Claude François, Johnny...

During this time spent between life and death, Michel Drucker imagines that he is about to disembark ' in Paradise '. 'I said to myself that it was not serious. I will find all my friends. I thought of all those that I received throughout my career, of my friends who left to join the invisibles. I thought of Johnny, to Aznavour, to Claude François, to Thierry Le Luron, to Coluche, to Romy Schneider , to Montand... To all those I knew well. I'm going to join them... I was thinking of Gainsbourg, of Whitney Houston' , he recalled in Seven to Eight. Fortunately, after many weeks of hospitalization, Michel Drucker comes out of it without serious consequences and quickly returns to the small screen.

Drucker: soon to retire?

Not about to hang up the microphone, Michel Drucker does not want to retire (for now). He entrusts to Parisian : ' I still have things to prove to myself. My life is full of challenges '.

Source journaldesfemmes.fr