On the occasion of the broadcast of an unpublished documentary on Jacques Martin, next Wednesday, May 4 on Paris Première, Élise Martin, the daughter of the TV host testifies to the father he was.
“Shoemakers are always the worst shod“, goes the popular adage. Élise Martin would rather agree with this one. Now 56 years old, the daughter of Jacques Martin testifies in an unpublished documentary, Jacques Martin: behind your applausebroadcast on May 4 on Paris Première from the true personality of his father. Behind the television professional, the man who uttered everything goes that “The children are wonderful“ in the weekly show The School of Fans, hid indeed an imperfect man with many facets. A loving father but not very present.
“He didn’t have time to be attentive with us”
“It’s a painful memory“, explains Élise Martin, regarding the very issue of the show that made young and old dream for almost two decades – from 1977 to 1998. “There was a gap between the man I saw on the screen and the one I knew. Often I was told ‘Is that your father, Jacques Martin? Luck…’ But the reality is that he had such a passion for his job that he didn’t have time to be attentive with us. But I never blamed him“, continues the fifties, very tender with her dad. Aged 2 years old at the time of the divorce of her parents, the young Élise leaves to live with her brother David, 4 years her senior, and her mother Annie: “We went to see my father every Thursday. He hosted a daily show with Danièle Gilbert, recorded live from the Jardin d’Acclimatation. We had free places for the rides, it was like Disneyland at the time! We had fun all day but, if you think regarding it, we weren’t spending time with him.“.
Dad of eight children
Jacques Martin will however have had eight children, from four different women: David (born in 1961) and Élise (born in 1965) with his first wife Annie Lefèvre, Frédéric (born in 1973) and Jean-Baptiste (born in 1976) with his partner Daniele EvenouJudith (born in 1984) and Jeanne-Marie (born in 1987) with his second wife Cécilia Ciganer-Albeniz (now Cécilia Attias) – separation from which Jacques Martin suffered twice according to his daughter Élise – and finally Juliette (born in 1994) and Clovis (born in 1999) with his third wife Céline Boisson.
