Presenter Jean-Pierre Descombes died at the age of 76 from Parkinson’s disease.
It was France in the 70s and 80s, from Giscard to Mitterrand and the Citroën CX: Jean-Pierre Descombes, who hosted “Les Jeux de 20 heures” on FR3 from 1976 to 1987, died on Sunday at the age of 76 from Parkinson’s disease, announced his son, Romain Descombes.
Co-presenter of this very popular show with Maître Capello among others, the host had been suffering from this neurological disease for more than ten years. He died at his home, according to his son Romain Descombes.
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After “Les Jeux de 20 heures”, Jean-Pierre Descombes had been the voiceover for other successful entertainment shows in the 80s and 90s, “Le juste prix” and “Une famille en or” on TF1. From 2018, he had participated in Cyril Hanouna’s shows on C8, such as “Touche pas à mon poste!” or “La grosse rigolade”.
But Jean-Pierre Descombes remains best known for “Les Jeux de 20 heures”, born at a time when there were only three channels in France. “When they saw the news in the summary (of the news), people switched to channel 3”the host recalled in 2023, interviewed on Jordan De Luxe’s celebrity show on C8.
In this show, which competed with the TF1 and Antenne 2 news programs, general knowledge questions were asked to celebrities on set and anonymous candidates live from a provincial town.
“Grandes surfaces”
The show was co-presented by Jean-Pierre Descombes, microphone in hand in the audience from the provinces, and other presenters on set, including Marc Menant, Jean-Pierre Foucault, Harold Kay and the referee Maître Capello (the linguist Jacques Capelovici).
After their last issue in early 1987, “Les Jeux de 20 heures” had been replaced by another show that was to become very popular, “La classe”, presented by Fabrice.
Originally from Romans-sur-Isère, the shoe capital, where his parents were salesmen, Jean-Pierre Descombes had “always dreamed of being an animator”. “During the holidays, I helped my father go to the markets, but in my head, I already wanted to be an entertainer”he told Jordan De Luxe, visibly diminished by Parkinson’s.
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In the 2000s, he converted to hosting trade fairs, events in shopping centers or galas such as the tour of former glories of the 60s and 70s “Age tendre et tête de bois” in 2012. “For 5-6 years, I opened all the big furniture stores in France, I was in all the big supermarkets (…) I told people: We’re going to play like on TV!”he joked, assuring that he took the same pleasure in the public as he did in the days of his fame.
Father of two boys and a girl, Jean-Pierre Descombes “tried to hide” his illness for a long time, then was forced to reveal it following an appearance on a Cyril Hanouna show. “I was the last one to go, at 1am, and the pills I had taken were no longer working (…) That’s when it became apparent and I mightn’t hide it anymore, because the cameras were there.”he explained.
Jean-Pierre Descombes host