He was one of the iconic figures of television. A host who gave a smile to each of his sentences. Unfortunately, in 2007, Jacques Martin left us following a generalized cancer, several years after having had a stroke. A cancer that he never really wanted to talk about, even with his family, as his daughter, Élise Martin, remembers in the columns of our colleagues from Gala.
This one took the opportunity to return to the difficult last moments of the life of his dad. “At the very end, he didn’t want to see anyone anymore. Like a wounded animal, he burrowed into a corner and hid from everyone”, she recalls. Before leaving this world, Jacques Martin had adopted a strange habit which never failed to surprise his daughter. “What is very surprising is that after having totally rejected religion, following his ordeal years with the Jesuits, he had an open Bible in his room, next to him, and he loved have passages read to him”.
Alone to face death
Always very modest according to the words of Elise, Jacques Martin was however much more open to his end of life. “It’s terrible to say that but it was from the moment he fell ill that he became accessible. Available”she remembers before making a sad observation: “But I unfortunately think that he did not leave serene…”.
A lack of serenity no doubt due to the fact that the majority of his friends had turned their backs on him at the end, as his last companion remembered. Paris Match : “The phone hardly rang anymore. Jacques was not surprised. His isolation was voluntary. His world was his illness, summed up Céline Martin to our colleagues. I wanted to bring friends, he braked with four irons. “
See also: Jacques Martin legacy: The plan developed so as not to end up like the Hallydays!
RF