On September 29, 2014, Yves Marchesseau, better known under the pseudonym of La Boule, emblematic character of Fort Boyarddied at the age of 62, as a result of the cancer he was battling. The information had been confirmed by his daughter Stéphanie via the local Poitou-Charentes branch of France Bleu radio. “Thursday (September 25, editor’s note)when he knew he was going to die, he told us that he had suffered a lot during his childhood and that Fort Boyard was revenge on life for him“, she had declared.
La Boule had had heart problems since 2013, after which esophageal cancer had been detected. To heal, he then made the decision to withdraw from the game of France 2. “Last November, I was at the table with my daughter Stéphanie when I had a stroke. I was rushed to the hospital and that’s wherewith a scanner, we detected my cancer of theesophagus“, he had told to the magazine France Sunday. And explain: “Since then, I have been treated. I followed four weeks of radio-chemotherapy in Poitiers“. His chemo sessions earned him the loss of 20 pounds. Very weak, he was then forced to move around in a wheelchair. “I lost my appetite and sleep“, he specified, admitting to having “fear of dying“. He finally concluded in a tragic way: “Today I’m screwed“.
Yves Marchesseau played the role of La Boule from 1994 to 2013 in Fort Boyardi.e. for 20 years. His role was to strike a gong using a mallet in order to give the start of the game. Moreover, when the candidates did not manage to leave the cell before the end of the allotted time, he led them to the prisons of the fort without ever uttering a word. The announcement of his death had naturally upset the teams of the show. On RTL, Anthony Laborde, alias Passe-Muraille, declared for example: “La Boule was a friend. He was even more than a friend, I considered him a member of my family.”Olivier Minne wrote on social media: “Strong emotion after the death of Yves Marchesseau, says La Boule. Family Fort Boyard is in mourning. Loving thoughts for his family. RIP.“