Guy Lux

Guy Maurice Lux (21 June 1919 – 13 June 2003) was a French TV host and producer best known for his 1961 creation of the game show Intervilles and its numerous spinoffs. During his 40 year career, he produced, directed, hosted, and wrote more than 40 television shows.

Biography
Lux was born Guy Maurice Lux on 21 June 1919 in Paris, France, and had Alsatian ancestry. He attended Lycée Arago for high school then École Estienne for university. He studied fine arts and applied arts and studied to be a lyricist. In 1939, he joined the war effort as an ambulance driver but was taken prisoner by enemy troops. He escaped and joined the French Resistance and later the Allied troops. After the war, he was awarded the Escapees' Medal and a Croix de Guerre.

Due in part to the economic conditions in post-war France, Lux had difficulty finding buyers for his songs. In the 1940s, he ran a hardware store in Asnières-sur-Seine, where he would set up games for his customers to play, especially during the Tour de France. He did not start working in media until 1952.

Television career
Lux hosted his first game show, Contact, in 1960. This show would later become La roue tourne, which he hosted alongside Jean-Francois Chiappe and Marina Gray in 1960-1964. Another significant game show he hosted was Intervilles in 1962-1964, 1970-1971, 1973, and 1985-1991, almost the entire time with Léon Zitrone, Simone Garnier, and Claude Savarit. This show was based on the Italian programme Campanile sera and later inspired the British show It's a Knockout. He created and hosted the spinoffs Jeux sans frontières (all-Europe competition), Interneige (continuation of Jeux sans frontières), Intercontinents (international competition), Interglace (winter competitions), and Interchallenges. He also hosted Ring Parade and its sequel Système 2 and the popular variety show Le Schmilblick,  which popularized the word schmilblick, similar to the English thingamajig. He created and produced the shows La Classe, La Une est à vous, Succès fous, Capitale d'un soir, and L'Or à l'appel as well.

Though he mainly worked with television, he appeared, oftentimes as a fictionalized version of himself, in several films, including Clémentine chérie (1964), Bang Bang (1967), Les fous du stade (1972), Comme sur des roulettes (1977), and Le bourreau des cœurs (1983). He also wrote and composed the song "A la queue leu leu" which was sung by André Bézu, and recorded a comedy song called "Le Tango d'Intervilles" with co-host Léon Zitrone. In 2021, Lux and Zitrone were featured in the documentary Les Duos mythiques de la television as one of France's legendary duos. He wrote and directed Drôles de zèbres in 1977 and in 1980 created his own production company, People Production.

He retired from his television career in 1993, due largely to his age and the new talent available elsewhere.

Personal life
Lux was known to enjoy betting on horses, so much so that there is now a race called Prix Guy Lux et Léon Zitrone held in Paris. Sophie Darel, with whom he worked for 15 years on a number of shows, described him as "very anxious" and angry because of it, though she still had affection for him since his violent outbursts lasted only briefly. In 1994, Lux started Pas d'enfants sans vacances (English: No child without vacation), which takes children from families who cannot afford vacations over the summer holidays to the beach and/or countryside.

Lux married Paulette Lisle in 1942 and the couple had two children: Christiane (1942-1964) and Michel (1943-present). Christiane died in a car accident in 1964 and Lux and his wife raised her 3-month old son, Jean-Christophe Lauduique, in her place. Jean-Christophe and actress Ariane Séguillon are parents to Dorian Lauduique of the French DJ duo Ofenbach. Jean-Christophe released music under the name Christophe Jenac in the 1980s.

Lux had at least two extramarital affairs during his marriage to Paulette, resulting in four illegitimate children, three of which he never publicly acknowledged. Pierre, mothered by actress and TV host Vonny. He had another daughter, Laura-Charlotte, with actress Muriel Montossey. This was revealed following Laura-Charlotte's death on 26 May 1993 at 16 months old, when her death certificate, which included Lux's name, was published in newspapers and tabloids across France.

Lux died on 13 June 2003 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. He is buried in Saint-Gratien Cemetery in Val-d'Oise alongside his wife Paulette and daughter Christiane.