Jacques Bénétin had one of those voices that made post-war radio, when the set held pride of place in the kitchen and the games were played by telephone with the listeners. At RTL he invented Le Tirlipot, in which a mystery object had to be guessed by asking questions, and even spun a giant version from it. He then moved on to television. He died in 1969, at forty-three.
The story
Jacques Bénétin was born in 1925. His was one of the voices that built the mass-audience radio of the post-war years, when the set stood in the kitchen and the games on air were played with listeners on the telephone.
On RTL he presented “Les Jeux de midi”, “Midi variétés”, “La Chose” and above all “Le Tirlipot”, of which he also made a giant version: the principle, guessing a mystery object by questions, earned him the title of ‘le père du Tirlipot’, the father of the Tirlipot.
He moved to ORTF television with “Télé Match”, the game Pierre Bellemare had been presenting since 1954: the two men belong to the same generation of presenters who came up through radio, and they lie today in the same cemetery.
He made two ventures away from the airwaves, into the theatre and onto record, and found in neither what the microphone gave him.
He died in Paris on 10 May 1969, at forty-three. His grave in Division 9 carries only two lines: his own, and that of Réjane Bénétin, born the same year as he was and dead in 2015 — forty-six years after him.
On site, do not miss
Two lines, the same year of birth twice, 1925 — and forty-six years between the two dates of death.
Visitors' questions
Where is Jacques Bénétin's grave?
In Division 9, Chemin de l'Ancienne Porte, ninth row, in the lower part of the cemetery. The stone is plain and bears only two inscriptions, his own and that of Réjane Bénétin, who died in 2015.
Hans BellmerWhat is the Tirlipot?
A radio game in which listeners had to guess a mystery object by asking questions, which he hosted on RTL, including a so-called giant version. The show's success earned him his nickname: “le père du Tirlipot” — the father of the Tirlipot.
Pierre BellemareWho was Jacques Bénétin?
A presenter of post-war radio, at RTL, where he hosted “Les Jeux de midi”, “Midi variétés” and “La Chose”, then of ORTF television with “Télé Match”. He also tried his hand at theatre and records.
Gilbert BécaudWhen did he die?
On 10 May 1969 in Paris, at forty-three, at the height of his radio career. His wife Réjane, born the same year as him, in 1925, outlived him by forty-six years and rests with him in Division 9.
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