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Léon Zitrone

Léon Zitrone

Actor · 1914 – 1995 · Petrograd, Russian Empire [now St. Petersburg, Russia]

Léon Zitrone (25 November 1914 – 25 November 1995) was a Russian-born French journalist and television presenter. Zitrone was born in Petrograd, Russia. He arrived in France with his family fleeing communism at the age of six. He graduated from the ESJ Paris. He began by training in scientific studies but his mastership of Russian, French, English and German gave him entrance in 1948 to the radio foreign broadcasting services of Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF). In 1959, he joined the television activity of RTF. From 1961, he became news presenter, function he occupied for nearly 20 years, first until 1975, on the first French television channel (now TF1), then also on Antenne 2, the other public service channel. Jean-Pierre Elkabbach called him back in 1979. He then took charge of the news program during the week-end (his contract was established until 1 February 1981). He would come back for those news programs also during the Easter and Pentecost week-ends. But Léon Zitrone's celebrity is due to the programs he presented or co-presented. He was host of the televised program Intervilles (French counterpart of Britain's It's a Knockout) with Guy Lux. He commented 6 times the Tour de France, and he is remembered for his prodigious memory for names of riders. He presented the Olympics for 8 times, commented the Eurovision Song Contest on 4 occasions and presented 16 Bastille Day military parades. Above all, he was the key-commenter for big events, such as weddings, burials or investitures of world's key figures, some thirty of them during the course of his career. In 1978, following French singer Marie Myriam's victory the previous year, the Eurovision song contest took place in Paris. Léon Zitrone co-presented with Denise Fabre and made the presentation in English. He was the oldest host of the Eurovision Song Contest, aged 63. In 1984, Zitrone took a leading role in the movie American Dreamer. He died from a cerebral hemorrhage on his 81st birthday, 25 November 1995, at the Val-de-Grâce hospital in Paris. Source: Article "Léon Zitrone" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Movies22

  • Movie6.6

    La Boum

    The Party

    1980 · 1.2K votes

  • Movie6.0

    Deux heures moins le quart avant Jésus-Christ

    Quarter to Two Before Jesus Christ

    1982 · 207 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Vivre pour vivre

    Live for Life

    1967 · 20 votes

  • Movie7.2
  • Movie6.3

    American Dreamer

    1984 · 26 votes

  • Movie5.1

    Bons baisers de Hong Kong

    From Hong Kong with Love

    1975 · 20 votes

  • Movie5.0

    Les intrus

    Menace

    1972 · 2 votes

  • Movie9.3

    J'ai tout donné

    1972 · 3 votes

  • Movie3.7

    Drôles de zèbres

    1977 · 8 votes

  • Movie5.0

    Cocagne

    1961 · 4 votes

  • Movie4.5

    Le coup de bambou

    The Bamboo Stroke

    1963 · 4 votes

  • Movie5.0

    Train d'enfer

    Operation Double Cross

    1965 · 3 votes

  • Movie6.2

    Clémentine chérie

    1964 · 6 votes

  • Movie5.7

    Mariage

    Marriage

    1974 · 10 votes

  • Movie7.3

    Le Puits aux trois vérités

    Three Faces of Sin

    1961 · 4 votes

  • Movie8.0

    Le caïd de Champignol

    The Boss of Champignol

    1966 · 1 votes

  • Movie5.4

    Le Mariage du siècle

    Marriage of the Century

    1985 · 28 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Rue des Prairies

    Rue de Paris

    1959 · 30 votes

  • Movie7.5

    Dorothée Show

    1987 · 2 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Méfiez-vous, mesdames !

    Be Careful Ladies

    1963 · 4 votes

  • Movie5.6

    Un garçon, une fille. Le 17ème ciel

    Seventeenth Heaven

    1966 · 5 votes

  • Movie6.7

    Les Mots pour le dire

    1983 · 3 votes

Series16

  • TV5.7

    Sacrée soirée

    1987 · 5 votes

  • TV6.8

    Champs-Elysées

    1982 · 9 votes

  • TV9.0

    Midi Première

    1975 · 2 votes

  • TV6.0
  • TV8.5

    Apostrophes

    1975 · 4 votes

  • TV7.4

    Eurovision Song Contest

    1956 · 36 votes

  • TV6.0

    Midi trente

    1972 · 1 votes

  • TV6.0

    Samedi soir

    1971 · 1 votes

  • TV4.6

    Cérémonie des César

    1976 · 5 votes

  • TV6.2

    30 millions d'amis

    1976 · 3 votes

  • TV5.0

    Téléthon

    1987 · 1 votes

  • TV8.0

    À bout portant

    1968 · 1 votes

  • TV6.5
  • TV8.0

    Dim Dam Dom

    1965 · 2 votes

  • TV7.0

    Intervilles

    1962 · 3 votes

  • TV