Thierry Ardisson

Thierry Ardisson (6 January 1949 – 14 July 2025) was a French television producer and host. He was also a film producer, writer, and advertising executive.

He began his career in advertising by founding the agency Business, then moved into print media. He made his television debut in the late 1980s with shows such as Bains de minuit and Lunettes noires pour nuits blanches. After a brief withdrawal in the early 1990s, the man nicknamed “the man in black” returned with several successful programs.

Some of his television programs are considered among the most influential and have some of the longest run times in French television, notably Paris Dernière,Tout le monde en parle, On a tout essayé (as producer), and Salut les Terriens!, later renamed Les Terriens du samedi!.

He was the author of several books, including best-sellers such as Louis XX – Contre-enquête sur la Monarchie and Confessions d’un Baby boomer. In 2013, he released and produced the French movie Max.

Ardisson was a Legitimist French Royalist and a friend of Louis Alphonse de Bourbon (Louis XX), the current Legitimist claimant to the French throne.