Background
Bertrand Renard was born in Paris.
Bertrand Renard was born in Paris.
He studied classics (French / Latin / Greek) at the Sorbonne, He passed one Agrégation de Lettres Classiques but failed overall.
He is a former contestant and the presenter of the game show Des chiffres et des lettres. Interested in television, he did not retake the examination He stated that he was "absolutely not interested on mathematics and science".
Des chiffres et des lettres
In September 1974, Renard participated at age 19 on the game show Des chiffres et des lettres.
He was noticed for his facility with mental calculation and by his shy attitude, hiding behind long hair and thin mustache, which he kept, as well as his anxious attitude, continuously moving on his chairman After twelve victories in a row, he earned 6,000 francs.
In March 1975, the producer, Armand Jammot, hired him to join the team as a presenter, replacing Fabien Buhler. He was known as "Monsieur Calcul".
Renard explained his hiring by the fact that "the game was at that time presented by Patrice Laffont who was 35.
"Monsieur Dictionnaire" was Max Favalelli, who was much older, 70. And I was the youngest, so it created a sort of balance". Renard took charge in 1975 with Favalelli of the part with letters and words titled "Le Mot le plus long", and then with Arielle Boulin-Prat in 1986, replacing Favalelli.
The other presenters were Patrice Laffont first, and since 1992, Laurent Romejko.
Foreign more than 39 years he daily officiated without interruption on the show. He has never taken a vacation, afraid that he would be replaced.
He is the oldest presenter, appearing on the oldest program, on French television Michel Drucker started earlier, but appeared less often because he appeared daily.
Other programs
Renard wrote a collection of stories and two novels.
He also wrote a newspaper column. In 1991, he participated in the program My télé is rich. He also participated at Télématin and Jamais sans mon livre in 1993.
In 1987, he was one of the members of the program L"Assiette anglaise presented by Bernard Rapporteur, with Christine Bravo and Jean Teulé, as a literature columnist.
He was a good student, but acknowledged his lack of interest. He is a passionate student of history and was described as having hyperthymesia, memorizing without any effort.