Max Meynier (b. January 30, 1938 - d. May 23, 2006) was a French radio host, television presenter and theater actor. He spent most of his career on the airwaves of RTL Radio from 1972 until 1994, in particular with the show Les Routiers Sont Sympa (The Drivers Are Nice) in the 1970s. On television, he was the first host of the French version of The Price is Right under the name Le Juste Prix (The Right Price) from 1987 until 1988 and was the host of the original French version of the long-running British game show Countdown called Des Chiffres et Des Lettres (Numbers and Letters) on Antenne 2.
Biography[]
Meynier studied in Lyon at the Ampere high school, at the Ecole superieure de commerce (business school) and at the Pitoit Institute, then in Paris at the Dramatic Arts Center on rue Blanche ("White Street").
After starting out in the theater as an actor, he joined RTL in 1969, where he created and hosted the show Les Routiers Sont Sympa (The Truckers Are Nice) from May 8, 1972. First from 10:30 p.m. to midnight, from 1975 from 9 p.m. to midnight and from 1978 even from 8:30 p.m. to midnight, except on weekends. The show became Relax Max in 1979, Allo Max (Hello Max) in 1981 and Frequence Max (Max Frequency) from 1982 for thirteen years he hosted this legendary show which enjoyed great success with road professionals, with 800,000 listeners each every evening on average, the host receiving up to 25,000 letters per year.
On the night of Friday 8 to Saturday. February 9, 1974, during the broadcast, he managed to calm a mentally insane person named Jacques Robert who, fake grenade a pistol in hand, had entered the RTL studio, posing as a trucker and who wanted to read a message to the antenna.
In 1976, the station provided a studio with a boarding room, in order to accommodate truck drivers and hitchhikers.
In 1979, he covered the first Paris-Dakar in the company of Christian Boudas and Francis Zegut. Every evening from 8:40 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., he brings the rally live aboard his Toyota Land Cruiser.
In 1981, he took part in the creation of the 24 Heures du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans) trucks and launched the trend of truck races in France and Europe. In 1982, he hosted the show Les Routeurs du bout du monde (Routers at the End of the World) for six months and traveled with his microphone to many countries for this show.
Victim of a heart attack in 1986, he then became the "joker" (replacement host) of the station and hosted all the time slots in turn. In particular, he co-hosted with Evelyne Pages the show Le journal du jour de votre voix (The Daily Newspaper of Your Voice), in the afternoon between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
In 1990, he had to undergo a heart transplant, then left RTL for good in 1994.
Television[]
In 1982, Meynier presented La Nouvelle Poster (The New Poster) on Antenne 2 and the hosted Juge Boxe (Boxing Judge) on TF1. He later hosted the show Sahel 84 and Les Camions de l'espoir (The Trucks of Hope) in 1984 and Tous en Piste (All on Track) in 1986 on FR3. He was also a recurring host on Les Jeux de 20 Heures (The 20 Hour Games) from 1984 until 1987. In 1987, he became the original host of the French version of The Price is Right under the name Le Juste Prix (The Right Price) which he presented a year from 1987 until 1988 who was later proceeded briefly by Eric Galliano in 1988. Meynier also hosted the original French version of the long-running British game show Countdown under the name Des Chiffres et Des Lettres (Numbers and Letters) for nine months before being replaced by Laurent Romejko from 1991 until 1992.
He played in the theater in 1997 before ceasing all professional activity in 2000.
Health and Death[]
In 2002. Meynier underwent a second heart transplant along with a kidney transplant. He died on May 23, 2006 due to cancer at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine at the age of 68. Meynier was cremated at the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, then buried in the family tomb at the Guillotiere Cemetery in Lyon.