“The sky is falling on my head, everything is falling apart. » This Wednesday, Olivier Lejeune, the boulevard theater personality, announced on his Facebook profile that he was withdrawing from the stage for health reasons. “I have to undergo a very complicated operation,” wrote the 74-year-old actor, who even mentioned “an important prognosis”. “According to my surgeon, for me the scene is definitely over. » A surprise that aroused huge emotions on social networks among his fans.
When we met with her last summer, to talk about her fifty-year career and her very unusual life trajectory, the actress couldn’t imagine hanging up the phone and stopping touring theaters in France and Navarre. “Not at all, far from it!” My machine? Excitement. I love humans, I am very curious about humans and I love finding out,” he told us, as his play, “Everything Changes,” was staged at the Déjazet theater throughout the holidays.
But the start of the school year was a cruel start for the actor who for years did not stop playing three or four plays at the same time. After three tour dates of “Monsieur Chasse”, by Feydeau, the former “La Classe” figure in FR3 lost his voice. The weakness has been since 2018 when after radiotherapy, his work equipment began to show signs of fatigue. He has succeeded so far: “Shock treatments, hyaluronic acid, cortisone, laser surgery, the great doctor Jean Abitbol – the voice of Einstein – (managed to) stabilize and even increase the volume of my voice”, repeated Olivier Lejeune on Facebook.
“New career begins”
In recent months, a microphone discreetly placed under his shirt has allowed him to maintain optimal vocal quality. But this new blow proved fatal and meant “immediate cessation of his profession as an actor”. “I just filled my 2026 diary with a lot of shows,” lamented Olivier Lejeune who plans to cover “60 Days in Prison” in Paris by Sacha Guitry, his favorite author. Stops are “very difficult for hyperactive people to digest.” “Never happier than when I watch four different shows in the same week. »
But the middle-aged man, comedian and actor, writer and theater director, inventor of TV and board games, memorable speaker, cathodic figure, has no intention of retiring. “I have been lent a good pen, I will try to compensate for this terrible vacancy by writing (dramas, series, feature films). A new career begins,” he has already risen. “I’m thinking about publishing a book of anecdotes from my 56 years on stage, now that I have the time,” he said.
The exploitation of the drama “Monsieur Chasse” continues, with Michel Guidoni replacing Olivier Lejeune, along with Jean-Pierre Castaldi, in particular. This Friday, the actor, without words, wanted to react to the flood of support received over the past two days: “I am overwhelmed by your thousands of messages in just 48 hours,” wrote Olivier Lejeune on Facebook.
