This time, he doesn’t feel like laughing anymore… At 55, Laurent Gerra has just lost one of the pillars of his life, his father Jean-Christian, who died last Friday of an illness contracted a few months ago. Long employed in a transport factory, this man very close to his son had also worked at Crédit Agricole before managing the affairs of the comedian.
This one, only son, never hid the admiration and love he had for his parents, Nicole and Jean-Christian, who had him quite young. “They were 20 when I was born. They were a young ‘normal’ French couple, that is to say very rebellious with institutions, and atheists to boot!” he explained during an interview on France Bleu, a few years ago.
His father, a great supporter of his imitations from the start, nevertheless had a busy schedule: nicknamed Nanou, he was a municipal councilor in Mézériat in the 1980s, becoming a real “figure” of the town in Ain, according to the mayor, very saddened by this loss. “With him, part of Mézériat is leaving“, he commented.
A man committed to the defense of his region, he was one of the founders of the Académie de Bresse. Indeed, since 2003, with about twenty other administrators, he has multiplied the actions to develop and shine the municipalities of this part of eastern France. The president of the Academy, present at the funeral, was devastated.
He particularly praisedhis radiant joy and his values of friendship, sincerity, simplicity and fidelity“, according to Le Progrès, which was able to collect his words. The funeral took place in Mézériat, this city which was so close to his heart, in the presence of his family but also of certain people from show biz, friends of his son and came to support him.
Virginie Lemoine, in particular, ex-companion and great friend of Laurent Gerra, had made the trip. Chefs George Blanc and Marc Veyrat also came to pay him a last tribute. The imitator, meanwhile, has surely been able to count on the support of his wife, Christelle Bardet, with whom he has been in a relationship for more than ten years now. Both are parents of a little Célestine, even if they always remain very discreet about their private life.