Philippe de Villiers

Career overview

Philippe Marie Jean Joseph Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, is a French entrepreneur, politician, and novelist who was born on March 25, 1949, in Boulogne, Vendée, France. He is the founder of the Puy du Fou theme park in Vendée, which focuses on the history of France. As a politician, he was appointed Secretary of State for Culture in 1986 by President François Mitterrand, entered the National Assembly the following year, and joined the European Parliament in 1994. After leaving the Republican Party to establish the Movement for France, he ran as its nominee in the 1995 and 2007 presidential elections, receiving 4.74 percent of the vote in his first run to place seventh and winning 2.23 percent twelve years later.

In the realm of television and film credits documented on the Movie Database, Philippe de Villiers is noted under the acting category with a total of five known credits. Additionally, his public profile is reflected in popular culture, notably having a look-alike puppet featured on the French television show Les Guignols de l'info, which began in 1988. Internationally notable for his criticism of mass immigration and Islam in France alongside his support of the French way of life, he comes from a family that includes his brother, General Pierre de Villiers, who served as Chief of the Defence Staff from 2014 to 2017. He has been married to Dominique du Buor since 1973, and the couple has seven children.