The French businessman Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, who was the inspiration for the successful film Intouchables, died on Friday at the age of 72 in Marrakech. The directors of the film, Oliver Nakache and Éric Toledano, op Twitter announced. “We will try to continue all his fights,” the two say.
Pozzo di Borgo was the head of the Pommery champagne house when he was paralyzed by a paragliding accident in the early 1990s. He therefore became completely dependent on others for his care. This is how the French-Algerian Abdel Sellou came into his life, a man in his twenties who had grown up in a deprived neighborhood in Paris. The two have little in common, but a special friendship develops. Pozzo di Borgo writes the book there Le Second Souffle about, describing how Sellou helped him overcome his depression after the death of his wife.
In 2011, the story was made into a film starring Omar Sy and François Cluzet. Intouchables became an international success and is one of the best-attended French films ever. Pozzo di Borgo’s cause of death has not been disclosed. On Instagram says Sy that Pozzo di Borgi remains “forever in our hearts.” “We keep the image of a brave, dignified, humble and combative man. (…) It was a rare privilege to know him all these years.” According to Sy, with his story, Pozzo di Borgi “changed not only our lives, but those of many vulnerable people.”
Read how here Huub Stapel met Pozzo di Borgo for the Dutch theater version of Intouchables