Quadriplegic businessman who inspired ‘The Intouchables’ dies

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Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, a Frenchman from a noble family, died in Morocco. He had a paragliding accident in 1993 and became a quadriplegic. Scene from the French film The Intouchables Publicity Philippe Pozzo di Borgo, an aristocrat and businessman who became quadriplegic and inspired the French film “The Intouchables”, one of the greatest successes in the country’s cinema, died on Friday (2) at the age of 72 in Morocco, where he lived. Eric Toledano, the director of “The Intouchables”, stated that Borgo died in the city of Marrakech. “It is a shock and, above all, an immense sadness, because this was a relationship that had an incredible longevity. We kept in touch, we carried out operations together, we exchanged correspondence and we met several times”, stated Toledano. The story of Borgo Philippe Pozzo di Borgo was born in 1951 in Tunis, Tunisia, into an ancient Corsican noble family. He was an executive at the Pommery champagne company. In 1993, he suffered a paragliding accident and became quadriplegic. In his book “O Segundo Sigh”, published in 2001, he tells how he got out of depression thanks to his assistant, Abdel Yasmin Sellou. That story was adapted for the screen in “The Untouchables,” a 2011 hit that drew nearly 20 million viewers to theaters. The two men are portrayed by François Cluzet and Omar Sy (the latter won the César for Best Actor in 2012; the award is considered France’s Oscar). Sy, who was most famous for his role in the Lupine series, posted a message on his Instagram account saying that Borgo is “forever in our hearts”. Sold in nearly 50 countries, “The Untouchables” had 19.49 million viewers in France and enjoyed exceptional success in Europe – especially in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. It was also adapted in the United States (“The Upside”) with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart.

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