Editing Hergé (section)

=== Final years: 1966–1983 ===

[[File:Tintin magazine 50th anniversary issue.jpg|thumb|right|An issue of ''Tintin'' magazine celebrating the 50th anniversary of ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (1979).]]

In the 1960s, Hergé became increasingly annoyed at the success of [[René Goscinny]] and [[Albert Uderzo]]'s ''[[Asterix]]'' comic book series, which various commentators had described as eclipsing ''The Adventures of Tintin'' as the foremost comic in the [[Franco-Belgian comics|Franco-Belgian tradition]].{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=297–298}} Hoping to imitate the success of the recent animated films ''[[Asterix the Gaul (film)|Asterix the Gaul]]'' (1967) and ''[[Asterix and Cleopatra (film)|Asterix and Cleopatra]]'' (1968), Hergé agreed to the production of two animated Belvision films based on the ''Adventures of Tintin''. The first, ''[[Tintin and the Temple of the Sun]]'' (1969), was based on pre-existing comics, whereas the second, ''[[Tintin and the Lake of Sharks]]'' (1972) was an original story written by [[Greg (cartoonist)|Greg]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=226|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=299}} In 1982, the US filmmaker [[Steven Spielberg]] requested the film rights for a live-action adaptation of one of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a prospect that excited Hergé, but the project would not come to fruition until long after his death.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=228–229|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=338–339}}

In a wide-ranging interview with the journalist [[Numa Sadoul]] in October 1971, Hergé opened up about many of the problems he had experienced in his personal life. Sadoul planned to publish the interview as a book, but Hergé made many alterations to the transcript, both to improve its prose and to remove sections which cast him in a negative light. Editors at Casterman then removed even further sections, particularly those in which Hergé expressed a negative view of Catholicism. The interview was published as ''[[Tintin and I|Tintin et moi]]'' ("Tintin and Me") in 1975.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=207–208|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=315–317}} Hergé followed this by agreeing to be the subject of a documentary film produced by Henri Roane, ''[[I, Tintin|Moi, Tintin]]'' ("I, Tintin"), which premiered in 1975.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=318}} In January 1977 he attended an early comic book convention at [[Angoulême]], where he was widely heralded as one of the masters of the discipline.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=238}} To mark the fiftieth anniversary of ''The Adventures of Tintin'' in 1979, a celebratory event was held at Brussels' Hilton hotel, while an exhibit on "Le Musée imaginaire de Tintin" ("The Imaginary Museum of Tintin") was held at the Palais de Beaux-Arts.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=329}}

In April 1971, Hergé visited the U.S. for the first time, primarily to visit a liver specialist in [[Rochester, Minnesota]]; however, on the trip, he also visited a [[Sioux]] reservation in [[South Dakota]], but was shocked at the conditions in which their inhabitants lived. On this visit he also spent time in [[Chicago]], [[San Francisco]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Las Vegas]], and [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2011|1p=168|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=301}} In April 1972, he travelled to [[New York City]] for an international conference on the strip cartoon, and there presented Mayor [[John Lindsay]] with a cartoon of Tintin visiting the city and also met with the pop artist [[Andy Warhol]].{{Sfn|Goddin|2011|p=174}} Several years later, in 1977, Warhol visited Europe, where he produced a pop art portrait of Hergé.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=218|2a1=Goddin|2y=2011|2p=190}} In April 1973, Hergé took up an invitation to visit [[Taiwan]] by the nation's government, in recognition of his promotion of Chinese culture in ''The Blue Lotus''. During the visit he also spent time in Thailand and Bali.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2011|1p=177|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=318–319}}

Hergé had long sought to regain contact with his old friend [[Zhang Chongren]], with whom he had lost contact. He regularly asked any Chinese people that he met if they knew of Zhang, and in 1979, had some success when a staff member in a Brussels Chinese restaurant revealed that he was Zhang's godson. Hergé was thus able to re-establish contact with his old friend.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2011|1p=184|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=319–320}} The journalist [[Gérard Valet]] organised for Zhang to visit Brussels so that he and Hergé could be re-united. The event took place in March 1981, and was heavily publicised; Hergé, however, found the situation difficult, disliking the press attention and finding that he and Zhang had grown distant during the intervening years.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=225|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=333}}

In June 1970, Hergé's father died, and after the funeral he holidayed near Lake Geneva.{{Sfn|Goddin|2011|p=168}} In 1974, his assistant Branden suffered a stroke and was left unable to write, with Hergé replacing him with a young man, [[Alain Baran]],{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=328–329}} who Hergé biographer [[Pierre Assouline]] later termed Hergé's "surrogate son".{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=211}} In March 1977, Hergé's divorce with Germaine was finalised; although Hergé continued to visit her and financially support her, Germaine took the divorce badly, viewing it as a further betrayal.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=328}} Hergé was then able to marry Fanny several weeks later, in a low-key ceremony on 20 May; he was 70 years old and she was 42.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2011|1p=190|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=328}}

==== Death ====

[[File:Tombe d'Hergé Friedhof Uccle Bruxelles.JPG|thumb|150px|Hergé's grave in the ''[[Uccle#Main sights|Dieweg]]'' cemetery in Brussels.]]

In 1979, Hergé was diagnosed with [[Primary myelofibrosis|osteomyelofibrosis]], necessitating a complete blood transfusion.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=232|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=330}} His need for blood transfusions had increased, as he came to require them every two weeks, and then every week.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=232|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=333, 334}}

On 25 February 1983, Hergé suffered [[cardiac arrest]] and was hospitalised in [[Intensive care medicine|intensive care]] at Brussels' [[Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=234|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=334}} He had been scheduled to meet with Steven Spielberg, who later made [[The Adventures of Tintin (film)|''The Adventures of Tintin'']] (2011). He died at Saint-Luc on 3 March, at the age of 75.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=234|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=334}} His death received [[headline|front page]] coverage in numerous francophone newspapers, including ''[[Libération]]'' and ''[[Le Monde]]''.{{Sfn|Thompson|1991|p=205}} In his will, he had left Fanny as his sole heir.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=233}}

In November 1986, Fanny closed Studios Hergé, replacing it with the [[Hergé Foundation]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1p=210|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=338}}

In 1988, ''Tintin'' magazine was discontinued.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=338}}