Christian Ranucci was born to Jean Ranucci, a board painter and veteran of the Indochina War, and Héloïse Mathon, a caregiver, in Avignon, France on April 6, 1954.
Mother and son soon fled, moving home numerous times, as Héloïse Mathon was wrongly convinced that her ex-husband would kill them both (although Jean would never attempt to find his son).