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Can I say as follows?

I saw him in life, not on TV.

Is there any other special expression in English that means that the experience is actual, hands-on, direct?

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"I saw him in life" would not be the way to say what you're intending in English, as that phrasing is used to draw a distinction between seeing the person in life versus its opposite (death).

The most common American idiom for what you're describing is likely "in real life", as Lynette suggested. "In person", also suggested earlier, also applies but frequently implies more of an intended appearance by the person being seen. Typically it would be used for official, arranged appearances by the person, where "in real life" has a connotation of an informal sighting.

Alternatives that are used fairly often in America and would be readily understood include:

"I saw him in the flesh, and not on TV." This clearly only applies to people or living things; you wouldn't say you saw the Eiffel Tower "in the flesh", for example. This is similar to the earlier suggestion of "in person", but does not imply any particular nature of the encounter; it can be used to describe both formal and informal sightings.

"I saw him up close and personal, and not on TV." This is more colorful and colloquial and often implies some amount of interaction with the person, not merely a literal sighting of them. This one can be used for inanimate objects as well as people, and still implies more interaction or proximity than a mere sighting at a distance.

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I would say 'I saw him in real life, not on TV'.

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I saw him in-person...........

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    Would you put a hyphen in there, though? I've always written it as I saw him in person.
    – Jeffrey Kemp
    Dec 18, 2014 at 0:40
  • The hyphen is optional, but used more when you want the grouping to really show, as when it is an adjective. "Bob Jones made an in-person appearance at the club".
    – Oldcat
    Dec 18, 2014 at 0:52
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    Thr hyphen is superfluous when used adverbially "I saw him in person." and required when used as an adjective "an in-person appearance" That's not what I would call "optional".
    – Brian Hitchcock
    Dec 18, 2014 at 7:32
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WordWeb says that active is a synonym.

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  • Care to explain the downvotes? (IMHO, this question should be closed - it is simple to look up synonyms.)
    – Drew
    Dec 18, 2014 at 14:27

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