Michel Blanc - a journey from cult comedy to drama

Gérard Depardieu and Michel Blanc in Tenue De Soirée: 'All at once, I had become an actor who was interesting enough for film directors known for their cinéma d’auteur' Photo: UniFrance

One of French cinema’s major acting talents Michel Blanc who was part of the fabled cafe-theatre comedy troupe Le Splendide alongside the likes of Gérard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte and Josiane Balasko, has died after a heart attack at the age of 72.

Blanc who made his name in such cult comedy hits as Les Bronzés in 1978, moved to more dramatic roles in such dramas as Tenue De Soirée by Bertrand Blier opposite Gérard Depardieu (for which he scored a Cannes Film Festival best actor award), and also carved out a successful career as a director. His screenplay for Grosse fatigue in 1994 won him another Cannes award.

In one interview he explained the importance of Tenue De Soirée: “That film changed my career. The film was selected at the Cannes Film Festival, and I was the recipient of the Best Actor award at the festival. All at once, I had become an actor who was interesting enough for film directors known for their cinéma d’auteur.

Michel Blanc: 'I did Molière and Shakespeare - all their plays force you to create your character or work in a foreign language you’re not familiar with. That defines you as an actor; that’s a great way to learn your craft' Photo: UniFrance

“Earlier, I was primarily known as this comedy actor from the Comédie française and from the café-théâtre, and even though that seemed to work fine, I thought I would be stuck with the type of roles and characters that I had been playing for quite some time. So Tenue De Soirée changed a lot for me, and because of that film, I got many different offers. Two years later, I did Monsieur Hire for Patrice Leconte and other projects followed.

Among his hits behind the camera was Summer Things (Embrassez Qui Vous Voudrez), a dark and funny comedy of manners during a traditional summer holiday at the French seaside with a cast of Charlotte Rampling, Jacques Dutronc, Carole Bouquet, Karine Viard and Blanch himself among others.

As France’s artistic community mourned his loss, President Emmanuel Macron joined in the tributes, declaring “He made us cry with laughter - and with emotion. He was a monument of French cinema.”

Blanc was born on 16 April, 1952 in modest circumstances. He was protected by his parents because he was diagnosed with a heart murmur and as a result was reserved, shy and also a hypocondriac. He lost his hair early on which he embraced philosophically by saying: “I had an advantage over those who lost their hair later because I never associated becoming bald with age.”

Sandrine Bonnaire with Michel Blanc in Patrice Leconte’s Monsieur Hire Photo: UniFrance

Growing up in the Sixties, he gained his film education by watching various masterpieces on television. He confessed that once you start acting yourself, you would not try to imitate Louis Jouvet or Michel Simon. “I had seen their work and was familiar with them. For me, that was an advantage to know their films. On the other hand, some actors never had the opportunity to explore what film history has to offer, nor did they ever go to drama school, and they do everything their own way - and it can work beautifully.

“I studied acting for three years before I started working at the café-théâtre. I did Molière and Shakespeare - all their plays force you to create your character or work in a foreign language you’re not familiar with. That defines you as an actor; that’s a great way to learn your craft.”

He flirted with English-language cinema on such films as The Hundred-Foot Journey [2014], with Helen Mirren, that was shot in France. He had also worked with Jeff Goldblum, Natasha Richardson, and Bob Hoskins (on the comedy The Favour, The Watch and the Very Big Fish, 1991) but philosophically he realised he was not going to get many offers outside France.

Once asked how he chose his legion of characters he replied: “Very often, I like to play characters that touch me one way or the other.”

Over the decades he became one of the most productive artists in French cinema but he never considered himself a star and remained modest to a fault.