François Jean Blanche, known as "Francis Blanche" (20 July 1921 – 6 July 1974) was a French actor, singer, humorist and author. He was a very popular figure on stage, radio and in films, during the 1950s and 1960s. His two daughters, Barbara & Dominique, are artists with their studios in Eze.
Blanche was born in an artistic family, mainly of stage actors—including his father Louis Blanche and his uncle, Emmanuel Blanche, who was a painter—. He completed his secondary schooling at fourteen, the youngest in France to do so at the time.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Blanche was part of Robert Dhéry's theatrical company Les Branquignols, with whom he played in the film Ah! Les belles bacchantes, starring Robert Dhéry, Colette Brosset (Dhéry's then-wife), and Louis de Funès; directed by Jean Loubignac in 1954.
Blanche teamed up with Pierre Dac to form a comic duo best remembered for Le Sâr Rabindranath Duval, a sketch about a phony and nonsensical Indian clairvoyant and guru (1957). They also created a popular and equally nonsensical radiophonic series, loosely based on a highly improbable espionage and conspiration plot, Malheur aux barbus, which was broadcast on Paris Inter in 213 episodes from 1951 to 1952. The same plot and characters were revived on Europe 1 in a series called Signé Furax, enjoying no less than 1,034 daily episodes between 1956 and 1960. Both broadcasts were phenomenal audience successes in the pre-television era. Blanche was also renowned for broadcasting phone pranks, in which he entertained listeners by making the most improbable situations sound plausible.
He wrote poems, and the lyrics of 673 songs. On stage, he acted in Tartuffe and Néron and, in 1955, Chevalier du Ciel, an operetta by Luis Mariano at the Gaîté-Lyrique theatre.
Blanche also enjoyed a successful cinematographic career, both as an actor and scriptwriter. He appeared as a hard-headed German colonel ("Obersturmführer Schulz") opposite Brigitte Bardot in Babette s'en va-t-en guerre (1959). He was one of the favourite actors of French filmmaker Georges Lautner, and played Maître Folace (a shady solicitor counselling a colourful gangster mob) in Les Tontons flingueurs (1963). Blanche also appeared in Boris Vassilief's Les Barbouzes (1964).
He delighted in parodying classical music, adapting famous works such as Schubert's "Die Forelle" (The Trout) into a crazy and slightly risqué piece about a 16-year-old romantic girl obsessed with Schubert's song to the point of giving birth to a live trout while performing it on her piano. Similarly, he turned Beethoven's 5th Symphony into a lengthy and quite repetitive musical glorification of the clothes peg and its fictitious inventor, Jérémie-Victor Opdebec.
Blanche died at the age of 52, from a heart attack with a background of untreated Type 1 diabetes. He is buried in Èze cemetery.
Source: Article "Francis Blanche" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
| 2022 | Les 100 vies de Francis Blanche as Self (archive footage) |
| 2009 | Comiques de toujours (Vol. 1 à 4) as Self (archive footage) |
| 1975 | Une baleine qui avait mal aux dents as Francis |
| 1974 | Un linceul n'a pas de poches as Nathaël Grissom |
| 1974 | Dites-le avec des fleurs |
| 1974 | O.K. patron as Victor Hutin, le père de Sophie |
| 1974 | Par le sang des autres as Le médecin |
| 1973 | La Dernière Bourrée à Paris as Gaston Payrac |
| 1973 | L'histoire très bonne et très joyeuse de Colinot Trousse-Chemise as Le vagabond |
| 1973 | Le Solitaire as Norbert |
| 1973 | Racconti romani di una ex-novizia as Pietro l'Aretino |
| 1973 | Je, tu, elles... as Darbon, le galeriste |
| 1973 | J'ai mon voyage! as Mr. de Chatiez |
| 1972 | Il terrore con gli occhi storti as Commissioner Pigna |
| 1972 | Nonostante le apparenze... e purchè la nazione non lo sappia... all'onorevole piacciono le donne as padre Scirer |
| 1972 | L'odeur des fauves |
| 1971 | Êtes-vous fiancée à un marin grec ou à un pilote de ligne ? as Maurice Gombaud |
| 1971 | La Grande Maffia as Modeste Miette |
| 1971 | Il furto è l'anima del commercio!?... as Sigfrid |
| 1971 | Qu'est-ce qui fait courir les crocodiles ? as Hector Grogenol |
| 1971 | Les jambes en l'air as Hugon |
| 1971 | La Grande Java as Auguste Kougloff / Augustin Colombani |
| 1970 | Alice au pays des merveilles |
| 1970 | Ces messieurs de la gâchette as Marco Lombardi |
| 1970 | Adieu Berthe as Léo Bertold |
| 1970 | L'Étalon as le percepteur Dupuis |
| 1969 | Poussez pas grand-père dans les cactus as Alphonse Ramier / Al Gregor |
| 1969 | Un merveilleux parfum d'oseille as Loïc de Kerfuntel |
| 1969 | Aux frais de la princesse |
| 1969 | Erotissimo as Le polyvalent |
| 1969 | Les gros malins as Francis Bertolde dit 'Le book' |
| 1969 | Faites donc plaisir aux amis as Maximiliano |
| 1969 | Le bourgeois gentil mec as spinosa |
| 1968 | La Grande Lessive (!) as Le docteur Loupioc |
| 1968 | Salut Berthe ! |
| 1967 | La feldmarescialla as Captain Hans Vogel |
| 1967 | Du mou dans la gâchette as La Prudence |
| 1967 | Le grand bidule as Copec |
| 1967 | Gündüz Güzeli as Monsieur Adolphe |
| 1967 | Le canard en fer blanc as Le docteur Grego |
| 1967 | Le Plus Vieux Métier du monde as The Doctor (segment "Aujourd'hui") |
| 1967 | Deux Romains en Gaule as Le druide inventeur de la potion d'invisibilité |
| 1967 | Les Compagnons de la marguerite as L'inspecteur Maurice Leloup |
| 1967 | La Grande Sauterelle as Gédéon |
| 1967 | Ces messieurs de la famille as Strumberger |
| 1966 | Les enquiquineurs as Monsieur Achille Eloy |
| 1966 | Les malabars sont au parfum as Ivanov |
| 1966 | La Sentinelle endormie as Constant |
| 1965 | La Tête du client as Mario l'enchanteur |
| 1965 | Pas de caviar pour tante Olga |
| 1965 | La bonne occase |
| 1965 | Les baratineurs as Louis Dujardin |
| 1964 | La chance et l'amour as L'adjudant |
| 1964 | Les Gorilles as Félix |
| 1964 | Les Barbouzes as Boris Vassiliev |
| 1964 | La Grande Frousse |
| 1964 | Les pieds nickelés as Commissaire Lenoir |
| 1964 | La Chasse à l'homme as Nino Papatakis |
| 1964 | Le Repas des fauves as Francis |
| 1964 | L'Homme qui vendit la Tour Eiffel as Mr. Humlaupt |
| 1964 | Les Plus Belles Escroqueries du monde as Mr. Humlaupt (segment "L'Homme qui vendit la tour Eiffel") |
| 1964 | Clémentine chérie as l'importun à la cérémonie des Miss (non crédité) |
| 1964 | Requiem pour un caïd as Emile |
| 1964 | Jaloux comme un tigre as le chauffeur |
| 1964 | Des pissenlits par la racine as Absalon |
| 1964 | Actualités télérévisées as Presenter |
| 1964 | La Tulipe noire as Plantin |
| 1963 | Les gros bras as Mr Pédro Andromèze |
| 1963 | Les Tontons flingueurs as Maître Folace |
| 1963 | Dragées au poivre as Franz |
| 1963 | Un drôle de paroissien as Chief Insp. Cucherat |
| 1963 | Les Vierges as M. de Brétevielle |
| 1963 | Les Veinards as M. Bricheton (« Le Repas gastronomique ») |
| 1963 | L'Abominable Homme des douanes as Arnakos |
| 1963 | Les bricoleurs as Édouard |
| 1962 | Tartarin de Tarascon as Antoine Tartarin |
| 1962 | La planque as Edouard |
| 1962 | Snobs ! as Morloch |
| 1962 | Accroche-toi, y'a du vent! |
| 1962 | Le Septième Juré as Le procureur général |
| 1962 | La vendetta as Bartoli |
| 1962 | Les petits matins as le douanier belge |
| 1962 | En plein cirage as Fellous |
| 1961 | Il ratto delle sabine as Mezio |
| 1961 | La ragazza di mille mesi as Commendator Borgioli |
| 1961 | Les Menteurs as Blanchin |
| 1961 | Les livreurs as Félix |
| 1961 | Vive Henri IV... vive l'amour! as Le prieur |
| 1960 | L'ours as Chappuis |
| 1960 | Anonima cocottes |
| 1960 | Le Olimpiadi dei mariti |
| 1960 | A noi piace freddo...!! as von Krussendorf |
| 1960 | La Française et l'Amour as Me Marcerou, avocat et ami du couple (Le Divorce) |
| 1960 | Le pillole di Ercole as Augusto |
| 1960 | Les Pique-assiette as Félix |
| 1960 | Vive le duc! |
| 1960 | Certains l'aiment... froide as William, Foster Valmorin, l'américain |
| 1959 | Match contre la mort |
| 1959 | La Jument verte as Ferdinand Haudouin |
| 1959 | Babette s'en va-t-en guerre as Schulz |
| 1959 | Pourquoi viens-tu si tard... as Camille, le patron du bistrot |
| 1959 | L'increvable |
| 1959 | Les motards as His Excellency Curacagua |
| 1958 | Totò a Parigi as Il maggiordomo (uncredited) |
| 1958 | Le Petit Prof as Le surveillant général |
| 1958 | À pied, à cheval et en spoutnik |
| 1957 | Tous peuvent me tuer as La Bonbonne |
| 1957 | La Polka des menottes as un voisin |
| 1956 | Honoré de Marseille as Pasquale Marchetti |
| 1956 | La vie est belle as un voisin |
| 1954 | Ah ! Les belles bacchantes as Garibaldo Trouchet, le ténor / Un musicien |
| 1954 | Faites-moi confiance as Nicolas |
| 1953 | Minuit... Quai de Bercy as M. Boulay, l'épicier libidineux |
| 1951 | Une fille à croquer as Gilles |
| 1950 | Ils ont vingt ans as Michel Barbarin |
| 1950 | Tire au flanc as Jean du Bois d'Ombelles |
| 1948 | L'assassin est à l'écoute as Self |
| 1942 | Frédérica as Ami de Gilbert |
Duvar