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.
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.
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.[citation needed] Blanche was also renowned for broadcasting phone pranks, in which he entertained listeners by making the most improbable situations sound plausible.[citation needed]
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).[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
francis, blanche, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, october, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Francis Blanche news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Francois 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 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Death and burial 4 Selected filmography 5 Selected discography 6 References 7 External linksEarly life EditBlanche 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 Career EditIn the 1940s and 1950s Blanche was part of Robert Dhery s theatrical company Les Branquignols with whom he played in the film Ah Les belles bacchantes starring Robert Dhery Colette Brosset Dhery s then wife and Louis de Funes directed by Jean Loubignac in 1954 citation needed Blanche teamed up with Pierre Dac to form a comic duo best remembered for Le Sar 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 Signe Furax enjoying no less than 1 034 daily episodes between 1956 and 1960 Both broadcasts were phenomenal audience successes in the pre television era citation needed Blanche was also renowned for broadcasting phone pranks in which he entertained listeners by making the most improbable situations sound plausible citation needed He wrote poems and the lyrics of 673 songs citation needed On stage he acted in Tartuffe and Neron and in 1955 Chevalier du Ciel an operetta by Luis Mariano at the Gaite Lyrique theatre citation needed Blanche also enjoyed a successful cinematographic career both as an actor and scriptwriter He appeared as a hard headed German colonel Obersturmfuhrer 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 Maitre Folace a shady solicitor counselling a colourful gangster mob in Les Tontons flingueurs 1963 Blanche also appeared in Boris Vassilief s Les Barbouzes 1964 citation needed He delighted in parodying classical music adapting famous works such as Schubert s Die Forelle The Trout into a crazy and slightly risque 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 Jeremie Victor Opdebec citation needed Death and burial EditBlanche died at the age of 52 from a heart attack with a background of untreated Type 1 diabetes citation needed He is buried in Eze cemetery citation needed Selected filmography EditFrederica 1942 Good Enough to Eat 1951 Ah Les belles bacchantes 1954 Anyone Can Kill Me 1957 The Green Mare 1959 Babette Goes to War 1959 The Indestructible 1959 Operation Gold Ingot 1962 The Seventh Juror 1962 Girl on the Road 1962 Un drole de paroissien 1963 Les Tontons flingueurs 1963 Jealous as a Tiger 1964 The Gorillas 1964 The Black Tulip 1964 Belle de Jour 1966 The Senator Likes Women 1972 The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot 1973 La derniere bourree a Paris 1973 Un linceul n a pas de poches 1974 Selected discography EditBlanche released several albums 1 References Edit Francis Blanche Discography discogs com 2016 Retrieved 24 October 2016 External links Edit Biography portalFrancis Blanche at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Francis Blanche amp oldid 1091204296, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
