Francis Blanche

Biography

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 episod…

Movies & TV Shows

1. Belle de Jour (1967) — Mr. Adolphe
2. Crooks in Clover (1963) — Maître Folace
3. The Great Spy Chase (1964) — Boris Vassiliev
4. The Black Tulip (1964) — Plantin
5. Thank Heaven for Small Favors (1963) — Chief Insp. Cucherat
6. The Seventh Juror (1962) — Le procureur général
7. Dandelions by the Roots (1964) — Absalon
8. The Big Wash (1968) — Doctor Loupioc
9. Peek-a-boo (1954) — Garibaldo Trouchet, le ténor / Un musicien
10. The Big Scare (1964)
11. Babette Goes to War (1959) — Schulz
12. Male Hunt (1964) — Nino Papatakis
13. The Green Mare (1959) — Ferdinand Haudouin
14. People in Luck (1963) — M. Bricheton (segment "Le Repas gastronomique")
15. The Oldest Profession (1967) — The Doctor (segment "Aujourd'hui")
16. Toto in Paris (1958) — Il maggiordomo (uncredited)
17. The Eroticist (1972) — padre Scirer
18. No Pockets in a Shroud (1974) — Nathaël Grissom
19. Loose in the Trigger (1967) — La Prudence
20. The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (1964) — Mr. Humlaupt (segment "L'Homme qui vendit la tour Eiffel")
21. Some Like It... Cold (1960) — William Foster Valmorin, American
22. Erotissimo (1969) — Le polyvalent
23. The Big Grasshopper (1967) — Gédéon
24. Rita the Field Marshal (1967) — Captain Hans Vogel
25. Order of the Daisy (1967) — L'inspecteur Maurice Leloup
26. The Edifying and Joyous Story of Colinot (1973) — Wanderer
27. The Great Java (1971) — Auguste Kougloff / Augustin Colombani
28. The Men in the Family (1968) — Strumberger
29. The Stud (1970) — Tax collector Dupuis
30. Champagne for Savages (1964) — Francis
31. Love and the Frenchwoman (1960) — Me Marcerou, avocat et ami du couple (segment "Le Divorce")
32. Romulus and the Sabines (1961) — Mezio
33. France, Incorporated (1974) — Pierre, the perverted financier
34. Sweet and Sour (1963) — Franz
35. The Virgins (1963) — Mr. De Brétevielle
36. Too Late to Love (1959) — Camille, le patron du bistrot
37. The Great Gadget (1967) — Copec
38. Honoré de Marseille (1956) — Pasquale Marchetti
39. Salut Berthe ! (1968) — Passerby with the pipe (uncredited)
40. Hitch-Hike (1962) — le douanier belge

Directed

1. Tartarin de Tarascon (1962) — Director