The actor Michel Blanc died on the night of Thursday October 3 to Friday October 4, 2024. The causes of his death at the age of 72 have been clarified.
1:02 p.m. – The Splendid troupe expresses “its immense pain”
The Splendid troupe published a press release this afternoon sent to AFP in reaction to the death of Michel Blanc. They say they “come together with one voice to express their immense pain following the death of their friend and companion”. They thank “all your expressions of support and friendship” but ask that their “silence and contemplation” be respected.
12:30 – Anaphylactic shock caused the death of Michel Blanc
BFM TV has just given more details on the death of Michel Blanc, after announcing that he died of a heart attack. This would have been caused by anaphylactic shock, according to our colleagues. He would have in fact had an allergic reaction to a contrast product used during a medical examination, which would have taken the form of Quincke’s edema (swelling of the skin and mucous membranes of the head and neck). When the rescuers arrived, Michel Blanc was already in cardiac arrest and died at 11 p.m., again according to the 24-hour news channel.
12:02 – Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to a “monument of French cinema”
Many political figures spoke on social networks this Friday morning to pay tribute to Michel Blanc. Among them, the President of the Republic praised the memory of the French actor on the social network X: “He made us cry with laughter and moved us to tears,” wrote Emmanuel Macron. “Monument of French cinema, Michel Blanc has passed away. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and his gambling accomplices.”
11:30 – Michel Blanc didn’t want death “to be here now”
In 2019, Michel Blanc spoke about his relationship with death in an interview with Darius Rochebin, on RTS. With humor, he said to himself “not very enthusiastic about the idea [de mourir]”. “I’m so afraid of being bored afterwards because I get bored easily. And eternity, you imagine…”, he first confided, before adding that he did not believe in life after death: “Life is good. There comes a time when it has to stop. But it’s annoying, I don’t want it to be there at all, right now.”
11:14 – Pierre Niney remembers “an immense actor, funny and deep, simple and touching”
Pierre Niney played Michel Blanc’s son in the film Our 18th birthday. This is the actor’s first film role. Count of Monte-Cristo. This Friday morning, the actor remembered his collaboration with “an immense actor, funny, and deep, simple and touching. His kindness and his talent impressed me so much during my first film shoot, I had 18 years old, I played his son. I knew I wanted to be an actor thanks to this kind of encounter.
11:03 – Patrice Leconte “can’t imagine that he’s no longer there”
It is the trembling voice that director Patrice Leconte (The Bronzed notably) reacted to the death of Michel Blanc on RTL this Friday morning. “I can’t imagine that he’s no longer here,” he said, expressing himself in “a kind of incomprehension.” “What I’m going to miss the most is his presence. When someone disappears, especially when it’s sudden, we’re distraught. I say to myself: ‘how is it possible that Michel Blanc is no longer there? ‘ I don’t want to believe it.”
10:49 – Terrified of death, Michel Blanc defined himself as a hypochondriac
In 2010, Michel Blanc wrote the screenplay and starred in A small area of turbulencein which he plays a hypochondriac. In an interview with Le Figaro in 2010, the French actor defined himself as excessively worried about his health: “For a very small pain, or a new redness, I consult! I always imagine the worst. There is the fear of death behind,” he explained, before revealing that he was born with a heart murmur and was pampered by his parents during his childhood.
10:21 – An award-winning actor, but not just for comedies!
It would be unfair to reduce the very prolific and eclectic career of Michel Blanc to Tanned. The actor who died last night at the age of 72 played in more than 70 films, both comedies but also dramas or more serious roles. He has also won several awards as an actor first: a prize for male interpretation at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986 for Evening wearthe César for best supporting actor in 2012 for The State Exercisebut also an anniversary César with the Splendid troupe, in 2021. Also a director and screenwriter, in 1994 he received the screenplay prize at the Cannes Festival for Very tired, as well as a Molière of the adapter in 2004 for Love is a bastard’s child.
10:04 – “This morning, the pain is immense” for Rachida Dati
The Minister of Culture Rachida Dati also spoke on social networks to pay tribute to Michel Blanc, who died last night at the age of 72. “This morning the pain is immense, commensurate with his talent,” she wrote on his acting, but also by his talents as a director with films like “Marche à l’ombre” or “Grosse fatigue”. Cinema, the world of culture and all French people will not forget him. “
09:45 – Josiane Balasko pays tribute to “her brother”
The awakening was extremely brutal this Friday morning for the members of the Splendid troupe. After a first hot reaction from Gérard Jugnot on Instagram, it’s Josiane Balasko’s turn to pay tribute to Michel Blanc on social networks. On her Instagram account, accompanied by a photo of the actor, she wrote a sober: “Michel, my friend, my brother, my partner”.
09:32 – Unforgettable Jean-Claude Dusse in “Les Bronzés”
Michel Blanc has had a long career on stage and in the cinema, having appeared in no less than 70 films since the 1970s. But it is for his role as Jean-Claude Dusse in the trilogy of Tanned that he is probably the best known to the general public. It must be said that the unlucky character is particularly tasty: who doesn’t remember the scene where the character gets stuck all night on the cable car in the second episode? To the JDD in 2023, however, he conceded that he “no longer is Jean-Claude Dusse”: “I am no longer him physically, morally, or artistically. But I am delighted to be called by his name in the street, that Don’t bother me.”
09:15 – Gérard Jugnot reacts to the death of Michel Blanc
Gérard Jugnot was the first member of the Splendid troupe to react to the death of Michel Blanc. In a story published during the night from Thursday to Friday on his Instagram account, the actor who gave him the answer in The Bronzed wrote “Damn Michel… What did you do to us…”.
09:05 – Michel Blanc died following a heart attack
It was first of all those close to Michel Blanc who announced the death of the French actor to Paris-Match, without specifying the causes of his death. But BFM TV clarified this Friday morning that the 72-year-old actor passed away following a heart attack on Thursday, October 3, citing his press officer.
08:58 – Michel Blanc died at the age of 72
Sad news came to wake up fans of French comedies this Friday, October 4. The actor Michel Blanc, unforgettable Jean-Claude Dusse in The Bronzed and its aftermath, died on the night of October 3 to 4, 2024 at the age of 72, Paris Match first told us, citing his loved ones. According to information from BFM TV which cites its press officer, he died of a heart attack which occurred on Thursday evening.
