His friends from Splendid, Brigitte Macron, Rachida Dati and a thousand fans came to pay a final tribute to the “anxious clown” on Thursday in Paris, during the funeral of actor Michel Blanc, who died suddenly at the age of 72.
The ceremony, led by parish priest Yves Trocheris, began around 4:05 p.m. in the Saint-Eustache church, located in the heart of the city where the actor resided, noted AFP. Personalities participate: his friends from Splendid including Gérard Jugnot and Josiane Balasko, Brigitte Macron, the actors and directors Jean-Paul Rouve and Isabelle Mergault, who directed her first film, “Je vous très beau” (2005), with Michel White in the main role, or the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.
Outside, hundreds of anonymous people and admirers have gathered in front of the gates which demarcate a security perimeter. Many of them managed to force their way into the crowded church pews. Those who failed can follow the ceremony thanks to a sound broadcast on the square.
“He was a simple man who never got a big head, who we could have invited to our table at home,” says Monique Picard, 72, who praises the actor’s “extraordinary cinematography,” including “Les Bronzés” which she watches when she has “a bout of the blues”. “He’s a person who made us laugh, we watched all his films. We are there out of curiosity and admiration and to pay homage to him,” confides Jean, 74, who did not wish to give his name. Winks punctuate this popular and open tribute, like the actor: the mass libretto includes a cult line from Michel Blanc – “I feel that I am going to conclude” – and, at the back of the church, a man appears in winter sports outfit, skis included, a reference to the second part of “Bronzés”.
A major actor in comedic cinema in the 1980s before moving towards dramatic roles and a career as a director, Michel Blanc suffered a heart attack during the night from Thursday to Friday and was transported to a Parisian hospital where he died. According to his entourage, the actor was the victim of anaphylactic shock, a rare but violent allergic reaction to a food, a drug or venom, which can lead to death in a few minutes. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office told AFP that it was not aware of his death.
The death of the eternal Jean-Claude Dusse, this character as exasperating as he is touching who for a time confined Michel Blanc in the roles of hypochondriac or clumsy, has sparked a shower of tributes.
The first of the Splendid troupe to leave, his former comrades Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot, Josiane Balasko, Thierry Lhermitte, Marie-Anne Chazel and Bruno Moynot expressed “with one voice” their “immense pain”. All seven of them posed again in April for the weekly “Paris Match”, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the troupe which was formed at the high school. Upon the announcement of his death, the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, spoke of the loss of a “monument of French cinema”, while the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, estimated that “we (had) all a little bit of Michel Blanc in us.”
