the Splendid troupe pays tribute to Michel Blanc at the Alpe d’Huez festival

The entire room sang in chorus the famous « When will I see you again, wonderful country ? »when Gérard Jugnot and Marie-Anne Chazel invited themselves on stage to accompany them. To open the Alpe d’Huez festival on January 13, the members of the Splendid troupe paid a beautiful tribute to Michel Blanc, their lifelong comrade, who died of a heart attack on October 3 last.

After the broadcast of several images retracing the immense career of the interpreter of Jean-Claude Duss in The Bronzed the two actors spoke to talk about some of their memories shared with him. And as usual, this tribute was not done without the slightest touch of humor. Especially since Marie-Anne Chazel began her speech with a slight slip of the tongue: « I think that Gérard, who was a very discreet, very reserved person… ». His stage companion then exclaimed: « I’m not dead myself ! ».

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“A great dialogue writer”

Gérard Jugnot, who has not failed to keep the memory of Michel Blanc alive since his death, then recalled the good memories of the time when the two actors shared the same classes at the Pasteur high school in Neuilly-sur-Seine. « We were in class together, we were improvising things and the teacher told us: “You two, never together again!”. he joked. He was wrong ! ». Then, the star of Backing singers (2004) showered him with praise: « He was an absolutely brilliant guy, a great dialogue writer. (…) He had no right to do that… But hey, that’s life ».

Michel would have been very surprised, upset, embarrassed, because he was not the type to like tributes

Marie-Anne Chazel

For her part, Marie-Anne Chazel, less talkative and more discreet since the death of her former stage accomplice, explained that « Michel would have been very surprised, upset, embarrassed, because he was not the type to like tributes ». And Gérard Jugnot adds, making the whole assembly laugh, « that he would have been very touched because he hated the mountains, he hated skiing, he hated the sea, the countryside… He only loved the city ». And as luck would have it, the Alpe d’Huez festival, which presents 10 comedies in competition until January 19, is held in the mountain at an altitude of 1,800 meters.

Friends since high school

For the record, Michel Blanc met Gérard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte and Christian Clavier during his high school years in the 1970s. It was at this time that the group of friends decided to join the Splendid theater troupe alongside Josiane Balasko, Marie-Anne Chazel and Bruno Moynot. They will then team up in the three hit films The Bronzed in 1978, 1979 and 2006. Several weeks after the death of the man Marie-Anne Chazel liked to call “Napoléon Bonaparte”, the Splendid troupe published a book of memories retracing their career, on which the actor had worked.