Thierry Lhermitte has a heavy heart. The interpreter of Popeye in The Bronzed spoke about the death of Michel Blanc on October 3 on the occasion of the release of the book for the 50th anniversary of the Splendid troupe, The Splendid on the Splendid (Ed. Le Cherche Midi). In addition to a few tributes on social networks and following the funeral of Michel Blanc last month, the collective of actors, of which the two actors were part, remained fairly discreet after this tragic announcement.
But for Thierry Lhermitte, it was obvious. “We didn’t want to. We are not forced to share our pain. I don’t feel any obligation of any kind, especially in the heat of the moment,” he told Le Parisien in an interview published this weekend. The actor still opened up about his feelings after the disappearance of the interpreter of Jean-Claude Dusse, who died at the age of 72 following anaphylactic shock. The members of Splendid then worked on writing the work on the collective, to which they contributed testimonies.
“Love letters”
“At first, I only read what I had written to check the bullshit. The day Michel died, I didn't sleep, I read everything he had written, it upset me,” he confided. “And then I read what everyone had done and it was so cool. […] I found the texts so warm […] They are love letters that we write to each other.”
The actor nevertheless regrets not knowing if Michel Blanc had time to enjoy this tender collection before his departure. “What I said to Michel in it was recorded a month before his death, I was happy with the idea that he would discover it, but he must not have had the time to read it,” lamented Thierry Lhermitte. “The good to go [dernière étape avant une impression]it was three days before his disappearance. Has he read everything? I don’t know.” Fans of the troupe, who also made many spectators laugh with Santa Claus is trash in 1982, will in turn be able to benefit from these touching words from November 21.
