Michel Blanc left us on the night of October 3 to 4, 2024 at the age of 72. The actor suffered allergic shock and the rapid intervention of emergency services was unfortunately not enough. Tributes were numerous following the announcement of his death and the other members of Splendid struggled to hide their disbelief. Michel Blanc, who had no known illness, confided his fear of death during an interview with RTS. “Obviously, I’m not keen on the idea. I confess to you frankly. Then, I’m terribly afraid of being bored afterwardsbecause I get bored easily, so eternity, can you imagine? It’s going to be very long”, he replied jokingly. He then concluded that he does not really believe in life after death but that “it depends on what comes next, but what the churches promise us, well… no, that doesn’t seem very attractive to me and then, well, that’s life… There comes a time when that has to be stops, it’s annoying, I don’t want it to be thereNOW”.
Last April, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Paris Matchthe Splendid troupe had gathered and our colleagues from the magazine who spoke with Christian Clavier spoke of the emotion of this session. “We are inconsolable for the loss of Michel. We realized to what extent we were present in the collective unconscious of the French”first explained the actor on display since yesterday of Never without my therapist with Baptiste Lecaplain. Then continue: “It was heartbreaking because we’re pretty private. We don’t talk about ourselves in the third person. We’re always embarrassed to sign too many autographs or have our photos taken. We have modesty. The French said to themselves, with the death of Michel: ‘They are not eternal… And neither are we.'” If the Splendid abandoned the idea of reforming after the death of Michel Blanc? Negative. “We are not in that state of mind. We are a theater troupe and the show must go on”concluded Christian Clavier with Paris Match.
The Splendid troupe lost one of its members
The Splendid troupe also released their book as planned on November 21 by Editions du Cherche Midi. On the program? “The Splendid saga told by the artists themselves, fifty years after the birth of the troupe. These are the actors of all superlatives: super funny, super cult, super friends for life. For the first time, here they are brought together to tell their story, that of a troupe called ‘Le Splendid’ which, in a few years, saw high school friends rise to the rank of superstars of French comedy…”. In an interview given to our colleagues atHere ParisJean-Pierre Lavoignat, who was responsible for coordinating the work, confided that “the“the history of the group will never be the same again” with the death of Michel Blanc.
