Death of Michel Blanc: Jean-Claude Dusse, this “loser” character who changed everything for him

Death of Michel Blanc: Jean-Claude Dusse, this “loser” character who changed everything for him
Death of Michel Blanc: Jean-Claude Dusse, this “loser” character who changed everything for him

An essential member of the Splendid troupe, Michel Blanc died at the age of 72.

In 1978, he entered the history of French comedy thanks to the character of Jean-Claude Dusse in “Les Bronzés”.

A clumsy flirt that took him many years to free himself from, like his mustache.

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Death of Michel Blanc, emblematic member of Les Bronzés

It was the role of his life. At the end of 1978, Michel Blanc and the Splendid troupe triumphed on the big screen with The Bronzedthe adaptation of his play Loves, shellfish and crustaceans. Among these average French people on vacation who will make millions of their compatriots laugh, the actor who was then 26 years old plays Jean-Claude Dusse, a clumsy flirt with an unattractive physique. We remember his memorable rakes, a handful of legendary punchlines and a few embarrassing situations. And of course this mustache has entered the history of French cinema.

For its owner, there is a before and an after. Before, it was a handful of supporting roles that went relatively unnoticed by Bertrand Tavernier, Claude Miller or Roman Polanski. After ? “Nothing more, no more news“, he admitted last year on the “C à vous” set on 5. And when we take him on the phone to explain the why and the how, the answer is almost always the same: “Oh well no, we’ll say it’s Jean-Claude Dusse.”

The mustache, almost a curse

Now subscribing to comedies, Michel Blanc suffers in silence from the gaze of the profession. After his role as priest in Grandpa resistshe takes a first step towards a change of status by realizing Walk in the shadea huge box office success that he starred alongside Gérard Lanvin. His character as a hypochondriac complainer is not very far from the one who made him famous. But it gains psychological depth. The mustache is still there.

I kept it because it was a bit part of my little French character.“, he told BFMTV years later. After shaving it after the release of the film, he agreed to have it regrown at the request of Bertrand Blier to Evening wear. In this dramatic comedy that breaks the rules, his character, an ordinary straight man, gives in to the advances of the crook played by Gérard Depardieu.

Thanks to this daring interpretation for the time, Michel Blanc won the acting prize at the Film Festival, tied with the brilliant British actor Bob Hoskins for Mona Lisa by Neil Jordan. From one day to the next, all the barriers fall and the proposals come one after the other. In 1989, Patrice Leconte, his director of Tannedaccompanies this definitive transformation by giving him the role of a misanthropic tailor in the dark Mr Hirea César nomination to boot.

More selective, Michel Blanc then favors the realization with Severe Fatiguewhere he shares the bill with Carole Bouquet and the Troupe du Splendid. On the other hand, he remains behind the camera to direct Daniel Auteuil in the disturbing Bad pass. His acting performances are becoming rarer. But still convincing as in The State Exercisethe political film by Pierre Schoeller where he plays a cabinet director in turmoil. After four nominations, he finally won a César, for supporting actor in 2011.

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In 2006, Michel Blanc agreed to become Jean-Claude Dusse again in Les Bronzés 3: friends for lifea sluggish sequel which will still attract 10 million spectators to theaters. Not only did the actor not let his mustache grow back, but his lack of enthusiasm under his character’s new wig is obvious. In an interview with JDD last year, he mentioned the rumor of a fourth part which would take place in a retirement home.

I won’t take part, it’s over“, he assured. “This is just my opinion, be careful! That would be hitting the wall. First of all, I’m not crazy about three, so four is not possible. At our age, we would seem to be hanging on to the branches. Jean-Claude Dusse, the public has it at will, because the films are constantly on . I am no longer him, neither physically, nor morally, nor artistically. But I’m happy to be called by his name in the street, it doesn’t bother me“.


Jérôme VERMELIN

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