Françoise Blanchard

Françoise Blanchard is a French actress known for her role in Jean Rollin's 1982 horror film La Morte Vivante (The Living Dead Girl).^[1] Her other film credits include Les Trottoirs de Bangkok (The Sidewalks of Bangkok) and La Nuit des Horloges (The Night of Clocks), both films also from Jean Rollin.

Career

Françoise Blanchard is an intelligent, charming and talented actress, she has brought something special to every role she has played. Her career has stretched from between the late 70's until the early 90's, she is probably best known for playing Catherine Valmont in 1982 horror La Morte Vivante (The Living Dead Girl), a film from Jean Rollin.

Françoise has also been in films from directors Jess Franco and Bruno Mattei. Françoise recalled her career in an interview, which was featured on the Encore release of La Morte Vivante, she mentioned that it was a tragedy and a coincidence that started her career in the late 70's. While trying to make ends meet as a hand model, she lost her brother in the late 70's. Around that same time she was offered her first role, coincidentally as someone who had also lost a family member. Françoise approached the part sceptically as she remembered that at that time she was, "aggressive against people but also a bit confused" due to the death of her brother. She enjoyed the experience and took a serious interest in acting, so decided to take acting lessons afterwards.

Françoise was soon involved in several B movies when her career quickly became intertwined with the legendary Eurocine company. "I liked the feel of these B movies, especially horror", Françoise noted to Encore, which perhaps explains why she became so popular to several of the most noteworthy genre directors of the late 70's. She also mentioned that she didn't mind nudity and even went so far as to pose for Lui Magazine in the early 80's. After several films for the likes of directors like Pierre Chevalier , Françoise hit exploitation paydirt with her rather unforgettable role in Bruno Mattei's sleazy but entertaining Caligula and Messalina in 1981. The following year she appeared in Jess Franco's confused but interesting Revenge In The House Of Usher, and she liked Franco and admired his creativity and fire.

After another sleaze epic with Mattei, Françoise shot the fantastic La Morte Vivante with Jean Rollin. Françoise is extremely good in the film and delivers one of the most powerful performance in Rollin's canon. The night shoot on the film was mostly difficult and there were many problems with the special effects but, despite some disagreements, she liked and admired Rollin and admitted to Encore that, "he is really nice and is very much there". Françoise also enjoyed working with and admired her co-star in the film, Italian actress Marina Pierro, and noted, "she is very maternal with me." Françoise worked again with Rollin in Les Trottoirs De Bangkok (The Sidewalks Of Bangkok), a film which she had a lot of fun making, and she appeared in his newest film production La Nuit Des Horloges (The Night of Clocks) opposite Ovidie.

Still a lovely lady, Françoise Blanchard's contributions to Jean Rollin's filmography should not be undervalued.^[2]

Filmography

References

External links

• Francoise Blanchard at the Internet Movie Database