Ron Blanchard

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Ron Blanchard
Occupation Film and television actor
Years active 1972-1997

Ron Blanchard is an Australian film and television actor. He is best known for his starring roles in five popular children's television series Breakfast-a-Go-Go, The Lost Islands, Alexander Bunyip's Billabong, Watch This Space and Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin. A well-known character actor, Blanchard has had numerous appearances in film and on television series from the 1970s up until the late 1990s, most especially, his recurring role as Norman Leonard "Lenny" Sawyer on A Country Practice.

Biography

Blanchard got his first big break when he appeared on the children's variety show Breakfast-a-Go-Go in 1969 as "Witless Wonder", the comedic sidekick of new host Sue Smith. In 1972, he made his television acting debut as a guest star on the soap opera Number 96 and on the comedy series Snake Gully with Dad and Dave. He continued working on-and-off for the next several years and, in 1976, Blanchard landed the part of the villainous Quell on the children's adventure series The Lost Islands. As one of the show's main antagonists, the series provided his breakout role.

As well as appearing on The Outsiders, in the same year he also made his film debut with a supporting role in Caddie.[1][2][3][4] He followed this with appearances on The Garry McDonald Show (1977), Alexander Bunyip's Billabong (1978),[5] Doctor Down Under (1979) and, most notably, co-starring with Paul Chubb in the children's science fiction series Watch This Space (1982). He began to work more regularly during the early 1980s and had parts in the television movie Chase Through the Night (1983), television miniseries The Last Bastion (1984) [6] and films Silver City (1984),[7] Warming Up (1985) and Burke & Wills (1985).[1][8]

In January 1986, he joined former co-star Paul Chubb and Perry Quinton in a children's pantomime called Humpty Dumpty. It featured the fictional characters of the Harry and Ralph Show at the Footbridge Theatre.[9] In the same year, he starred in yet another children's television series, the popular but short-lived Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin. After a supporting role in the thriller film Dark Age (1987),[10] he returned to television acting with guest appearances in Mother and Son (1988), True Believers (1988) and G.P. (1991). That same year, he also had a minor role in the action film Gotcha (1991).

Beginning in 1992, Blanchard had a recurring role as Lenny Sawyer on the television series A Country Practice. His last regular acting role was in the film Country Life (1994),[11] although he made appearances in the television movie Hart to Hart: Harts in High Season (1996) and the romance film Oscar and Lucinda (1997).[1][12]

For the past 12 years he's been traveling the world playing the role of an English butler for the famous Swedish illusionist Joe Labero.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 All Movie Guide (2009). "Ron Blanchard filmography". Movies & TV. New York Times. 
  2. ↑ Canby, Vincent (1981-02-08). "'Caddie,' An Australian Woman On Her Own". Cultural Desk. New York Times. 
  3. ↑ Reade, Eric. History and Heartburn: The Saga of Australian Film, 1896-1978. Sydney: Harper & Rowe, 1981. (pg. 248) ISBN 0-8386-3082-0
  4. ↑ Daily Variety. Variety's Film Reviews: 1975-1977. New York: R.R. Bowker, 1983. ISBN 0-8352-2794-4
  5. ↑ Library Association of Australia. "Item notes." Orca. Vol. 15-16. (1979): 44+.
  6. ↑ Willis, John. Screen World 1986 Film Annual. Vol. 37. New York: Random House, 1986. (pg. 171) ISBN 0-517-56257-X
  7. ↑ Maslin, Janet (1985-05-17). "Screen: Australia's 'Silver City'". Weekend Desk. New York Times. 
  8. ↑ Murray, Scott and Raffaele Caputo. Australian Film, 1978-1992: A Survey of Theatrical Features. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1993. (pg. 153, 165, 179) ISBN 0-19-553584-7
  9. ↑ "Kids' Theatre". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 Jan 1986.
  10. ↑ Lentz, Harris M. Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1994. (pg. 396) ISBN 0-89950-927-4
  11. ↑ Ebert, Roger. Roger Ebert's Video Companion. 13th ed. Kansas City: Andrews & McMeel, 1997. (pg. 173) ISBN 0-8362-3688-2
  12. ↑ Willis, John. Screen World 1998 Film Annual. Vol. 49. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 1999. (pg. 257) ISBN 1-55783-342-7

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