Les Blank (November 27, 1935 – April 7, 2013) was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians.

Life and career

Leslie Harrod Blank Jr. was born November 27, 1935 in Tampa, Florida. He attended

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = M ...

, and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, where he received a B.A. degree in English. He also briefly attended

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. In the early 1960s, Blank studied filmmaking at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $ ...

and received his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. Following his university education, he worked for a production company called Operation Success, making films that he would later describe as "insipid films that promote business and industry." In 1967 he founded his own production company, Flower Films, with the release of ''God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance'', a short colorful document of Los Angeles' Elysian Park Love-in. This was followed by ''The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins'' (1968) and ''The Sun's Gonna Shine'' (1968) about

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

blues musician

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...

. He never went back to work making industrial films and all of his films were independently produced, often with the assistance of grants from cultural agencies, both governmental and non-governmental. Most of his films focused on American traditional music forms, including (among others)

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, Appalachian,

Cajun The Cajuns (; Louisiana French language, French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French people, Louisiana French ethnic group, ethnicity mainly found in the ...

, Creole,

Tex-Mex Tex-Mex cuisine (from the words ''Texan'' and ''Mexican'') is an American cuisine that derives from the culinary creations of the ''Tejano'' people of Texas. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern Unit ...

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The t ...

, tamburitza, and Hawaiian music. Many of these films represent the only filmed documents of musicians who are now deceased. Blank's films focusing on musical subjects often spent much of their running time focusing not on the music itself but on the music's cultural context, portraying the surroundings from which these American roots musics come. Parade boats, Delacroix, Louisiana, 1981 - Les Blank

Parade boats, Delacroix, Louisiana, 1981 - Les Blank

Other notable films on non-musical subjects include a film about garlic and another about gap-toothed women, as well as two films about German film director

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

: '' Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe'' (1980) and '' Burden of Dreams'' (1982), the latter about the filming of Herzog's ''

Fitzcarraldo ''Fitzcarraldo'' () is a 1982 West German epic adventure-drama film written, produced and directed by Werner Herzog, and starring Klaus Kinski as would-be rubber baron, Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman known in Peru as Fitzcarraldo, who ...

''. ''The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists'' (1994) and ''Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella'' (1995) were Blank's last two films using 16mm film. He later worked in digital video. One of his last films, ''

All in This Tea ''All in This Tea'' is a 2007 documentary film co-directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht, about Chinese tea. It follows the American tea connoisseur David Lee Hoffman as he travels to remote tea-growing areas of China. Hoffman attempts to inte ...

'', which was co-directed with his creative partner Gina Leibrecht, was a profile of the western

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acr ...

-based

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

importer and adventurer David Lee Hoffman. In 2014, his last film '' How to Smell a Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock in Normandy'' was completed shortly after his death by Gina Leibrecht, and was a portrait of the co-founder of Direct Cinema, Richard Leacock. In 2007 Blank was awarded the prestigious Edward MacDowell Medal in the Arts. Les's son,

Harrod Blank Harrod Blank (born 1963, in Westminster, California, United States) is an American documentary filmmaker and art car artist living at Berkeley in California. He is the son of Gail, a ceramic artist, and filmmaker Les Blank. His works inclu ...

, has also become a documentary filmmaker. Blank lived in the

Berkeley Hills The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges that overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la ...

and for more than 30 years he was a resident of Berkeley, which celebrated Les Blank Day on Jan 22, 2013. His company, Flower Films, was based in El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California. Blank died of

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is any of several types of cancer arising from the tissues of the urinary bladder. Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain with urination, and low back pain. It is caused when epithelial cells that line the bladder become mal ...

at his Berkeley Hills home on April 7, 2013.

Legacy

Blank was the first documentary filmmaker to earn the

Edward MacDowell Medal The Edward MacDowell Medal is an award which has been given since 1960 to one person annually who has made an outstanding contribution to American culture and the arts. It is given by MacDowell, the first artist residency program in the United Sta ...

in 2007, a national honor given to one artist a year. He was awarded in 1990 the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

's Maya Deren Award for outstanding lifetime achievement as an independent filmmaker. In 2011, the

International Documentary Association International Documentary Association (IDA), founded in 1982, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmm ...

honored Blank with a career achievement award. Two months prior to Blank's death, the

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is the largest documentary festival in North America. The event takes place annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 27th edition of the festival took place online throughout May and June ...

announced that Blank had been accepted to receive its 2013 Outstanding Achievement Award along with a retrospective of his work at the festival, which took place from April 25 to May 5, 2013.

Filmography

*1960 - ''Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off'' *1960–1985 - ''Six Short Films of Les Blank'' *1961, - ''Strike!'' *1962 - ''And Freedom Came?!'' *1965 - ''

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but add ...

'' *1967 - ''Christopher Tree'' *1968 - ''The Blues Accordin' to

'' *1968 - ''God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance'' *1969 - ''The Arch'' *1969 - ''The Sun's Gonna Shine'' *1970 - ''Chicken Real'' *1971 - ''Spend It All'' *1971 - ''A Well Spent Life'' *1973 - ''Dry Wood'' *1973 - ''Hot Pepper'' *1974 - '' A Poem Is a Naked Person'' *1976 - ''

Chulas Fronteras ''Chulas Fronteras'' is a 1976 American documentary film which tells the story of the norteño or conjunto music which is played on both sides of the Mexico– Texas border. It was directed by Les Blank. A CD soundtrack of the music played in ...

''≠ *1978 - ''More Fess'' *1978 - '' Always for Pleasure'' *1979 - ''Del Mero Corazon'' *1980 - '' Poto and Cabengo'' (cinematographer) *1980 - '' Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe'' *1980 - '' Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers''≠ *1982 - '' Burden of Dreams'' *1983 - ''Sprout Wings and Fly'' *1984 - '' In Heaven There Is No Beer?'' *1985 - ''Battle of the Guitars'' *1985 - ''Cigarette Blues'' *1986 - ''

Huey Lewis and the News Huey Lewis and the News are an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually achieving 19 top ten singles across the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Adult Contempo ...

: Be-Fore!'' *1987 - ''Gap-Toothed Women'' *1987 - ''Ziveli! Medicine for the Heart'' *1988 - ''A Blank Buffet'' *1988 - ''

Ry Cooder Ryland Peter "Ry" Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, ...

and the Moula Banda Rhythm Aces'' *1989 - ''The Best of Blank'' *1989 - ''J'ai Été Au Bal / I Went to the Dance'' *1990 - ''Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of

and Creole Cooking'' *1991 - ''Innocents Abroad'' *1991 - ''Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge'' *1991 - ''Marc & Ann'' *1991 - ''Puamana'' *1994 - ''The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists'' *1994 - ''My Old Fiddle: A Visit with

Tommy Jarrell Thomas Jefferson Jarrell (March 1, 1901 – January 28, 1985) was an American fiddler, banjo player, and singer from the Mount Airy region of North Carolina's Appalachian Mountains. Biography He was born in Surry County, North Carolina, United ...

in the Blue Ridge'' *1994 - ''Roots of Rhythm'' (cinematographer) *1995 - ''Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella'' *2005 - ''The Maestro Rides Again'' *2007 - ''

'' (co-directed with Gina Leibrecht) *2014 - ''How to Smell a Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock in Normandy'' (co-directed with Gina Leibrecht) *1974/2015 - ''A Poem Is A Naked Person'' *1967/2015 - ''Thailand Moment'' *2015 - ''Les Blank's Student Films'' ≠

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

inductee (former 1993; latter 2004)

References

External links

Flower Films/Les Blank official site
*

''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'', 9 March 2005 *Courtney Fathom Sel
interviews Les Blank
SouthCoastToday.com, May 7, 2008 * (interview with Les Blank)
''Les Blank’s Cinéma Vitalité''
an essay by Andrew Horton at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blank, Les 1935 births 2013 deaths American documentary filmmakers Deaths from bladder cancer Artists from Berkeley, California People from Tampa, Florida Cinema of the San Francisco Bay Area Tulane University alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni People from El Cerrito, California Deaths from cancer in California

Life and career

Legacy

Archive

Filmography

References

External links