“One of the best things about having Tony Leblanc as a father is having been able to enjoy a profession like his, so wonderful. It has been a privilege. I made films as a child. I did not continue with that profession because it was inevitable that They will compare me to him.” Tony Leblanc Jr. inherited his father’s comic potential, although he did not fully exploit it because his father was one of the legends of Spanish cinema and he was afraid of not being up to the task.
“My father would get angry, because he believed in my acting and artistic abilities. I am part of that majority that excessive responsibility reduces confidence. The opposite is true for real artists. The truth is that, in the end, I have always enjoyed more being in the background, being his right hand. With anonymity I have felt more comfortable ”, he explained in an interview given last year to Vanitatis Leblanc Jr., who died yesterday in Alicante at the age of 71.
Despite the respect that the father figure imposed on him, Tony, one of the eight children that Leblanc had with his wife, Isabel Páez de la Torre, made his first steps in the cinema and in the theater, he also worked as a comedian, participated in programs television when audiences were still massive, he was a scriptwriter and composer of pasodobles.
He made his film debut as a child hand in hand with his father in the film Los ángeles del volante (Ignacio F. Iquino, 1957) where a group of taxi drivers told anecdotes about their trade. In addition to Leblanc, the film had the participation of other great stars of the time, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Jose Luis Ozores, José Isbert and Manolo Morán.
And at the age of nine he went back in front of the cameras, this time to act under the orders of his father, who directed and starred in El pobre García (1961), a comedy in which Leblanc Sr. carried out various trades, barber, shoe shine or guide. Museo del Prado, to the despair of his girlfriend who was given life by none other than Lina Morgan. The film was again full of stars: Manolo Gómez Bur, José María Rodero, Rafael Durán and Manolo Morán.
One of the things that Tony Leblanc Jr. always thanked his father for was that childhood surrounded by comedians who were also good friends, such as Fernando Fernán Gómez, Paco Rabal or Fernando Rey, because “it helped us learn the value of friendship.” The other great value that the father transmitted to his children was the importance of the family: “We grew up surrounded by affection and love.”
As an adult, Leblanc Jr. participated in plays, comedy shows and in the New Year’s Eve television specials on Tuesday and Thirteen. Santiago Segura brought him back for the movies in 2011 and gave him a role in Torrente 4: Lethal Crisis. The collaboration between Segura and Leblanc Jr. continued in the next installment of the scurrilous police series, Torrente 5: Operación Eurovegas (2014). In his last years, Tony Leblanc Jr. was dedicated to spreading the legacy of his beloved and admired father.
