Les Blank Biography

Main

Biography
Awards
Filmography

A theater student at Tulane University and a communications major at U.S.C.-Los Angeles, Les Blank became a professional filmmaker at the age of 29, when he co-directed the documentary featurette Dizzy Gillespie. Blank has since articulated his fascination with music, food, and ethnic culture in a series of offbeat full-length documentaries, bearing such titles as Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (1979) and In Heaven There Is No Beer? (1984). After completing 1981's Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, Blank followed Herzog to South America. It was here that Blank assembled his most famous film, Burden of Dreams (1982), a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Herzog's Fitzcarraldo. Making a rare foray into television in 1983, Blank directed the free-wheeling adaptation of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad. The subject of numerous major museum retrospectives, Les Blank has been honored with the Maya Deren Life Achievement Award. - Hal Erickson, Rovi

See all Les Blank films

Netflix - Try for Free

Instantly watch TV episodes and movies via the Internet on your computer or TV. 1 month FREE!

SlashControl

Couch potatoes, rejoice! Choose from a library of 1000s of free movies and watch them online, anytime -- all at the brand-new SlashControl.

Watch Free Movies and TV Shows Online

Plus, check out: