Home

Les Blank (1935-2013)

Alias:
Leslie Harrod Blank Jr.

Birthplace:
Tampa, Florida, USA

Born:
November 27, 1935

Died:
April 7, 2013

Biography from TheMovieDB

Les Blank was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians.

Click the heading above to show or hide the text.

Additional information:

The Search Form


Film Performances

Click the heading above to show or hide the list.

Film Production

"B" Camera Operator:
1969  String Sounds

Additional Editor:
1969  String Sounds
1979  Del mero corazón

Camera Operator:
1968  New Sounds in Music
1969  String Sounds
1979  Del mero corazón
1985  Cigarette Blues
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1994  Hole in the Soul

Cinematography:
1968  New Sounds in Music
1969  String Sounds
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1985  Cigarette Blues
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1994  Hole in the Soul

Director:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment

Director of Photography:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1964  Pleasure Faire
1965  Seven Second Love Affair
1967  Christopher Tree
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Poto and Cabengo
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment
2019  Tattoo Uprising

Editor:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1964  Pleasure Faire
1965  Seven Second Love Affair
1967  Christopher Tree
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Arch
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  Delusion of the Fury: A Ritual of Dream and Delusion
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Poto and Cabengo
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2010  Treasure of the Lisu
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment
2019  Tattoo Uprising

Producer:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1964  Pleasure Faire
1965  Seven Second Love Affair
1967  Christopher Tree
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Arch
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  Delusion of the Fury: A Ritual of Dream and Delusion
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Poto and Cabengo
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  In the Land of the Owl Turds
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2010  Treasure of the Lisu
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment
2019  Tattoo Uprising

Story Consultant:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1964  Pleasure Faire
1965  Seven Second Love Affair
1967  Christopher Tree
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Arch
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  Delusion of the Fury: A Ritual of Dream and Delusion
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Poto and Cabengo
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  In the Land of the Owl Turds
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2010  Treasure of the Lisu
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment
2019  Tattoo Uprising

Thanks:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1964  Pleasure Faire
1965  Seven Second Love Affair
1967  Christopher Tree
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Arch
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  Delusion of the Fury: A Ritual of Dream and Delusion
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Poto and Cabengo
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1982  Fitzcarraldo
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  In the Land of the Owl Turds
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2010  Treasure of the Lisu
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment
2019  Tattoo Uprising

Writer:
1960  Running Around Like a Chicken With Its Head Cut Off
1961  Strike!
1962  And Freedom Came?!
1962  Softball Umpire
1964  Dizzy Gillespie
1964  Pleasure Faire
1965  Seven Second Love Affair
1967  Christopher Tree
1968  God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance
1968  Lightnin' Les
1968  New Sounds in Music
1968  The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins
1969  Mr. Charlie, Your Rollin’ Mill Is Burnin’ Down
1969  String Sounds
1969  The Arch
1969  The Sun's Gonna Shine
1970  Chicken Real
1971  A Well Spent Life
1971  Delusion of the Fury: A Ritual of Dream and Delusion
1971  The Ways of Water
1972  Spend It All
1973  Dry Wood
1973  Hot Pepper
1974  A Poem Is a Naked Person
1976  Chulas Fronteras
1978  Always for Pleasure
1979  Del mero corazón
1980  Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers
1980  Poto and Cabengo
1980  Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe
1982  Burden of Dreams
1982  Fitzcarraldo
1983  Sprout Wings and Fly
1984  In Heaven There Is No Beer?
1985  Cigarette Blues
1985  Six Short Films of Les Blank (1960-1985)
1987  Gap-Toothed Women
1987  Huey Lewis and the News: Before!
1987  In the Land of the Owl Turds
1987  Živeli! Medicine for the Heart
1988  Ry Cooder & The Moula Banda Rhythm Aces: Let's Have a Ball
1989  I Went to the Dance
1990  Yum, Yum, Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking of Louisiana
1991  Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991  Innocents Abroad
1991  Julie: Old Time Tales of the Blue Ridge
1991  Marc and Ann
1991  Puamana
1994  Hole in the Soul
1994  My Old Fiddle: A Visit with Tommy Jarrell in the Blue Ridge
1995  Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella
1995  The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists
2005  The Maestro Rides Again
2006  Lagniappe
2007  All In This Tea
2010  Treasure of the Lisu
2014  How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
2015  Thailand Moment
2019  Tattoo Uprising

Click the heading above to show or hide the list.

TV Performances

Click the heading above to show or hide the list.

About the Movie Section

Most data and links to images for the Movies section come from TheMovieDB (TMDB).

Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.

Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)

While much of the above data are retrieved directly from outside APIs and other such sources, data from American Film Institute (AFI) and British Film Institute (BFI) were manually entered the old fashioned way into a MySQL database. Re BFI I took the following liberties:

  • I added "runners up" to Top 10 lists, treating them as ties where applicable and numbering them accordingly at the bottom of each list.
  • Regarding those polls wherein "franchise" movies were submitted as one project until BFI's policy changed to regard them separately, I treated them as ties and renumbered the affected lists accordingly (e.g. the Godfather films).

Regarding profile removals and data corrections:

  • If you would like your profile removed from this site, please contact the source of this data directly, TheMovieDB. My assumption is: once it's gone from their site, it should soon be gone from this site.
  • If you would like to correct movie data on this site, please contact the source of this data directly, TheMovieDB. My assumption is: once it's corrected on their site, it should soon be corrected on this site.
  • For additional corrections and profile removals, please e-mail The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).

Whereas the overall purpose of this website is to serve as a personal demo/portfolio/workshop of web and data skills, this Movies section is not meant to compete with or substitute for far more definitive movie websites.

Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.