The youngest of 12 children in an east-end Montreal family, Blanchet literally served the stars as he worked his way to the stage. He was a waiter at the nightclub Au Faisan Doré and mingled with Charles Aznavour, Monique Leyrac, Jacques Normand and others. He won a songwriting contest on radio station CKAC and, some time later, went to Paris to seek his fortune. But it was his song, Le ciel se marie avec la mer, the grand prize winner in the first concours de la chanson canadienne, sponsored by la Société Radio-Canada in 1957, that really made his name. But he was no one-song wonder. He went on to write almost 400 songs and was a founding member of the popular troupe, Les Bozos. He was a huge star in the USSR, touring in that country several times. Blanchet passed away in 1981.
