Blanchard got his start in theatre in a production of
MacBeth in 1957 and his first big break on the small screen when he appeared on the children's variety show
Breakfast-a-Go-Go in 1969 as 'Witless Wonder', the comedic sidekick of new host Sue Smith. In 1972 he appeared as a guest star on the soap opera
Number 96 and on the comedy series
Snake Gully with Dad and Dave. He continued working on-and-off for the next several years and, in 1976, Blanchard landed the part of the villainous Quell on the children's adventure series
The Lost Islands. As one of the show's main antagonists, the series provided his breakout role. As well as appearing on
The Outsiders, in the same year he also made his film debut with a supporting role in
Caddie. He followed this with appearances on
The Garry McDonald Show (1977), ''
Alexander Bunyip's Billabong (1978), Doctor Down Under'' (1979) and, most notably, co-starring with
Paul Chubb in the children's science fiction series
Watch This Space (1982). He began to work more regularly during the early 1980s and had parts in the television movie
Chase Through the Night (1983), miniseries
The Last Bastion (1984) and films
Silver City (1984),
Warming Up (1985) and
Burke & Wills (1985). In January 1986, he joined former co-star
Paul Chubb and Perry Quinton in a pantomime called
Humpty Dumpty. It featured the fictional characters of the
Harry and Ralph Show at the Footbridge Theatre. In the same year, he starred in yet another children's television series, the popular but short-lived ''
Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin. After a supporting role in the thriller film Dark Age (1987), he returned to television acting with guest appearances in Mother and Son (1988), True Believers (1988) and G.P. (1991). That same year, he also had a minor role in the action film Gotcha'' (1991). Beginning in 1992, Blanchard had a recurring role as Lenny Sawyer on the television series
A Country Practice. His last regular acting role was in the film
Country Life (1994), although he made appearances in the television movie
Hart to Hart: Harts in High Season (1996) and the romance film
Oscar and Lucinda (1997). For the past 12 years, he has been travelling the world playing the role of an English butler for the famous Swedish illusionist
Joe Labero. ==Selected filmography==