Manny Bianco
From Black Books Wikia
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Manny Bianco, worker in the bookshop Black Books, is the long-suffering assistant of his superior Bernard Black, the drunken, pessimistic owner of the shop. He shares a friendship with Fran Katzenjammer, who secured his job in Black Books.
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[edit] Personality and traits
Manny is a loyal, obedient and friendly ex-accountant who first came to Black Books in search of 'The Little Book of Calm', to try and escape the pressure put on by his job. After accidently consuming 'The Little Book of Calm', which was obsorbed in his system, Manny became one with the world, quoting from the book and bore an amazing resembelance to Jesus Christ. After a group of skinheads punched him, he returned to his original state, however remained calm throughout the series.
Manny was hired by Bernard to work in Black Books, however Bernard was drunk at the time and did not realise he had employed Manny. After Manny proves himself worthy of the job, Bernard still does not want him to work in the shop and fires him. Manny tells Fran what happened, which sent her into a violent rage, and persuaded Bernard, through hitting and shouting at him, to re-hire Manny.
Manny is not as intelligent as Bernard or Fran, sometimes mistaking wine worth £7000 with wine bought from Londis, however he does have various talents that far exceed those of Bernard or Fran. He is a skilled pianist, picking up jazz and classical pieces by ear in five minutes without any previous lessons, and also a skilled artist, drawing a coloured, detailed picture of two children building sandcastles on a beach in a matter of seconds only using a standard HB pencil.
Manny also has a talent for selling books. On one occasion Bernard left the shop, and Manny sold so many books that there are few left in the shop, much to Bernard's annoyance. Manny's presence is vital to both the shop and Bernard's welfare, and once Manny leaves to work in the bookshop next door, Goliath Books, the shop becomes a wreck filled with dead badgers and hermit crabs, and Bernard becomes distraught and extremely unhygenic. In the episode 'Blood', Manny vists the leading bookshop, Saga Books, and gets some ideas for a new makeover for the shop. The shop now serves coffee and muffins, owns a lime green sofa "which eats you" and has an information point. A customer told Manny that he bought £80 worth of books simply because the atmosphere of the shop had persuaded him to "treat himself". However, the shop soon returned to its original state after it had turned into a full-serving restraunt and had given all its customers food poisoning.
Despite being questioned by Bernard, Manny confirmed that he was hetrasexual and that he was just interested in lamps. Despite not having as many attempted relationships as Bernard or Fran, Manny has been more successful in love, meeting a girl called Rowena at a party that could have lead to a sucessful relationship, much to Bernard's envy.
Bernard bullies and insults Manny on a regular basis. He calls him many names including Gandalf, Ming the Merciless, Thor, Hawkwind, Bigfoot, "half Fu-Manchu, half Iago", Genghis Khan, "Customer-Lover" and Lord of the Rings, in reference to Manny's appearance and personality. Despite their frequent agruments, Manny seems to care for Bernard's welfare. However, this love is not shared when Bernard orders Manny to do things, as bizarre as to "hoover the roof", "whistle down the chimmnies" and "de-louse the duvet". Despite his willingness to obey, Manny, after a therapy session, successfully stood up to Bernard, calling him a "silly, little man", and asked "isn't it about time you had a really good scrub".
[edit] Physical appearance
Manny is most famous for his hippy-like appearance. He grows long, brown hair on the back of his head and has a bearded face, described by Fran as a "goatee thing", which is complete with moustache and sideburns. Manny's beard is mainly brown, however on some occasions, has a hint of grey in it. Manny's beard is often the butt of Bernad's jokes and insults. Bernard has said that the only thing that will bring him inner piece is a "beard-seeking missile" and once called Manny "a beard with an idiot hanging off it". Bernard revealed that his hatred of Manny's beard is due to the fact that he "kept finding it everywhere".
Manny's usual dress consists of a hawaiian shirt or a t-shirt, with shorts and sandals, however he can be seen in a pinstripe suit (Bernard refers to it as "the one that gives [Manny] a big arse") or a brown leather jacket. Manny doesn't have much of a variety of clothes, changing from a hawaiian shirt which he called work clothes, to his casual clothes, an identical hawaiin shirt in a different colour.
[edit] Behind the scenes
- Manny is played by comedian and musician Bill Bailey.
- Manny is asthmetic and can be seen breathing through an inhaler when under pressure.
Manny in "Big and Beardy" - Manny's original surname was Zimmerman, a reference to Bob Dylan's original surname.
- In an early draft of the show, Manny's role was much darker, revolving around his attempts to commit suicide.
- Manny appeared in a gay Japanese magazine, called "大きくてひげづら", or in English, "Big and Beardy".
- Manny has a condition known as "Dave syndrome", which causes him to go insane when his body temperature reaches 88°C. This was revealed in 'Fever', when Bernard tricked Manny into opening an oven door, which triggered his condition and caused him to knock out a customer and shove a book in his mouth, destroy an icecream stand, write "Eat Me" on his chest and wear only a hot water bottle around his groin area.
- In 'Manny's First Day', Fran and Manny act as if they have not met, however they did meet in the pilot episode.
[edit] Name etymology
- Manny's first name comes from Emmanuel, as the character was originally going to be Jewish.
- Manny's surname came from the town of Bianco, famous for wine producing, a reference to Bernard, Manny and Fran's love of wine.
[edit] External Links
[1] Manny Bianco's Character Profile on IMDb
[2] Manny Bianco on Wikipedia
