It’s been announced that director Blake Edwards has died due to complications from pheumonia, aged 88. Most famed for creating the Pink Panther series of film, as well as for being Julie Andrews husband, his career also included classics such as Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Operation Petticoat and Days Of Wine And Roses.
Born William Blake Crump in 1922, he had showbusiness in his blood, as his father was a stage director and his grandfather a silent-movie director. He started out writing and acting on the radio, before moving to the small screen and creating the popular series Peter Gunn, about a PI who loves jazz.
By the mid 50s he had moved into film, making the likes of Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. In 1960 he helmed Breakfast At Tiffany’s, which has become one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time. However perhaps his most enduring creation came in 1963, when he teamed with Peter Sellers and created and directed The Pink Panther. It was a franchise he never left, helming the numerous sequels, right up to Son Of The Pink Panther in 1993.
Following other hits in the 60s such as The Party, he met Julie Andrews and the two married in 1969. The two worked together several times, starting with Darling Lili in 1970, which was an attempt to give Andrews a more adult image than she’d had in Sound Of Music and Mary Poppins. Sadly it was a gargantuan flop and nearly scuppered Edwards’ career.
Luckily though he always had the Pink Panther to fall back on, which helped assure Hollywood he was worth working with despite the disaster that was Darling Lili. By the late 70s he was back on top with the Dudley Moore and Bo Derek movie, 10. While he had few more big hits, he made several more Pink Panther films, as well as the likes of Victor Victoria and the Bruce Willis comedy Blind Date.
While he stopped directing in the early 90s, he stayed active and despite health problems that meant he’d needed to be in a wheelchair for the last two year, he was working on a Pink Panther Broadway musical right up until his death. Edwards had been in hospital for a couple of week, before finally succumbing to complications from pneumonia.
Despite creating numerous classics and being one of the most popular comedy directors of all time, he famously never won a competitive Oscar. Indeed his only nominations was Best Screenplay for Victor Victoria. However the Academy did reward him with an Honorary Awards in 2004, in recognition of his extraordinary body of work.
Blake Edwards – July 26th, 1922-December 15th, 2010 – RIP