Blake Edwards: Director of the 'Pink Panther' movies – and Julie Andrews' husband for more than four decades – was at his best handling polished comedies and a couple of dead serious dramas. Blake Edwards movies: Best known for slapstick fare, but at his best handling polished comedies and dramas The Pink Panther and its sequels[1] are the movies most closely associated with screenwriter-director-producer Blake Edwards, whose film and television career spanned more than half a century.[2] But unless you're a fan of Keystone Kops-style slapstick, they're the filmmaker's least interesting efforts. In fact, Edwards (born William Blake Crump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on July 26, 1922) was at his best (co-)writing and/or directing polished comedies (e.g., Operation Petticoat, Victor Victoria) and, less frequently, dramas (Days of Wine and Roses, the romantic comedy-drama Breakfast at Tiffany's). The article below and follow-up posts offer a brief look at some of Blake Edwards' non-Pink Panther comedies,...
- 5/29/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Chicago – If you love movies, you love Blake Edwards. The iconic comic director, best known for teaming with Peter Sellers in a series of wacky Pink Panther adventures, also directed such classics as “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “The Great Race” “10” and “Victor Victoria.” Blake Edwards died Wednesday at age 88.
Born William Blake Crump in 1922 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Edwards began his career as a writer/director in Hollywood’s “Silver Age” in the 1950’s, after a stint as an actor in the 1940’s, mostly playing uncredited military types in such films as “They were Expendable” and “The Best Years of Our Lives.” He began in radio, writing the popular “Richard Diamond” series, and moved on to television with Diamond star Dick Powell with “Four Star Playhouse.”
Peter Sellers (left) and Blake Edwards (right) trying out a gag during their memorable collaboration
Photo credit: BFI
Edwards went...
Born William Blake Crump in 1922 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Edwards began his career as a writer/director in Hollywood’s “Silver Age” in the 1950’s, after a stint as an actor in the 1940’s, mostly playing uncredited military types in such films as “They were Expendable” and “The Best Years of Our Lives.” He began in radio, writing the popular “Richard Diamond” series, and moved on to television with Diamond star Dick Powell with “Four Star Playhouse.”
Peter Sellers (left) and Blake Edwards (right) trying out a gag during their memorable collaboration
Photo credit: BFI
Edwards went...
- 12/18/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Film director best known for the Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's and 10
The film-maker Blake Edwards, who has died aged 88, will be best remembered as the creator of the Pink Panther films, and as the husband of the entertainer Julie Andrews. But Edwards was a third-generation show-business figure whose complex and controversial career spanned more than 50 years, initially as an actor and writer and subsequently as one of America's most prolific producer-directors, primarily concerned with the popular genres of comedy and musicals and with creating television series.
Despite working in mainstream cinema, his maverick spirit and ego made him an uneasy partner with Hollywood studios. He famously savaged the hand that had fed him so well with S.O.B. (1981), a raucous, vitriolic attack on Tinseltown. His sophisticated work drew strongly on his love of early cinema (his stepgrandfather had directed silent films), and on his own life and psychological problems (he...
The film-maker Blake Edwards, who has died aged 88, will be best remembered as the creator of the Pink Panther films, and as the husband of the entertainer Julie Andrews. But Edwards was a third-generation show-business figure whose complex and controversial career spanned more than 50 years, initially as an actor and writer and subsequently as one of America's most prolific producer-directors, primarily concerned with the popular genres of comedy and musicals and with creating television series.
Despite working in mainstream cinema, his maverick spirit and ego made him an uneasy partner with Hollywood studios. He famously savaged the hand that had fed him so well with S.O.B. (1981), a raucous, vitriolic attack on Tinseltown. His sophisticated work drew strongly on his love of early cinema (his stepgrandfather had directed silent films), and on his own life and psychological problems (he...
- 12/17/2010
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
The man who brought the world Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau, writer/producer/director Blake Edwards, has died at the age of 88.Born in Oklahoma in 1922, Edwards was largely raised by his mother and his stepfather, a film production manager, in what he later described as a seriously dysfunctional family. He eventually met his biological father, a former stage director, at the age of 40, but regretted the decision.His family moved to Los Angeles when he was three, and he attended Beverly Hills High before making a stab at acting in movies such as Ten Gentlemen from West Point, A Guy named Joe, Ladies Courageous, Strangler of the Swamp and Leather Gloves. But in 1946, he co-wrote the Western film Panhandle and produced it, nabbing a small role in front of the camera.Other early work included creating and writing radio series including Richard Diamond, Private Detective and The Line-Up. His film...
- 12/16/2010
- EmpireOnline
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