Blake Edwards, ‘Pink Panther’ Director, Dies at 88

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Blake Edwards, the writer/director behind the “Pink Panther” series and the Audrey Hepburn movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” died this morning. He was 88.

Edwards was born in Tulsa, OK on July 26, 1922. After his parents’ divorce, his mother remarried a film production manager (whose own father was a director), so Edwards grew up on movie sets. He began his career in film as an extra and supporting actor, before graduating to writing and directing for television and film. In 1958, Edwards’ created the Emmy-nominated detective series “Peter Gunn,” through which he began his long-standing relationship with composer Henry Mancini. Mancini would go on to write “Moon River” for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the theme songs to “The Days of Wine and Roses” and “The Pink Panther,” among others, for Edwards’ films.

Edwards married actress Julie Andrews after divorcing his first wife. Edwards would collaborate with this wife on films such as “Darling Lili,” “10,” “Victor/Victoria” and “S.O.B.” Edwards’ films are known for their stylish elements. His “Panther” movies created a fur rug/Swiss chalet aesthetic that several designers copied in recent years. And “10,” his movie about a famous composer suffering a mid-life crisis, launched Bo Derek as the sex symbol for the 1980s.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/16/blake-edwards-pink-panther-director-dies-at-88/