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Blake Edwards

Blake Edwards

Highest Rated: 100% The Perfect Furlough (1959)

Lowest Rated: 6% Son of the Pink Panther (1993)

Birthday: Jul 26, 1922

Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Writer and director Blake Edwards was best known for helming the "Pink Panther" comedies of the 1960s and 1970s, but his contributions to entertainment stretched far beyond those wildly popular slapstick tales of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. He made a name for himself as a "modern cinema" original by combining a colorful visual style with a knack for layered jokes and subtle blend of high and low humor in films like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961) and "A Shot in the Dark" (1964), and as the creator of the stylish detective series "Peter Gunn" (NBC, 1958-1960, ABC, 1961). A career-long collaboration with composer Henry Mancini's playful compositions became a crucial element in this creative vision. During the 1970s and 1980s, Edwards balanced his ongoing "Pink Panther" releases with more personal, dramatic material that explored the lives of aging artists and society's evolving sexual conventions, best exemplified in his 1979 hit, "10." Only a handful of Edwards' 39 films were hailed with Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, but ongoing creative disputes with studio executives compromised what might have been an even larger body of revered work. Misfires notwithstanding, Edwards earned enormous respect among the film industry and his comedies remained popular for generations.

Photos

A FINE MESS, from left, Ted Danson, director Blake Edwards, on-set, 1986, ©Columbia Pictures THE PINK PANTHER, Capucine, director Blake Edwards, on set, 1963 THE PINK PANTHER, Capucine (top), director Blake Edwards, on set, 1963 BLIND DATE, director Blake Edwards, 1987, ©TriStar Pictures / BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, Blake Edwards (director) with Audrey Hepburn on location, 1961 DARLING LILI, Director Blake Edwards, Julie Andrews on the set, 1970 GUNN, director Blake Edwards, Craig Stevens, visited on-set by Jack Lemmon, 1967 THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER, director Blake Edwards on set, 1975 BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, Jose Luis de Villalonga, Audrey Hepburn, director Blake Edwards on set, 1961 OPERATION PETTICOAT, Director Blake Edwards and Tony Curtis, 1959 STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP, Robert Barrat, Blake Edwards, 1946 DARLING LILI, Behind the camera director Blake Edwards, 1970 A SHOT IN THE DARK, Peter Sellers, director Blake Edwards, Elke Sommer on set, 1964 A SHOT IN THE DARK, Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, director Blake Edwards on set, 1964 10, director/screenwriter Blake Edwards, 1979, ©Orion Pictures SUNSET, Bruce Willis, and director Blake Edwards, 1988 THAT'S LIFE, Director Blake Edwards, 1986 SWITCH, Ellen Barkin, Director Blake Edwards, 1991 SKIN DEEP, Director Blake Edwards, John Ritter, 1989 ©20th Century Fox BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, DIRECTOR BLAKE EDWARDS (LEFT, WHITE SHIRT), AUDREY HEPBURN (BACK RIGHT), ON SET, 1961
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
83% 80% I Remember Me Self $4.0K 2001
6% 18% Son of the Pink Panther Director,
Screenwriter 		$2.4M 1993
32% 44% Switch Director $14.2M 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Peter Gunn Director,
Screenwriter,
Executive Producer 		- 1989
32% 56% Skin Deep Director,
Screenwriter 		$19.4M 1989
21% 29% Sunset Director $3.4M 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Justin Case Director - 1988
24% 42% Blind Date Director $37.5M 1987
56% 53% That's Life! Director $3.6M 1986
25% 33% A Fine Mess Director $5.0M 1986
22% 24% City Heat Screenwriter - 1984
70% 43% Micki & Maude Director - 1984
29% 23% Curse of the Pink Panther Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1983
31% 39% The Man Who Loved Women Director,
Producer 		- 1983
23% 32% Trail of the Pink Panther Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1982
97% 86% Victor/Victoria Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1982
81% 64% S.O.B. Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1981
65% 56% 10 Director,
Writer,
Producer 		- 1979
84% 70% Revenge of the Pink Panther Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1978
72% 84% The Pink Panther Strikes Again Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1976
86% 82% The Return of the Pink Panther Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1975
No Score Yet 75% The Tamarind Seed Director - 1974
60% 29% The Carey Treatment Director - 1972
60% 46% Wild Rovers Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1971
40% 68% Darling Lili Director - 1970
83% 88% The Party Director,
Producer,
Screenwriter 		- 1968
No Score Yet No Score Yet Gunn Director - 1967
50% 68% What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? Director,
Producer 		- 1966
67% 83% The Great Race Director - 1965
94% 86% A Shot in the Dark Director,
Writer,
Producer 		- 1964
No Score Yet 67% Soldier in the Rain Producer,
Screenwriter 		- 1963
89% 78% The Pink Panther Director,
Screenwriter 		- 1963
100% 78% Experiment in Terror Director,
Producer 		- 1962
100% 89% Days of Wine and Roses Director - 1962
No Score Yet 53% The Notorious Landlady Writer - 1962
88% 91% Breakfast at Tiffany's Director - 1961
No Score Yet 38% High Time Director - 1960
81% 81% Operation Petticoat Director - 1959
100% 42% The Perfect Furlough Director - 1959
No Score Yet 50% This Happy Feeling Director,
Screenwriter 		- 1958
No Score Yet 43% Operation Mad Ball Screenwriter - 1957
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mister Cory Director - 1957
No Score Yet No Score Yet He Laughed Last Director - 1956
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bring Your Smile Along Director - 1955
No Score Yet 33% Drive a Crooked Road Screenwriter - 1954
No Score Yet 0% The Atomic Kid Writer - 1954
No Score Yet No Score Yet Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder Screenwriter - 1952
No Score Yet No Score Yet Panhandle Floyd Schofield (Character),
Screenwriter,
Producer 		- 1948
No Score Yet 35% Strangler of the Swamp Christian 'Chris' Sanders Jr. (Character) - 1946

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Pink Panther Show Writer 1969-1970 1976 2003
No Score Yet No Score Yet Peter Gunn Producer 1958-1961
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mr. Lucky Director,
Writer 		1959
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mickey Rooney Show Writer 1955
No Score Yet No Score Yet Four Star Playhouse Writer 1952