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Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. Often thought of as primarily a director of comedies, he also directed several drama, musical, and detective films. Late in his career, he took up writing, producing and directing for theater. He received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of his writing, directing and producing an extraordinary body of work for the screen.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio scripts before turning to producing and directing in television and films. His best-known films include Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), A Shot in the Dark (1964), The Great Race (1965), 10 (1979), Victor/Victoria (1982), Blind Date (1987), and the hugely successful Pink Panther film series with British actor Peter Sellers.
Edwards describes this period:
I worked with the best directors – John Ford, William Wyler, Otto Preminger – and learned a lot from them. But I wasn't a very cooperative actor. I was a spunky, smart-assed kid. Maybe even I was indicating that I wanted to give, not take, direction.
Edwards served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II, where he suffered a severe back injury, which left him in pain for years afterwards.
In the 1954–1955 television season, Edwards joined with Richard Quine to create Mickey Rooney's first television series, The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan. Edwards's hard-boiled private detective scripts for Richard Diamond, Private Detective became NBC's answer to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, reflecting Edwards's unique humor. Edwards also created, wrote, and directed the 1958–61 TV detective series Peter Gunn, which starred Craig Stevens, with music by Henry Mancini. The following year, Edwards produced Mr. Lucky, an adventure series on CBS starring John Vivyan and Ross Martin. Mancini's association with Edwards continued in his film work, significantly contributing to their success.
Edwards's most popular films were comedies, the melodrama Days of Wine and Roses being a notable exception. His most dynamic and successful collaboration was with Peter Sellers in six of the movies in the Pink Panther series. Edwards later directed the comedy film 10 with Dudley Moore and Bo Derek.
Darling Lili star Julie Andrews had married Edwards in 1969.
"We clicked on comedy and we were lucky we found each other because we both had so much respect for it. We also had an ability to come up with funny things and great situations that had to be explored. But in that exploration there would often times be disagreement. But I couldn't resist those moments when we jelled. And if you ask me who contributed most to those things, it couldn't have happened unless both of us were involved, even though it wasn't always happy."
Five of those films involved Edwards and Sellers in original material; those films being The Pink Panther (1963), A Shot in the Dark (1964), The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978). (1968's Inspector Clouseau, the third film in the series, was made without the involvement of Edwards or Sellers.) The films were all highly profitable: The Return of the Pink Panther, for example, cost just $2.5 million to make but grossed $100 million, while The Pink Panther Strikes Again did even better.
After Sellers's death in 1980, Edwards directed three further Pink Panther films. Trail of the Pink Panther (1982) consisted of unused material of Sellers from The Pink Panther Strikes Again as well as previously seen material from the earlier films. Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) and Son of the Pink Panther (1993) were further attempts by Edwards to continue the series without Sellers but both films were critical and financial disappointments. Edwards eventually retired from film making two years after the release of Son of the Pink Panther.
In addition to the Pink Panther films, Edwards directed Sellers in the comedy film The Party.
Edwards's second marriage, from 1969 until his death in 2010, was to Julie Andrews. They were married for 41 years. He was the stepfather to Emma, from Andrews's previous marriage. In the 1970s, Edwards and Andrews adopted two Vietnamese daughters; Amy Leigh (later known as Amelia) in 1974 and Joanna Lynne in 1975.
Edwards was greatly admired, and criticized, as a filmmaker. His critics are alluded to by American film author George Morris:
Others, however, recognized him more for his significant achievements at different periods of his career. British film critic Peter Lloyd, for example, described Edwards, in 1971, as "the finest director working in the American commercial cinema at the present time". Edwards's biographers, William Luhr and Peter Lehman, in an interview in 1974, called him "the finest American director working at this time". The Velvet Light Trap. Fall 1974. They refer especially to the Pink Panther's Clouseau, developed with the comedic skills of Peter Sellers as a character "perfectly consistent" with his "absurdist view of the world, because he has no faith in anything and constantly adapts". Critic Stuart Byron calls his first two Pink Panther films "two of the best comedies an American has ever made". Polls taken at the time showed that his name, as a director, was a rare "marketable commodity" in Hollywood.
Edwards himself described one of the secrets to success in the film industry:
TV movies
In 1983, Edwards was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for Victor/Victoria as well as winning Best Foreign Film and Best Foreign Screenplay in France and Italy, respectively for Victor/Victoria. In 1988, Edwards received the Creative Achievement Award from the American Comedy Awards. In 1991, Edwards received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1993, Edwards received the Preston Sturges Award jointly from the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild. In 2000, Edwards received the Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award from the Art Directors Guild. In 2002, Edwards received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild as well as the Special Edgar from The Mystery Writers of America for career achievement.
Between 1962 and 1968, Edwards was nominated six times for a Golden Laurel Award as Best Director by Motion Picture Exhibitors. In 1963, Edwards was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Director for Days of Wine and Roses. In 1962, Edwards was nominated for Outstanding Achievement by the Directors Guild for Breakfast at Tiffany's. In 1960, Edwards was nominated for an Edgar for Best Teleplay by the Mystery Writers of America for Peter Gunn. In 1959, Edwards was nominated for two Primetime Emmys as Best Director and Best Teleplay for Peter Gunn Between 1958 and 1983, Edwards was nominated eight times for Best Screenplay by the Writers Guild and won twice, for The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Victor/Victoria.
Silent-film style
Having grown up in Hollywood, the stepson of a studio production manager and stepgrandson of a silent-film director, Edwards had watched the films of the great silent-era comedians, including Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy. He and Sellers appreciated and understood the comedy styles in silent films and tried to recreate them in their work together. After their immense success with the first two Pink Panther films, The Pink Panther (1963) and A Shot in the Dark (1964), which adapted many silent-film aspects, including slapstick, they attempted to go even further in The Party (1968). The film has always had a cult following, and some critics and fans have considered it a "masterpiece in this vein" of silent comedy, though it did include minimal dialogue.
Personal life
Marriages
Edwards married his first wife, actress Patricia Walker, in 1953; they divorced in 1967. Edwards and Walker had two children, actress Jennifer Edwards and actor-writer-director Geoffrey Edwards. Walker appeared in the comedy All Ashore (1953), for which Edwards was one of the screenwriters. Edwards also named one of his film production companies, Patricia Productions, Incorporated, after her.
Health
Edwards described his struggle for 15 years with the illness myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in the documentary I Remember Me (2000).
Death and legacy
On December 15, 2010, Edwards died of complications of pneumonia at the Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He was 88.
It has been difficult for many critics to accept Blake Edwards as anything more than a popular entertainer. Edwards' detractors acknowledge his formal skill, but deplore the absence of profundity in his movies. Edwards' movies are slick and glossy, but their shiny surfaces reflect all too accurately the disposable values of contemporary life.
For someone who wants to practice his art in this business, all you can hope to do, as S.O.B. says, is stick to your guns, make the compromises you must, and hope that somewhere along the way you acquire a few good friends who understand. And keep half a conscience.
Filmography
Film
1948 Panhandle 1949 Stampede 1952 Sound Off Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder 1953 All Ashore Cruisin' Down the River 1954 Drive a Crooked Road The Atomic Kid 1955 Bring Your Smile Along My Sister Eileen 1956 He Laughed Last 1957 Mister Cory Operation Mad Ball 1958 This Happy Feeling The Perfect Furlough 1959 Operation Petticoat 1960 High Time 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's 1962 Experiment in Terror Days of Wine and Roses The Couch The Notorious Landlady 1963 Soldier in the Rain The Pink Panther 1964 A Shot in the Dark 1965 The Great Race Also executive producer via Patricia Productions 1966 What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? 1967 Gunn Also executive producer (Uncredited) Waterhole No. 3 1968 The Party 1970 Darling Lili 1971 Wild Rovers 1972 The Carey Treatment Julie Documentary film 1974 The Tamarind Seed 1975 The Return of the Pink Panther 1976 The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1978 Revenge of the Pink Panther 1979 10 1981 S.O.B. 1982 Victor/Victoria Trail of the Pink Panther 1983 Curse of the Pink Panther The Man Who Loved Women 1984 City Heat Micki & Maude 1986 A Fine Mess That's Life! 1987 Blind Date 1988 Sunset 1989 Skin Deep 1991 Switch 1993 Son of the Pink Panther
Radio
1948 Hollywood Star Theatre 1949–1953 Richard Diamond, Private Detective 1949–1962 Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1950–1952 The Lineup 1951 Broadway is My Beat Suspense
Television
1952 Invitation Playhouse: Mind Over Murder Episode "The Long Night" 1952–1954 Four Star Playhouse Directed 5 episodes, wrote 9 episodes 1954 The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse Episode "Death, The Hard Way" City Detective Episode "Midnight Supper" The Lineup Episode "Cop Killer" 1955 The Mickey Rooney Show 33 episodes The Star and the Story Episode "Safe Journey" Fireside Theatre Directed episode "Big Joe's Comin' Home";
Wrote episode "The Smuggler"1956 Ford Theatre Episode "The Payoff" 1957 Studio 57 Directed episode "Big Joe's Comin' Home";
Wrote episode "The Smuggler"Meet McGraw Episode "Tycoon" 1957–1960 Richard Diamond, Private Detective 4 episodes 1958–1961 Peter Gunn Directed 10 episodes;
Wrote 11 episodes1959–1960 Mr. Lucky Wrote and directed episode "The Magnificent Bribe" 1960–1961 Dante 1962 The Dick Powell Show Episode "The Boston Terrier" 1992 Julie 7 episodes 1954 Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer 1962 Johnny Dollar 1969 The Monk 1984 The Ferret 1988 Justin Case 1989 Peter Gunn
Theater
1995–1999 Victor/Victoria Broadway production and Broadway tour 1999 Big Rosemary Off-Broadway production, 2004 theatrical workshop, 2008 Broadway preview 2003 Scapegoat Theatrical workshop
Awards and honors
In 2004, Edwards received an Honorary Academy Award for cumulative achievements over the course of his film career. As Entertainment Weekly reported, "Honorary Oscar winner Blake Edwards made an entrance worthy of Peter Sellers in one of Edwards' Pink Panther films: A stuntman who looked just like Edwards rode a speeding wheelchair past a podium and crashed through a wall. When the octogenarian director entered and dusted himself off as if he had crashed, he told presenter Jim Carrey, 'Don't touch my Oscar.'" Also in 2004, Edwards received The Life Career Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, during that year's Saturn Award ceremony.
+Accolades for Edwards' features 1958 The Perfect Furlough 2 1 ''This Happy Feeling 1 1 1959 Operation Petticoat 1 2 1960 High Time 1 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's 5 2 2 1962 Experiment in Terror 1 Days of Wine and Roses 5 1 3 4 1963 The Pink Panther 1 1 1 1964 A Shot in the Dark 1 1965 The Great Race 5 1 4 1970 Darling Lili 3 3 1 1974 The Tamarind Seed 1 1975 The Return of the Pink Panther 3 1976 The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1 2 1979 10 2 5 1981 S.O.B. 1 1982 Victor/Victoria 7 1 5 1 1984 Micki + Maude 2 1 1986 That's Life! 3 1988 Sunset 1 1991 Switch 1
External links
Categories: 1922 Births, 2010 Deaths, 20th-century American Male Actors, 20th-century American Male Writers, 20th-century American Writers, 21st-century American Writers, Academy Honorary Award Recipients, American Comedy Writers, American Male Film Actors, American Male Screenwriters, American Male Television Writers, American Television Writers, Blake, César Award Winners, American Comedy Film Directors, Curtleigh Productions, Deaths From Pneumonia In California, Edgar Award Winners, Film Directors From Oklahoma, Film Producers From Oklahoma, Male Actors From Tulsa, Oklahoma, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Pseudonymous Film Directors, Screenwriters From Oklahoma, United States Coast Guard Personnel Of World War Ii, Writers From Tulsa, Oklahoma, Writers Guild Of America Award Winners, David Di Donatello Winners
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