Editing Blake Edwards (section)

==Career==
Edwards's debut as a director came in 1952 on the television program ''[[Four Star Playhouse]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Feiwell|first1=Jill|title=Life Oscar to Edwards|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-111980109.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329152906/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-111980109.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 29, 2015|access-date=January 21, 2015 |via=[[HighBeam Research]]|agency=Daily Variety|date=December 12, 2003}}</ref>

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 (actor)|Craig Stevens]], with music by [[Henry Mancini]]. The following year, Edwards produced ''[[Mr. Lucky (TV series)|Mr. Lucky]],'' an adventure series on [[Columbia Broadcasting System|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.<ref name="MikeMoody">{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/news/a293701/filmmaker-blake-edwards-dies-aged-88.html|title=Filmmaker Blake Edwards dies, aged 88|last=Moody|first=Mike|date=December 16, 2010|work=[[Digital Spy]]|publisher=[[Hachette Filipacchi Médias|Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd]]|access-date=December 16, 2010}}</ref> Edwards later directed the comedy film ''[[10 (1979 film)|10]]'' with [[Dudley Moore]] and [[Bo Derek]].<ref name="MikeMoody"/>

===''Operation Petticoat'' (1959)===
''[[Operation Petticoat]]'' was Edwards's first big-budget movie as a director. The film, which starred [[Cary Grant]] and [[Tony Curtis]] and was produced by Grant's own production company, Granart Company, became the "greatest box-office success of the decade for Universal [Studios]" and made Edwards a recognized director.<ref name=Wakeman />

===''Breakfast at Tiffany's'' (1961)===
''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', based on the novella by [[Truman Capote]], is credited with establishing him as a "cult figure" with many critics. [[Andrew Sarris]] called it the "directorial surprise of 1961", and it became a "romantic touchstone" for college students in the early 1960s.<ref name=Wakeman/>

===''Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962)===
''Days of Wine And Roses'', a dark psychological film about the effects of alcoholism on a previously happy marriage, starred [[Jack Lemmon]] and [[Lee Remick]]. It has been described as "perhaps the most unsparing tract against drink that Hollywood has yet produced, more pessimistic than [[Billy Wilder]]'s ''The Lost Weekend''". The film gave another major boost to Edwards's reputation as an important director.<ref name=Wakeman/>

===''Darling Lili'' (1970)===
According to critic George Morris, ''[[Darling Lili]]'' "synthesizes every major Edwards theme: the disappearance of gallantry and honor, the tension between appearances and reality and the emotional, spiritual, moral, and psychological disorder" in such a world. Edwards used complex cinematography techniques, including long-shot zooms, tracking, and focus distortion, to great effect.<ref name=Wakeman/> However, the film failed badly with most critics and at the box office. Despite a cost of $17&nbsp;million to make, it was seen by few cinema-goers, and the few who did watch were unimpressed. It brought [[Paramount Pictures]] to "the verge of financial collapse", and became an example of "self-indulgent extravagance" in filmmaking "that was ruining Hollywood".<ref name=Wakeman/>

''Darling Lili'' star [[Julie Andrews]] had married Edwards in 1969.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

===''Pink Panther'' film series===
Edwards also directed most of the comedy film series ''[[The Pink Panther]]'', the majority of installments starring [[Peter Sellers]] as the inept [[Inspector Clouseau]]. The relationship between the director and the lead actor was considered a fruitful yet complicated one with many disagreements during production. At various times in their film relationship, "he more than once swore off Sellers" as too hard to direct. However, in his later years, he admitted that working with Sellers was often irresistible:
<blockquote>"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."<ref name=DGA>[http://www.dgaquarterly.org/BACKISSUES/Summer2009/FeaturesBlakeEdwards.aspx "Blake Edwards:Old School"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101214124020/http://www.dgaquarterly.org/BACKISSUES/Summer2009/FeaturesBlakeEdwards.aspx |date=December 14, 2010 }} ''Directors Guild of America Quarterly,'' Summer 2009.</ref></blockquote>

Five of those films involved Edwards and Sellers in original material; those films being ''[[The Pink Panther (1963 film)|The Pink Panther]]'' (1963), ''[[A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)|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 (film)|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&nbsp;million to make but grossed $100&nbsp;million, while ''The Pink Panther Strikes Again'' did even better.<ref name=Wakeman/>

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 (1968 film)|The Party]]''.