The Pink Panther is an American media franchise primarily focusing on a series of comedy-mystery films featuring an inept French police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseau. The franchise began with the release of the film The Pink Panther in 1963. The role of Clouseau was originated by and is most closely associated with Peter Sellers. Most of the films were written and directed by Blake Edwards, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Elements and characters inspired by the films were adapted into other media, including books, comic books, video games and animated series.
Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru, known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he also proved a skilled comic actor in The Pink Panther franchise, playing the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in seven films.
Robert Rutherford Beatty was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.
Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk was a British actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Major Yamauchi in the British drama series Tenko and as Entwistle in Last of the Summer Wine.
Ian Fleming Publications Limited is a production company. In 1952, author Ian Fleming bought it after completing his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale; he assigned most of his rights in Casino Royale, and the works which followed it to Glidrose.
Trail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in The Pink Panther series, the first film in the series following Sellers's death and also the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of his deleted scenes and outtakes from previous films. Although the Sellers estate sued United Artists and the unauthorized use of the footage was ruled illegal, the film was allowed to be released. The newly shot material in the film stars Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet searching for the missing Clouseau – and running afoul of the inspector's enemies who do not wish to see him return.
Alfie Bass was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He appeared in a variety of stage, film, television and radio productions throughout his career.
Graham William Stark was an English comedian, actor, writer and director.
Derek Meddings was a British film and television special effects designer. He was initially noted for his work on the "Supermarionation" TV puppet series produced by Gerry Anderson, and later for the 1970s and 1980s James Bond and Superman film series.
Lionel Charles Jeffries was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in The Spy with a Cold Nose.
Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film and a continuation of The Pink Panther series of films created by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. The film was one of two produced concurrently following the death of the series' star Peter Sellers. Whereas the previous film Trail of the Pink Panther made use of unused footage of Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and starred Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet, Curse attempted to relaunch the series with a new lead, Ted Wass, as inept American detective Clifton Sleigh, assigned to find the missing Inspector Clouseau.
Michael Anthony Robbins was an English actor best known for his role as Arthur Rudge in the television sitcom On the Buses (1969–73) and its film spinoffs.
Anthony Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film, in television dramas and sitcoms. He starred in several sitcoms, including Fresh Fields, its sequel French Fields, and May to December. He also appeared in films, including Scrooge (1970) The Day of the Jackal (1973), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988).
André Maranne was a French-born British actor best known for playing roles in English-language films beginning in the mid-1950s.
Douglas Norman Wilmer was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the eponymous 1965 TV series.
Richard Cameron Wattis was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s.
Colin George Edward Blakely was a Northern Irish actor. He had roles in the films A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Equus (1977).
Arthur Howard was an English stage, film and television actor.
James Marne Kumar Maitland was an Anglo-Indian actor and voice artist. He worked extensively in his native Britain, mainly in character roles, but also appeared in many Italian productions, after moving there in the 1970s.
Geoffrey Michael Chater Robinson was an English film, television and stage actor. He appeared in the crime drama series Callan, Foyle's War and Midsomer Murders.
