Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Blake Edwards

Director

Born - 26 July 1922, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Died - 15 December 2010

Distinguished American director, consistently good from 1957 to 1964, though somewhat more erratic after this golden period. Born William Blake Crump, he later took his stepfather's name of McEdwards and became a Hollywood actor in the war years, beginning with Ten Gentlemen from West Point (1942) and ending with the western Panhandle (1948), which he also wrote, heralding a change of direction in his career. From 1952, he formed a partnership with director Richard Quine, working on the scripts of mid-budget Columbia musicals of the early 1950s, and directing the last two in the series, Bring Your Smile Along (1955) and He Laughed Last (1956). He hit his stride with Mister Cory (1957), then made This Happy Feeling (1958), Operation Petticoat (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), The Grip of Fear (1962), Days of Wine and Roses (1962), The Pink Panther (1963) and A Shot in the Dark (1964), the first two in the popular series of comedies with Peter Sellers as the accident-prone Inspector Clouseau. Later work included The Great Race (1965), Darling Lili (1970), '10' (1979), Victor/Victoria (1982), Micki + Maude (1984), Blind Date (1987), Switch (1991) and several more 'Pink Panthers', culminating in Son of the Pink Panther (1993) , his last feature film. Awarded an honorary Oscar in 2004 after two unsuccessful nominations, he was married to his second wife, actress-singer Julie Andrews, for 41 years and directed her in several films. He died from pneumonia after a lengthy battle with vascular disease.