# Blake Edwards, R.I.P. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 16, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392 "2010-12-16T18:29:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/1 "2010-12-16T18:29:52Z")
Blake Edwards, best known for\*\* Breakfast at Tiffanys \*\*or the Pink Panther movies or **10** and for being married to Julie Andrews for the last 41 years, [has died at 88](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/16/blake-edwards-pink-panther-director-dies-at-88/). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/2 "2010-12-16T18:41:57Z")
[Da dat, da dat, da dat da dat da dat da dat DA DA! da da da da da dat](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRu) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/3 "2010-12-16T18:55:21Z")
Bummer. I’ll have to watch **S.O.B.** tonight in tribute. \ ***Dr. Irving Finegarten:** He’d be less conspicuous if he had his eyes open. **Ben Coogan:** He’d be less conspicuous if he was back in his box! \* ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/4 "2010-12-16T19:13:23Z")
Keep his coffin under close watch, and don’t let his poker-playing, hard drinkin’ S.O.B. friends near the body. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/5 "2010-12-16T19:29:31Z")
RIP, Blake. Your wife had great tits: thanks for sharing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/6 "2010-12-16T19:31:08Z")
Edwards was portrayed by John Lithgow in the Geoffrey Rush _Peter Sellars_ movie. I’ve no idea how accurate that depiction was but if it was at all accurate he was a likable person and one of the few who could control Sellars’ lunacy or short circuit one of Sellars’ temper tantrums. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/7 "2010-12-16T19:37:06Z")
The CNN obit includes one of my favorite Hollywood anecdotes: > [@](#): > > Edwards is said to have become romantically involved with Julie Andrews after she heard he had once described her as being “so sweet she probably has violets between her legs.” > > They began dating after she sent Edwards a bunch of violets and a note. They later married. ---
**Author:** ![Just1Lurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c0e974/32.png) [@Just1Lurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just1Lurk)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/8 "2010-12-16T19:44:33Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The CNN obit includes one of my favorite Hollywood anecdotes: IIRC, the note read, “I picked these just for you.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/9 "2010-12-16T20:38:50Z")
> [@Just1Lurk](#): > > IIRC, the note read, “I picked these just for you.” I’ll bet Julie was a tigress tween the sheets in her day. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/10 "2010-12-16T20:40:56Z")
We should have a Best Blake Edwards movie poll. I am a big fan of Victor Victoria. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/11 "2010-12-16T20:50:07Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > We should have a Best Blake Edwards movie poll. I am a big fan of Victor Victoria. I loved that and **10**. The “best of Inspector Clousseau” reels are funny but in general I wasn’t a big fan of _Pink Panther_; I’ve never seen _S.O.B._. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/12 "2010-12-16T20:51:47Z")
I’ll have more to say later, but for now I’m glad I’m not too late to share [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29WRP92X7Mg) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/13 "2010-12-16T21:28:40Z")
One of my favorite directors; I will miss him. I also feel for his wife, as it was obvious to anyone who ever saw the two of them together that they were deeply in love with one another. **S.O.B.** remains one of the best, if not the best, movies about Hollywood ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/14 "2010-12-17T03:16:02Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Blake Edwards, best known for\*\* Breakfast at Tiffanys \*\*or the Pink Panther movies or **10** and for being married to Julie Andrews for the last 41 years, [has died at 88](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/12/16/blake-edwards-pink-panther-director-dies-at-88/). On my screen, that looks more like the Fuchsia Panther. We just watched _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ not too long ago. RIP, Blake. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/15 "2010-12-17T05:13:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > On my screen, that looks more like the Fuchsia Panther. > > We just watched _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_ not too long ago. RIP, Blake. ☹ Was George Costanza sitting on your couch? RIP Mr Edwards, I enjoyed your movies. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/16 "2010-12-17T11:17:38Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The CNN obit includes one of my favorite Hollywood anecdotes: I always thought he said lilacs, not violets. I hope this doesn’t seem too harsh at a time like this but I always found his movies like “10”, “S.O.B”, “The Americanization of Emily”, “Micki and Maude” to be somewhat disappointing…better in concept but kind of flat as movies. They should have been better but I’m not sure how he could have. On a related note, how many defensive lineman, especially in the early 1980s, would have been willing to be cast as a homosexual as Alex Karras was in “Victor/Victoria”? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/17 "2010-12-17T15:09:24Z")
When Edwards was making “Darling Lili” with Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson, Andrews was quoted as having said on the set, “Mr. Hudson needs to be informed that there is only one leading lady in this film.” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/18 "2010-12-17T15:33:05Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I hope this doesn’t seem too harsh at a time like this but I always found his movies like “10”, “S.O.B”, “The Americanization of Emily”, “Micki and Maude” to be somewhat disappointing… I haven’t seen Americanization or S.O.B., but of the other two I thought **10** was great (though I’ll admit it hasn’t aged well) and _Micki and Maude_, which I saw in the theater, was just truly awful. His reputation was actually that of a major hit and miss director who sometimes lost money but when he scored (Pink Panter, 10) he made mints for the studios. He made so much on _Pink Panther_ that when he was tired of the series and even more tired of dealing with Peter Sellers (who he himself said he had a love-hate relationship with when they weren’t shooting and love-hate minus-the-love when they were shooting [Sellers was infamously difficult to work with and especially so with Edwards who wouldn’t put up with his crap]) the studio actually offered him the best deal ever made for a director: a fat fee plus 10% of the _gross_ (not points in the profits, but off the top), which of course he couldn’t refuse. Sellers was in a particular rage at the time since he desperately needed the fat payday of Panther due to all of his ex-wives and a series of flops. I was reading some old newspaper articles online with him yesterday; I knew that he produced Victor/Victoria on Broadway in the 1990s but had no idea he wrote the stage version and planned to produce it almost immediately after the movie. He and Julie evidently had a falling out with Robert Preston who agreed at a dinner party to do the Broadway version but then thought better of it and said he had no interest in it. Since I’m guessing Garner and Karras _never_ considered doing Broadway I’m not sure why Preston reneging (if you can call it that when nothing was signed) was such a dealbreaker they shelved the Broadway version for more than a decade. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/19 "2010-12-17T16:12:45Z")
You really should watch **S.O.B.** A truly hilarious and subversive movie. Dated, but hilarious. You could tell Edwards was getting a lot of his frustrations out with that movie. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392/20 "2010-12-17T17:16:36Z")
I didn’t realize until a little while ago that Edwards got a big start in radio, when I heard one of his **Richard Diamond** \* mysteries. The same quirky, oddball humor was there. I understand it became a TV series in the 50s, but haven’t seen any of those. \*Pretty clearly a play on the name “Sam Spade”, just like the character Peter Falk played in Neil Simon’s **Murder by Death** and **The Cheap Detective**. In fact, now that I think about it, Neil Simon might’ve been paying homage to Blake Edwards’ character with those names. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blake-edwards-r-i-p/564392.md?page=2)