NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Inspector Clouseau

Inspector Jacques Clouseau (later chief inspector) is a fictional detective in Blake Edwards's Pink Panther series. In most of the films, he was played by Peter Sellers, with one film in which he was played by Alan Arkin and one in which he was played by an uncredited Roger Moore. In the most recent Pink Panther film and its 2009 sequel, he was played by Steve Martin. Sellers is widely regarded as the definitive Inspector Clouseau of pop culture by fans and critics alike. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ... Gumshoe redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Pink Panther cartoon character. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (8 September 1925 â€“ 24 July 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ... Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and director. ... For other persons named Roger Moore, see Roger Moore (disambiguation). ... For the football player of the same name see Steve Martin (football player). ...

He is also the inspiration of the main character in a series of short animated cartoons inspired by the titles of the feature films. Though the character in the animated The Inspector was never given a name, he is clearly based on Clouseau. An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn (or made with computers or type writers to look similar to something hand-drawn) film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot (even if it is a very short one). ... The Inspector and Sgt. ...

In many countries, such as Greece, this character's name has become synonymous with policemen who keep making ludicrous assumptions and are utterly unable to crack even the easiest case. The expression is also popular in the Netherlands, Yemen and much of North Africa. The term has also come into vogue in the Asian "tiger" economies.

Character

Jacques Clouseau makes his first appearance in the 1963 film The Pink Panther. The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Maurice Richlin, is a 1963 comedy film, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Robert Wagner. ...

He is a bumbling and incompetent police inspector with the French Sûreté, whose investigations are most notably marked with chaos and destruction that he himself largely causes. Immensely clumsy, his various attempts at solving the case frequently lead to misfortune for himself and others; in A Shot in the Dark, he cannot even interview witnesses to a crime without falling down stairs, getting his hand caught in first a medieval knight's glove and then a vase, knocking a witness insensible, destroying a priceless piano or accidentally shooting another officer in the rear end. Clouseau is also not particularly intelligent, and will frequently follow a completely idiotic and incorrect theory of the crime rather than what actually happened. His sheer incompetence, clumsiness and stupidity is enough to eventually transform his direct superior, Chief Inspector Dreyfus, into a homicidal psychopath – to such a degree that Dreyfus even went so far as to construct a doomsday device and threaten to destroy the world in a desperate attempt to kill Clouseau. SÃ»retÃ© (French for surety but transliterated as safety or security(1)) is a term used in French speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force. ... For other uses, see Shot in the Dark (disambiguation) A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment (and considered by many to be the best) in the Pink Panther series. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ...

Regardless of his rather limited ability, he successfully solves his cases and finds the correct culprits, even if this success is achieved entirely by accident. As such, he was even promoted to Chief Inspector over the course of the series, and is regarded by many other characters who presumably have not met him as France's greatest detective; those characters he actually encounters, nevertheless, are quick to realise his incompetence and limitations. He is immensely egocentric and self-important; despite his many failings, he is seemingly convinced that he is a brilliant police officer destined to succeed and rise through the ranks of the Sûreté. Despite this, Clouseau does appear to show some awareness that he is not the most competent or intelligent person, as he is notably embarrassed by and quick to brush aside his more extreme acts of clumsiness with phrases such as "I know that," and attempts to appear elegant and refined regardless of what calamity he has just caused. Egocentrism is the practice of regarding oneself and ones own opinions or interests as most important. ... SÃ»retÃ© (French for surety but transliterated as safety or security(1)) is a term used in French speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force. ...

Sellers said in several interviews that the secret of Clouseau's character was his tremendous ego. His favourite example of Clouseau's ego was whenever someone said, "Phone call for Inspector Clouseau," Clouseau would reply, "Ah yes, that would be for ME." Sellers maintained that Clouseau's ego is what made the character's klutziness funnier because of his quest to remain elegant and refined while causing chaos everywhere he turned.^{[citation needed]}

As portrayed by Sellers, Clouseau's French accent became steadily more exaggerated in successive films (for example, pronouncing "room" as "reum"; pronouncing "Pope" as "Peup"; pronouncing "bomb" as "beumb"; and pronouncing "bumps" as "beumps"), and a frequent running gag in the movies was that even French characters would have difficulty understanding what he was saying. The accent may originally have been inspired by a comment by a French film director, in which he pronounced "house" as "'arse," to Sellers's fellow Goon, Michael Bentine, at a dinner party.^{[citation needed]} A room, in architecture, is any distinguishable space within a structure. ... Topics in Christianity Movements Â· Denominations Ecumenism Â· Preaching Â· Prayer Music Â· Liturgy Â· Calendar Symbols Â· Art Â· Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul Â· Church Fathers Constantine Â· Athanasius Â· Augustine Anselm Â· Aquinas Â· Palamas Â· Wycliffe Tyndale Â· Luther Â· Calvin Â· Wesley Arius Â· Marcion of Sinope Pope Â· Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: The Pope (from Latin... For other uses, see Bomb (disambiguation). ... A bumps race is a form of rowing race in which a number of boats are started a set distance apart and attempt to catch the boat in front. ... The Goon Show was a popular and influential British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 on the BBC Home Service. ... Michael Bentine (January 26, 1922 - November 26, 1996) was a comedian, comic actor, and member of the Goons. ...

In his earliest appearances, Clouseau is actually less inept and exaggerated; much of the above character elements were not added until the 1970s. Sellers stepped away from playing the character following 1964's A Shot in the Dark (a film based upon a stage play into which the Clouseau character was inserted). When the character returned for the 1968 film Inspector Clouseau, he was portrayed by American actor Alan Arkin; Edwards was not involved in this production. The creation of the animated Inspector character coincided with this film's release; thus, the cartoon version is based upon Arkin's portrayal of Clouseau. The 1968 film does appear to have had an impact on the character when Sellers returned to the role in 1975's The Return of the Pink Panther, particularly in the character's mode of dress. For other uses, see Shot in the Dark (disambiguation) A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment (and considered by many to be the best) in the Pink Panther series. ... Inspector Clouseau is a 1968 United Artists feature film, the third in the popular Pink Panther movie series. ... Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American actor and director. ... The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in North America by United Artists and in Europe by ITC Entertainment in 1975. ...

According to DVD liner notes for Return of the Pink Panther, Sellers and Edwards originally planned to produce a British television series centered around Clouseau, but a film was made instead. The movie was a box office success and led to several more films before Sellers died in 1980; biographies of Sellers such as Peter Sellers—A Celebration reveal that he was involved in the pre-production of another Clouseau film, The Romance Of The Pink Panther at the time of his death. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The Romance of the Pink Panther was to be the seventh film in the Pink Panther series, and would have starred Peter Sellers in the role of Chief-inspector Clouseau in his sixth Panther appearance. ...

Blake Edwards attempted to continue telling Clouseau's story despite losing his lead actor. The 1982 film Trail of the Pink Panther utilized outtakes and alternate footage of Sellers as Clouseau in a new storyline in which a reporter investigates Clouseau's disappearance. In the process, she interviews characters from past Clouseau films, and also meets Clouseau's equally inept father (played by Richard Mulligan). The immediate sequel, Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) reveals that Clouseau underwent plastic surgery to change his appearance; the character appears on screen briefly in the form of a joke cameo appearance by Roger Moore, billed as "Turk Thrust II." Neither film was a box office success and the series (and the character) were retired. Trail of the Pink Panther was a 1982 movie starring Peter Sellers. ... Richard Mulligan (November 13, 1932 - September 26, 2000) was an American television and film actor whose career spanned 34 years. ... Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film, the eighth installment of the Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. ... â€œFasial reconstructionâ€ redirects here. ... Peter Jackson in The Fellowship of the Ring (top), The Two Towers (middle) and The Return of the King (bottom). ... For other persons named Roger Moore, see Roger Moore (disambiguation). ...

Edwards attempted to revive the series in 1993 with Son of the Pink Panther, in which it is revealed that Clouseau had illegitimate children by Maria Gambrelli (a character who first appeared in A Shot in the Dark). Clouseau's son, Jacques Jr., was portrayed by Roberto Benigni, and has a twin sister, Jacqueline, played by Nicoletta Braschi. Jacques Jr. attempts to follow in his father's police footsteps, but is revealed to have inherited the same ineptness as his father. Son of the Pink Panther (1993) was the ninth entry in the 30-year-old Pink Panther film series. ... Roberto Remigio Benigni (born October 27, 1952) is an Academy Award-winning Italian film and television actor, writer and director. ... Nicoletta Braschi worked with Roberto Benigni in a lot of his films. ...

The Pink Panther (2006)

Steve Martin's rendition of Clouseau in the 2006 film is considered to be a rebooting of the character. The film gives an origin to his role as an inspector: originally an inept police officer, he is hired by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to look bad and give Dreyfus the glory of solving the case himself. However the new film is set in a different continuity: Martin's Clouseau is considerably older than Sellers', and although the 2006 film was promoted as taking place prior to the events of the first Pink Panther film, the time frame has been advanced to the present day. A sequel is currently under production. Image File history File links Panther2. ... Image File history File links Panther2. ... For the football player of the same name see Steve Martin (football player). ... // Please note that following the tradition of the English language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the United States and Canada in 2006; because they may have made most of their income in a later year, they may not be the top-grossing... The Pink Panther is a 2006 comedy film. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Filmography (and actors playing Clouseau)

The Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards and co-written by Edwards and Maurice Richlin, is a 1963 comedy film, starring David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Robert Wagner. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Shot in the Dark (disambiguation) A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment (and considered by many to be the best) in the Pink Panther series. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Inspector Clouseau is a 1968 United Artists feature film, the third in the popular Pink Panther movie series. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in North America by United Artists and in Europe by ITC Entertainment in 1975. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series and continues the story after the end of The Return of the Pink Panther. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series and last with Peter Sellers, though a later film in the series (Trail of the Pink Panther) used Sellers footage compiled from previous Panther movies. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Trail of the Pink Panther was a 1982 movie starring Peter Sellers. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... Curse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film, the eighth installment of the Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... The Pink Panther is a 2006 comedy film. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... MGM has begun production on a sequel to the 2006 box office hit The Pink Panther. ... 2009 (MMIX) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other films

The Romance of the Pink Panther was to be the seventh film in the Pink Panther series, and would have starred Peter Sellers in the role of Chief-inspector Clouseau in his sixth Panther appearance. ... Son of the Pink Panther (1993) was the ninth entry in the 30-year-old Pink Panther film series. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...

Contents

Character

The Pink Panther (2006)

Filmography (and actors playing Clouseau)

Other films

See also