Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)

Subject: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: Arthur_itus
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 02:22 PM

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12013186

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: GUEST, Tom Bliss
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 02:35 PM

Poor old Julie.

I think of her as a friend though we never really met properly. She used to live just round the corner from us in Alderney and we used to see her in the corner shop. Both me (aged 9) and my Dad were smitten. (Not sure if Blake ever visited - this may have been just before they met).

She bought the house after being told about the island by Tim (TH) White, when he guested on her TV show, to talk about a musical that was being made from his book 'The Once and Future King" (they called it 'Camelot').

Her story (I believe): Tim was a huge man with flowing white mane and beard. One day some Jehovah's Witnesses visited the island and knocked on Tim's door. What do you want? He growled.

We're Jehovah's Witnesses, they ventured.

Tim breaks into a massive beaming smile and spreads his arms wide.

Splendid! He booms. I'm Jehovah! How are we doing?

Subject: Obit: Movie director Blake Edwards
From: Genie
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 02:54 PM

Great story, Tom.

Sad to hear of Blake Edwards's passing.   
He left us a lot of laughs via films like The Pink Panther series.
Not sure how much he was involved with music except for being married to Julie Andrews.


Condolences to the family.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 02:58 PM

But as soon as you see the words Pink Panther you hear the music...
Kitty

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: bubblyrat
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 03:15 PM

....written by Henry Mancini, who ,apparently,was less than impressed when Tony Newley "stole" the first few bars of "Moon River" when composing the "Goldfinger" theme !!
            Blake Edwards, like Hitchcock, had "cameos" in his ( Pink Panther) films, but I could never figure out who he was !!

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: fat B****rd
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 03:43 PM

The Sellers Clouseau films are my favourites. It's onl'y when a posthumous list of a persons work is published that you realize how many class films the man made.. RIP Mr. Edwards

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 03:46 PM

Sad, but what is even sadder, is the need to couple his name with that of his wife.
He was a famous and well respected director, and not Mr Julie Andrews.
I'm pretty sure that when the thread was started, it didn't include her name.
Does that mean cloned editing yet again?

RIP Blake

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:03 PM

Or maybe just to keep it above the line as music-related?

Kitty

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:14 PM

The first Blake Edwards movie I remember scared the pants off of me. It was "Experiment in Terror" with Lee Remick, Glenn Ford and Ross Martin as a really creepy bank robber with asthma. Music by Mancini of course - and using a hammer dulcimer if I'm not mistaken.

He'll be missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: gnu
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:15 PM

In any case, great job(s) Blake... thanks and RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards RIP
From: Wesley S
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 04:28 PM

Experiment in Terror

Theme and film clips { with spoilers }

Subject: RE: Obit: celebrated director Blake Edwards RIP
From: Genie
Date: 16 Dec 10 - 10:45 PM

John,
"Sad, but what is even sadder, is the need to couple his name with that of his wife.
He was a famous and well respected director, and not Mr Julie Andrews."

That's why in my posts I've changed the subject line to refer to Edwards as a film director, not Julie Andrews's spouse.

"Breakfast At Tiffany's" is still one of my favorite movies.

Subject: RE: Obit:Julie Andrews husband Blake Edwards 1922-2010
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 03:44 AM

He introduced us all to Bo Derek! Say no more!

Subject: RE: Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 04:57 PM

Didn't introduce me to Bo Derek :(

Subject: RE: Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 06:25 PM

The current thread title seems to be a pretty good compromise. I don't know which volunteer to credit for the title change. You can look at the first message to see what the title was originally.

Making thread titles for a global audience can be a big challenge. Our policy is that thread titles should clearly reflect the contents of a thread, giving the reader information needed to decide whether or not to open the thread. The title also needs to be distinctive, so it's reasonably easy to tell one thread from another. If the thread title does not meet these criteria, we change it.

Obituary threads need to have the "obit" tag, the person's name, and preferable a one-word description. Obit: Director Blake Edwards, 1922-2010 would have been ideal, including the birth and death years or date of death added if there's room. We really have no need to make people guess about thread contents.

Yeah, the thread originator's inclusion of the name of Julie Andrews might be too much in the eyes of some, but I can't see it as horribly pedantic (and some of our volunteers have occasionally changed other thread titles to the point where they reek of pedantry). At least, in the current iteration, the importance of the name of Julie Andrews is toned down. Funny, though, that nobody saw a need for the obituary for Elizabeth Edwards to include the name of her infamous spouse in the thread title (and I'm glad it didn't). Blake Edwards certainly must be better-known that Elizabeth.

But as for Blake Edwards: I think he was almost as instrumental as Peter Sellers was, in the success of the legendary Pink Panther series; but directors rarely get the credit that actors get. Blake Edwards was responsible for a large number of very enjoyable films, and he is every bit as much a legend as his legendary spouse.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 07:16 PM

His hilarious Oscar acceptance.

Blake and Julie had a lot to be proud of individually and together. It doesn't diminish one to couple them with the other. They were one of the more robust Hollywood couples around.

He did a lot of good work, he lived a rich, long, full life. He will be missed.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: director Blake Edwards 1922-2010
From: Genie
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 04:14 PM

Unfortunately, I think if you just said "Blake Edwards" without saying "director" or mentioning Julie Andrews, most Americans would probably not know who he was or would be wondering "Where have I heard that name before?"   Elizabeth Edwards, by contrast, has been in the news a lot over the past few years, especially since the news of John's affair and of her cancer, so at least in 2010 I'd say more Americans would recognize the name right off.
You are right that movie directors (like lyricists, I'd say) often do not get the recognition and credit they deserve for their work.   If you say "Blake Edwards, who brought us such films as The Pink Panther, Breakfast At Tiffany's, and Ten," we'd all say, "Oh, yeah, the great director Blake Edwards." But when your name hasn't been in the news much for a decade or longer, you pretty soon cease to be a household name.   

I still think the thread title should say "director." That's more important than whose spouse he was. (If Edwards had not been celebrated in his own right, no one would probably know the name of Julie Andrews's husband.)
If the thread title is supposed to indicate the content, I think "director" is more imporant than 1922-2010. But that's JMHO.

Genie

Subject: RE: Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 04:19 PM

This American would have had no such problem. And his honorary Oscar was just a couple of years ago, so he has made a blip in the news feed. Edwards and Andrews have worked together many times, so it doesn't dismiss him to mention her, but I think by leaving Andrews in the title it sells short the ability of the U.S. crowd to keep track of their favorite film directors.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)
From: Stringsinger
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 05:12 PM

I worked for him in Hollywood playing on a sound track for "The Wild Rovers" an autoharp.
I went into the control room to hear the playback and encountered a contretemps between Blake Edwards and the composer for the score Jerry Goldsmith. It became quite heated and they swore that they'd never work together again. It was over a scene where the cowboys in the film are breaking in a horse. It was an education for me about how Hollywood invests in silly bickering and calls it artistic control.

It was a lose-lose situation. Doubt if many even heard of or saw the film. The horse may or may not have been broken but the film was.

Subject: RE: Obit: Blake Edwards 1922-2010 (m. Julie Andrews)
From: GUEST,jeff
Date: 18 Dec 10 - 07:46 PM

Before they met Blake Edwards was quoted at a 'Hollywood' party as saying that 'Julie Andrews has lilacs for pubic hairs'. Subsequently, she rang him up to give him the business and accepted an offer to go to dinner. The rest, as often said is history.

2 of my top five favorite films are Blake Edwards' films: Victor/Vicotria and S.O.B. He was really a brilliant guy and the world is less without him.