Herbert Lom, who played stressed-out boss of Inspector Clouseau in "Pink Panther" films, has died

Czech-born actor Herbert Lom, best known as the weary boss of Inspector Clouseau in the Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies, died today at 95 years of age.

His son Alec Lom told the Associated Press that his dad "died peacefully in his sleep at home in London."

A two-part series of clips on YouTube:

Part 1, and Part 2.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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He did a lot more than the Pink Panther movies. His IMDB listing shows an amazing movie and TV repertoire. That includes movies like “Spartacus” and “El Cid”.
- BarBarSeven
  
  You’re saying that as if he wasn’t proud of being in the Pink Panther films. That stuff is 100% classic stuff & he loved performing as Chief Inspector Dreyfus.
  - http://disqus.com/Kimmoth/ Kimmo
    
    Glad to hear it; his portrayals of Chief Inspector Dreyfus are amongst some of my fondest memories of cinema.
    
    Vale Lom.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Also a patriarchal, yet sexy, Captain Nemo in The Mysterious Island.
  
  Edit: There was an image attached to this yesterday and now it’s gone.
- Felton / Moderator
  
  My favorite is still The Ladykillers. R.I.P., Mr. Lom.
- Boundegar
  
  The Phantom of the Opera!
BarBarSeven

Wow, this really saddens me. Going to see Pink Panther films with my dad was a favorite childhood memory. R.I.P.

And this funeral video seems quite appropriate. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s66VNF5-624
retepslluerb

For someone under that much stress, he got pretty old.
enterthestory

Is there a video without the loud music? I’m listening on a cheap net book against the sound of traffic, and can’t make out the words.

Loved his work though. RIP
- retepslluerb
  
  Just move to Germany. All videos above are blocked thanks to the Google/Gema-cockfight.
Lodewijk Gonggrijp

I owe a lot of laughs to this man, RIP
huskerdont

Here in the U.S. I don’t think it was ever shown, but he also starred in a British series called The Human Jungle. I think youtube has a couple of episodes up.
Gtmac

He also played Yaskov in the wonderful and underrated Hopscotch opposite Walter Matthau.
- huskerdont
  
  Such a great movie–one of my all-time faves.
http://twitter.com/HooplaHappens Crimea River

Besides the Pink Panther movies, one of my favorite roles of his was as Christopher Walken’s rehab doctor in “The Dead Zone.”
- Felton / Moderator
  
  I love the scene in which Walken asks him if he’d kill Hitler, if he could go back in time and had the chance:
  
  “All right. All right. I’ll give you an answer. I’m a man of medicine. I’m expected to save lives and ease suffering. I love people. Therefore, I would have no choice but to kill the son of a bitch.”
- planettom
  
  Maybe most impressive — Despite having practically memorized the various PINK PANTHER movies, I never connected that was Herbert Lom in THE DEAD ZONE.
jimh

Lom was definitely one of the best slow burns in the biz! Maybe second only to Ted Knight. What great fun it was to watch him go mad.
Brent Kirkham

He also wrote an excellent book call “Dr. Guillotine” I seem to recall.