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The following is a list of characters fromThe Pink Panther feature film andcartoon series.
List indicators
- This table shows the recurring characters and the actors who have physically or vocally portrayed them throughout the franchise.
- A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's presence in the film has not yet been announced.
- AA indicates a role through use of footage from previously released media, with no new footage recorded.
- AD indicates an appearance in scenes deleted from the initial version of the film.
- AP indicates an appearance through photographs and/ or likeness.
- AV indicates a voice-only role, with new vocal footage recorded.
Jacques Clouseau is a clumsy, incompetent, but zealous policeman and detective. A scene inRevenge of the Pink Panther shows him wearing the full dress uniform of anInspecteur divisionnaire orChef inspecteur divisionnaire (as top offices of an usual inspector's career; both ranks roughly equal to a Police Major orSuperintendent). He speaksEnglish—with a ludicrousFrenchaccent—while other characters speak English, often with their own accents. Clouseau's accent is not emphasized in the first film, but fromA Shot in the Dark onwards, the exaggerated accent became part of the joke. It has been suggested that portraying the incompetent policeman as French is based on a British stereotype of the French police or even the French population as a whole.
Peter Sellers, the actor portraying Clouseau, remarked that, in his opinion, Clouseau knew he was a buffoon, but had an incredible knack for survival. Sheerluck or clumsiness usually saves him, as in the first film wherein a farcical car chase around a fountain results in the collision of all the vehicles and the capture of the thieves. This approach accelerates, with Clouseau falling down stairs, falling into pools and fountains, causing fires and disasters, and even beingbombed repeatedly, an idea worked intoSteve Martin's portrayal of the character. InThe Pink Panther Strikes Again, assassins from all over the world are sent to kill Clouseau, whereupon he moves from their target at just the right moment to ensure that the killers eliminate one another. InTrail of the Pink Panther, we see that duringWorld War II, Clouseau fought in theFrench Resistance, but the flashbacks only serve to reiterate the fact that Clouseau can survive anything despite, or perhaps due to, his incompetence.
Inspector Clouseau is a patriotic Frenchman whose country is professedly his highest priority, has been prone to infatuation (often reciprocated) after being cuckolded by Sir Charles Lytton, and is repeatedly perplexed by transvestites, to the extent that he addresses them as "Sir or Madame."
The role was originated and developed byPeter Sellers over the years but has also been played byAlan Arkin (inInspector Clouseau),Daniel Peacock and Lucca Mezzofonti (as younger versions in flashbacks inTrail of the Pink Panther),Roger Moore (in a cameo appearance at the conclusion ofCurse of the Pink Panther), and Steve Martin (in the 2006Pink Panther film and its2009 sequel).
Clouseau's superior, Charles Dreyfus, was introduced inA Shot in the Dark, wherein his door label identifies him as aCommissaire divisionnaire (Police colonel orChief Superintendent) of theBrigade criminelle. He is constantly driven to distraction by Clouseau's bungling and is eventually driven insane. InThe Return of the Pink Panther, Dreyfus holds the rank of Chief Inspector—but again becomes insane by the end of the film—which shows Dreyfus straitjacketed in a padded cell, writing "Kill Clouseau" on the wall (with his toes). As inA Shot in the Dark, Dreyfus initially suffers a variety of personal injuries (involving his gun and a cigarette lighter of a similar shape and accidentally cutting off his thumb with a cigar cutter)---before accidentally strangling his therapist while fantasizing Clouseau's death, then trying to assassinate Clouseau with a sniper's rifle. InThe Pink Panther Strikes Again, Dreyfus is about to be released from an asylum after a complete recovery; however, within five minutes of Clouseau's arrival to speak to the board on Dreyfus' behalf, he suffers a variety of injuries, causing him to relapse. Then Dreyfus escapes the asylum and kidnaps a scientist, forcing him to build adisintegrator ray to intimidate the rest of the world into attempting to assassinate Clouseau. Dreyfus appears to disintegrate at the end ofStrikes Again, but subsequently (and without any explanation) re-appears inRevenge of the Pink Panther and is reinstated Chief Inspector when Clouseau is mistakenly declared dead. ActorHerbert Lom gave his character a pronounced tic which occurred under particular stress, and an accompanying childlike giggle when plotting Clouseau's murder.
The Dreyfus character seems to get a quasi-reboot at the beginning of each new film as he mysteriously re-appears as Clouseau's superior, most often without explanation, after committing various heinous crimes. At the conclusion ofA Shot in the Dark he is revealed to have murdered 10 people in his zeal to rid himself of Clouseau (and confesses so), yet he returns as Chief Inspector inReturn of the Pink Panther. The character is killed off at the end ofThe Pink Panther Strikes Again, but again inexplicably returns in the sequel,Revenge of the Pink Panther.
InSon of the Pink Panther, Dreyfus (a Commissioner once again) deals with Clouseau's equally buffoonish son Jacques Gambrelli, but he is more tolerant of Gambrelli. At the end of the film, Dreyfus weds Clouseau's former lover Maria Gambrelli (Jacques Gambrelli's mother) but is shocked to learn that Clouseau and Maria conceived twins: Jacques and Jacqueline Gambrelli.
In the 2006rebootThe Pink Panther, Dreyfus (again as Chief Inspector) uses Clouseau as a decoy while he himself attempts to solve the crimes. Dreyfus merely views Clouseau as an idiot and never attempts to have him killed, whereas Clouseau attacks his employer at one point, mistaking his identity. Later in the film, Dreyfus is dragged accidentally behind Clouseau'sSmart Car and appears in the hospital, where Clouseau's bumbling causes him to fall out of a window. In the 2009 sequelThe Pink Panther 2, Dreyfus plays a much smaller role than in the previous film and is less hostile towards Clouseau.
Dreyfus was played by Herbert Lom in theBlake Edwards films, and byKevin Kline in the 2006 film. He was played byJohn Cleese in the 2009 sequel.
Cato (spelled "Kato" inA Shot in the Dark as a tribute toKato in theGreen Hornet television series) is Clouseau's manservant, and an expert inmartial arts. It is unclear whether he believes Clouseau to be a great detective or whether he merely humors him. It is arunning joke that he is instructed to attack Clouseau unexpectedly, to keep Clouseau's combat skills and vigilance sharp. Cato often takes these instructions to the point of ambushing Clouseau in his own house or at times when Clouseau obviously would prefer not to be disturbed. If they are interrupted during such an attack (as by a telephone call), Cato ceases to project the image of assailant and becomes a well-disciplinedvalet. Regardless of who comes off worse in the actual battle (and it is Clouseau who is more often humiliated, since Cato's ambushes usually do take him by surprise) Clouseau always gets his revenge on Cato by dealing him asucker blow after it seems the fight is over.
In later films, Cato helps Clouseau on some cases, as inHong Kong, when Clouseau takes advantage of his own assumed death to determine the identity of his would-be killer. Here, Cato wears spectacles as a disguise but collides with various objects when thespectacles impair hisvision.
InRevenge, Cato, believing his master to be dead, runs a covertbrothel in Clouseau's apartment: the entrance password is "Inspector Clouseau", which causes a humorous scene when the true Inspector Clouseau appears. Cato opens another brothel inCurse of the Pink Panther, and converts Clouseau's apartment into amuseum featuring all the disguises the inspector has worn over the years.
In the earlier series, Cato was played byBurt Kwouk. In the re-launch, the role of Cato was offered toJackie Chan, but the character was later scrapped for fear that the Chinese stereotype would be offensive, and Cato was replaced by a new character, Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno), assigned by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to watch over Clouseau. In a reversal of the Cato-Clouseau relationship, Clouseau often attacks Ponton unexpectedly, only to be stopped by a single blow.
François, Dreyfus' assistant, generally observes his boss' interactions with Clouseau (and subsequent emotional breakdowns) with placid bemusement.André Maranne, a French actor, played François in six Panther films. InSon of the Pink Panther, he was replaced byDermot Crowley. InA Shot in the Dark,Trail of the Pink Panther andCurse of the Pink Panther he is referred to as Sergeant François Duval whereas in the three sequels of the 1970s he is Sergeant François Chevalier. In the2006 reboot, Philip Goodwin plays a similar character named Renard. Goodwin returned as Renard in the 2009 sequel.
"The Phantom" is a jewel thief, Clouseau's archenemy (after Dreyfus) in several of the films and known to the public as Sir Charles Lytton. He serves as the primary villain of the first film, at the end of which (and with help from Clouseau's wife and an exiled princess) he frames Clouseau for his past robberies and has him temporarily sent to prison. This ignites Clouseau's thirst for revenge in the third Sellers/Edwards film, in which the Pink Panther is stolen from a museum.
In the first film he was played byDavid Niven, and inReturn byChristopher Plummer. In later films, an aging and frail Niven made cameo appearances in the role, with his voice dubbed by impressionistRich Little. In these later films, Lytton is supposed to have been married to Clouseau's ex-wife after the events of the firstPink Panther, even though inReturn, his wife had been a different character, yet seemingly familiar with Clouseau (seeing through, and laughing at, his disguises). InThe Pink Panther 2, the diamond is stolen by a similar master thief, "the Tornado" (Johnny Hallyday).
Professor Auguste Balls is an eccentric shop owner who supplies Clouseau with his numerous disguises. He was portrayed byGraham Stark inRevenge of the Pink Panther andSon of the Pink Panther, whileHarvey Korman played him inTrail of the Pink Panther andCurse of the Pink Panther. Although Korman was the first actor to portray Balls, his scenes inThe Pink Panther Strikes Again were cut and were not used untilTrail of the Pink Panther six years later.
Professor Balls has a wife, Martha (Liz Smith), and an assistant, Cunny (Danny Schiller), who make brief appearances.
| The Little Man | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Pink Phink (1964) |
| Created by | David DePatie Friz Freleng |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
TheLittle Man, sometimes known asBig Nose, is astock character best known for appearing in the originalPink Panther shorts created byDavid DePatie andFriz Freleng. He is considered the mainantagonist of the Pink Panther series.[1][2]
The Little Man first appeared in 1964 in the first entry of thePink Panther animated series,The Pink Phink. The Little Man was actually known by the animators at DePatie-Freleng as "Big Nose" and was originally created as a spoof and was done as a caricature of Friz Freleng as a joke. The character became a foil for the Pink Panther and appeared throughout the series in its 16-year duration.[1][2]
The Little Man appears in various roles throughout the entire original series. He seldom speaks and has a distinctive big nose, and he is usually white in color but sometimes given a Caucasian shading. In some cases, he seems to be wearing nothing, but in other cases, he wears a costume (or at least ahat) fitting to his role in the cartoon. Several cartoons depict him with a white dog as his pet.[1][2]
While he resemblesInspector Clouseau in the animated opening credits ofPink Panther films as well asthat character's own cartoon series, the Little Man is usually said to be a caricature ofFriz Freleng, with his mustache, short stature, and equally short temper. (These same characteristics of Freleng had previously served as an inspiration for Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoon characterYosemite Sam.)[1][2]
The Little Man makes a cameo in the 1970 short "Bridgework", starringRoland and Rattfink, another pair of characters created by DePatie-Freleng. Here, he is voiced byLennie Weinrib.[1][2]
The Little Man appears in the 1993 TV seriesThe Pink Panther where he is voiced byWallace Shawn. He goes by various names and fills multiple roles as he does in the shorts.[1][2]
The Little Man also appears in theCartoon Network showPink Panther and Pals as a main character and main antagonist in the entire series (here renamed asBig Nose). He always has a plan to get rid of the teenaged Panther in an antagonistic manner, but the Panther consistently foils his plans. Sometimes his dog tries to get rid of the Pink Panther, only to side with the Pink Panther later in the short.[1][2]
