Virginian Pilot
Such a fool!
Such a bumbling, incompetent idiot.
Pardon me, but we have to laugh when he gives a driver a parking ticket and gets his arm shut up in the window of the escaping car.
We're talking, of course, about Inspector Clouseau, the egotistical French detective with the Pepe le Pew accent. We are not, most assuredly, talking about silver-haired Steve Martin.
He has been declared the comic genius of his generation - even though he has never been nominated for an Academy Award. He has written books, including his most recent memoir, "Born Standing Up." He has written plays, including "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" and "The Underpants," both staged at local theaters.
He plays the banjo and juggles. As an actor, he has won the New York Film Critics award for "All of Me" and critical acclaim for "Roxanne." He hosted the Oscars one year, only to come across as more sophisticated than comedic.
He collects art - multimillion dollars' worth of Picassos, Seurats and Edward Hoppers - often on view in his own gallery in Las Vegas.
Anyway you shake it, this dude has got to be pretty smart.
So what's he doing playing the supreme boob, Inspector Clouseau, in "The Pink Panther 2," or "Pink Panther Deux" as the French would say?
Showing every sign of shameless bravura, Martin spoke to us recently at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York and claimed that "Pink Panther 2" is not a steal from Peter Sellers, who originated the role in 1963. "We have attempted to make it our own and, honestly, I don't think we are the same. I am the third actor to play him, and I think that other actors will play him later. Like James Bond and Hamlet, he can be played by different actors."
Ironically, it was actress Ava Gardner, cast to play Madame Clouseau in the original film, who brought about a change in that casting. When she read the script she declared it "too silly" and backed out. This prompted Peter Ustinov, the original choice for Clouseau, to also back out. Sellers stepped in, with French model Capucine playing his wife.