'Pink Panther' actor Herbert Lom dead at 95

GlobalPost

Herbert Lom, the Czech-born actor best known for his role as the long-suffering supervisor of Inspector Clouseau in the “Pink Panther” movies, died today. He was 95.

The Associated Press reported Lom, whose acting career spanned eight decades and more than 100 films, “died peacefully” in his sleep at home in London.

Lom was a versatile actor, according to the Los Angeles Times. During his long career he appeared in horror, historical dramas and comedies.

In the 1950s he starred in “The Ladykillers” and “Fire Down Below,” the BBC reported.

But it was his role as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, the twitching, irritated boss of the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau played by Peter Sellers in the “Pink Panther” film series, for which he is best known for, the Washington Post said.

"It was a godsend when I was offered the part," he said of the role, the BBC reported. "But it did become a double-edged sword as people started to associate me with Dreyfus."

Bloomberg reported that Lom, whose full name was Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru, began his acting career in Prague in the 1930s.

He moved to London in 1939 several months before the Germans invaded his homeland.

Lom was married three times and had three children, according to the Independent. 

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