On the set, Blake Edwards’ eyes would start twinkling and out came an ‘incredible sense of humor’

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There was no shortage of Blake Edwards collaborators willing to talk to The Times on Thursday about the director, who died Wednesday at age 88. Here are the recollections of three of them:

Elke Sommer, who starred with Peter Sellers in the 1964 film “A Shot in the Dark’: Edwards’ talent was ‘undisputable’ but ‘he was not always easy, as Peter would have told you if he was alive.’ He ‘had this incredible sense of humor, which he displayed by directing. It didn’t come out as much if you had dinner with him. He wasn’t funny at all. But on the set, his eyes started twinkling and he would display this incredible sense of humor. He was incredibly blessed with his wife, his talent, with what he did. He was one of the .0001% of us who is really blessed to have it all.’

Bo Derek, who found fame after starring in ‘10’:

‘He was so brilliant and it was such a wonderful environment’ on the set. ‘It was a shock, after ‘10’ that not all movies are like a Blake Edwards set.’ Filming ‘was fun and he was such a dynamic person. He was very genuine. There wasn’t anything fake about him. Being fake sort of goes with the industry normally.’

Walter Mirisch, a producer who made the “Pink Panther” movies and others with Edwards: ‘Aside from his huge comedic gifts, his dramatic pictures, like ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ and ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ are really outstanding and really mark an extraordinary career of one of the really few, great writer-directors of 20th century movies. He was a delight. He was a lifelong friend. He was just a wonderful guy. I enjoyed him.’

-- Valerie J. Nelson