American director Blake Edwards dies at 88

Hollywood film director Blake Edwards has passed away at the St John's Medical Health Centre in Santa Monica, southern California, at the age of 88, his publicist has announced.

The American screenwriter and producer died on Wednesday night (December 15th) of complications from pneumonia, with his wife Dame Julie Andrews and their family by his side.

According to his publicist Gene Schwam, the Pink Panther and Breakfast at Tiffany's creator had been receiving hospital treatment for two weeks prior to his death.

He paid tribute to his friend of 40 years, saying: "His heart was as big as his talent. He was an Academy Award winner in all respects."

Despite his remarkable achievements in cinema, Edwards never won an Academy Award for any of his films, although he was given an honorary Oscar in 2004 for his "extraordinary body of work".

Edwards, who married Andrews in 1969, is survived by the Sound of Music star and his four children, two of whom are from his first marriage to Patricia Walker, while the other two were adopted.