who played chief inspector charles dreyfus
Herbert Lom dies at 95; played Chief Inspector Dreyfus in 'Pink Panther' movies. Dennis McLellan, Los Angeles Times. Herbert Lom, the actor who played Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movies and was memorably reduced to eye-twitching madness dealing with Peter Sellers' imbecilic Inspector Clouseau, has died. He was 95. Lom died Thursday in his sleep at his London home, said the actor's son Alec.
In the re-launch, the role of Cato was offered to Jackie 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.