He is the unique character actor of Pink Panther: Who is Herbert Lom?
He is as great an actor as Peter Sellers, the shape his face takes when Clouseau is mentioned, the way his left eye begins to twitch, and the short and sickly smiles are the product of a talent that is difficult to imitate.
(11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), Czech film and theater actor.
He was born in 1917 in Prague, which is within the borders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now the capital of the Czech Republic.
He started his acting career with theater in his hometown and continued with cinema after his first film "Zena Pod Krizem" in 1937.
He emigrated to England in 1938. He starred in 112 films throughout his cinema and television career, which he continued actively until 2004.
Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom, was a Czech-British actor with a career spanning over 60 years. His cool demeanour and precise, elegant elocution saw him cast as criminals or suave villains in his younger years, and professional men and nobles as he aged. Highly versatile, he also proved a skilled comic actor in The Pink Panther franchise, playing the beleaguered Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in seven films.
Herbert Lom played angry villains on the big screen, mostly as a character actor and occasionally as a leading actor.
Although he has appeared in many important films, what made him famous worldwide is his role as Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus, the crazy superior of the clumsy Inspector Clouseau, whom he played in the Pink Panther films.
Film historian and critic Leonard Maltin called him the British equivalent of Charles Boyer. Although Herbert Lom, who is physically very similar to Charles Boyer, was always held in high esteem, he did not receive many leading role offers. On the other hand, he was an indispensable actor in character roles.