Academy to Present an Evening with Blake Edwards

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will present “An Evening with Blake Edwards,” which will include a screening of his Hollywood satire “S.O.B.” (1981), on Thursday, September 30, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Edwards will reflect on his comedic philosophy and career in an onstage conversation with Oscar®-winning producer and former Academy President Walter Mirisch.

Over a very diverse and lengthy career, Edwards has made many of Hollywood's funniest movies with his unique sensibility on display in titles including “Breakfast at Tiffany's,” “The Pink Panther,” “The Great Race,” “The Party,” “10” and “Victor/Victoria.”

“S.O.B.,” Edwards's poke in Hollywood's eye, stars Julie Andrews, William Holden, Marisa Berenson, Larry Hagman, Robert Loggia, Stuart Margolin, Richard Mulligan and Robert Preston.

This program is presented as an installment of the Jack Oakie Celebration of Comedy in Film, which provides opportunities for established filmmakers and historians to share their experiences and to discuss the specific challenges and delights of the comedy film genre. The series is named in memory of character actor Jack Oakie, whose career included vaudeville, Broadway musicals and 87 pictures, most of them comedies or musical comedies. His career included such notable films as “Once in a Lifetime,” “Million Dollar Legs” and “It Happened Tomorrow,” and was crowned by his portrayal of a Mussolini-like head of state in “The Great Dictator,” for which Oakie received an Academy Award nomination.

Tickets to “An Evening with Blake Edwards” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at the 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

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