While not everybody knows his name, most people recognize his movies. Director and screenwriter Blake Edwards was the orchestrator of the hilarious “Pink Panther” series featuring the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, the gender changing trickery in “Victor/Victoria,” and the embodiment of man’s fantasy female in “10.”

Celebrating his life and glories and his 41-year marriage to actress Julie Andrews, “American Masters” offers “Blake Edwards: a Love Story in 24 Frames” via PBS Aug. 27.

The documentary features not only Andrews, Bo Derek, who starred in “10,” and Lesley Ann Warren, who earned an Academy Award nomination for “Victor/Victoria,” but several modern directors who learned from the wizard behind the clapperboard.

Andrews says there was no magic contributing to their long-term marriage. “If there’s a secret we decided — because it was a second marriage for both of us — that we would take it a day at a time. Not go for the long haul, just deal with today, one day at a time,” she says.

“Any marriage has its ups and downs, and it’s a graph as life is, but that’s not a bad level to go by. Don’t have fantasies about the future, just deal with today. Don’t say, ‘One day we’ll be happy.’ or ‘One day let’s do this,’ or, ‘When we’re 92 we’ll do such-and-such.’ Just deal with today and try to make it work.”

They did make it work until Edwards’ death in 2010.

Warren remembers working with Edwards on “Victor/Victoria.” “The experience with him was so unique for me, before and after. I've actually never experienced the kind of civility and grace and comfortability on a set,” she says.

“When I was doing ‘Victor/Victoria,’ he believed that people couldn't be funny after 10 hours of shooting. That's what he said to us. So he brought us — because of the mental acuity and the spontaneity and ... you get tired.

“And so he would bring us in at eight and we'd be out of makeup by 10, 10:30, whatever. And we would stop shooting at five. And because we shot in England, there was a tea trolley that came around at four o'clock, which is incredibly great,” she says.

“And never again have I experienced that kind of understanding of what it takes to do the work from a director and the higher-ups. Because I've shot 19-hour days and more. So that, that changed. It was an incredible gift, but it also changed my perception of how things could work but generally don't.”

For Derek, the role in “10” was one of her first. She recalls, “I had no agent. It all came from a mutual friend who had seen Blake Edwards at dinner, and he said he was looking for this girl. And she thought I should go in ... I'd never been on an interview before, so I just went in and met some nice people. (Producer) Tony Adams was there, Blake was there, (casting director) Lynn Stalmaster was there. And I found them all very nice. And I went home, and I had the part.”

Warren was more familiar with Edwards when she got the call. “I had seen ‘Breakfast at Tiffany's’ 11 times, so I was already a gigantic fan. And ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ and obviously the ‘Pink Panther’ movies. It was a huge deal,” she recalls.

“I didn't audition, which was insane. My agent at the time, called me and said, ‘You have to go in and meet Blake for this role.’ And I hadn't read the script or anything. And I said, ‘Well, I can't go in today. I've got braids and I've got a baseball cap on.’

“He said, ‘No, you have to go in right now because he's leaving for London tomorrow.’ And so I did, and we had just what Bo said, basically. He was so comfortable. He made me feel so comfortable. And we had great laughs about how Julie (Andrews) and I had just done ‘Cinderella,’ just a great talk. And, in the meeting, he said, ‘Do you want to do this role?’ And I said, ‘I'll do anything you want me to do.’ So, I went home, read it. I mean, I would have done anything, anyway, but I was thrilled.”

While Warren was thrilled to snag the part of the spunky chorus girl in the film, she was horrified when she saw it. “He had a small screening at his home for just the principal characters, the principal people: Julie (Andrews) and Jimmy (Garner), and just the principal actors, myself included. And it was the first time I saw the film and saw what I had done, and I was mortified. I was totally mortified. I’m not kidding. Everybody was laughing and having a great time, and he said, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, ‘Can I call you tomorrow?’ I mean, I went into my car, and I was crying. I thought this is the end, I’ve ruined my career.”

“The end” turned out to be an Academy Award nomination for Warren.

Byrne stars as Irish dramatist

Gabriel Byrne is starring as playwright Samuel Beckett in the film, “Dance First” which arrives to video-on-demand Friday. The Irish actor known for such projects as “Excalibur,” “Miller's Crossing,” “The Usual Suspects” and “In Treatment,” tells me he didn’t plan on being an actor.

He was a teacher for four years. “I was late in deciding 'cause I never thought I could be an actor, never thought in the world I lived in. I didn't know any actors. I might as well have become a nuclear physicist. I didn't understand how you got into it or anything about it,” he says.

“I was always going to the pictures. I was teaching, and one day one of the girls said, ‘We've decided we want a drama class.’ I said, ‘Let's go and ask the head mistress.’ The head mistress said, ‘We have no money. I can't afford to get a drama teacher.’’ She said, ‘Why don't you do it?’ I said, ‘I don't know anything about it.’ But she said, ‘You've always been interested in theater.’ So I got a coupla books and we started doing plays that they (the students) made up.

“And I directed and helped them write and we put them on for the parents. We had a big premiere every year. At one of these, one of boys got sick. (He taught at a girls’ school, it was a co-production with a boys’ school), and I was the only one who knew his lines. So I had to go on. So I went on in the part. One of guys who was there was a director with the Abbey Theatre. He said, ‘If you ever give up teaching, you should think about doing this.’ That summer I left and became an actor.”

Disney offers new bundle

Families don’t suffer enough confusion when it comes to streaming and how to find programs. Now Disney+, Hulu and Max are cozying up into a single streaming bundle for $16.99 with ads and a hefty $29.99 without ads.

The new bundle will feature shows like “Family Guy, “The Avengers,” “Star Wars” and “Toy Story” along with WB Discovery’s “Batman,” “Game of Thrones" and the ever popular “Harry Potter.” Subscribers will also get their first glance at Hulu’s super successful, “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 arriving Aug. 27.

It’s no secret people are cutting their cable and finding a better experience with streaming. It’s because the ads on cable have become so intrusive and relentless. When you ask the cable CEOs why so many ads, they claim they are consistent with networks. But they’re NOT counting the house ads — those that advertise their own product. A recent viewing of a one-hour cable show contained 50 commercials — including many house ads.

Some of these cable programs earn a second life on one of the ad-inclusive streamers where the advertisements are less frequent and less obtrusive. Of course, the ideal is to pay the extra fee and stream ad-free but that’s costly for many people. And the fees keep going up. Disney plans to increase its streaming prices this fall.

And while it might sound like PBS to the rescue with its streaming site, most of the desired programs are not free, but are only included with PBS Passport – its streaming subscription service which they call a "donation" at $60 a year (check local stations). Not only does PBS hustle viewers with their pledge drives two to four times a year, most folk don’t realize that they are already contributing to PBS with their taxes.

Nick Jonas hones his acting chops

Nick Jonas is starring as a man who needs to learn about life and loss in the new film “The Good Half,” landing in theaters Friday. Jonas, who earned his first accolades as a musician, tells me, “I think there is something to be said about a real hunger to continue to grow. I think that’s something that has been really helpful in my life. My drive, my sort of vision of myself, and what I see in the future. But I’ve learned to chill out a lot. I think when I was younger, it was a bit of a debilitating thing. Now it’s something I can take with a grain of salt knowing that I'm always going to work hard and apply myself. But if I'm not having fun, what’s the point, really, if I'm not enjoying what I'm doing? I'm in a unique position to do that in both music and acting.”

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