since the first film, in which his antagonist cuckolds him. Sellers maintained that Clouseau's ego made the character's klutziness funnier, in the attempt to remain elegant and refined while causing chaos. Clouseau's faux French accent became much more exaggerated in the later films (for example, pronouncing "room" as "reum"; "Pope" as "Peup"; "bomb" as "beumb"; and "bumps" as "beumps"), and a frequent running gag in the movies was that even French characters had difficulty understanding what he was saying. Clouseau's immense ego, eccentricity, exaggerated French accent, and prominent mustache were derived from Hercule Poirot, the fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. In his earliest appearances, Clouseau appears slightly less inept than in the later films; but even in his first appearance he believes himself a skilled violinist, but plays out of tune, and often appears clumsy at his moments of highest dignity. Films The Pink Panther (1963) Jacques Clouseau makes his first appearance as the Inspector in the 1963 film The Pink Panther, which was released in the United States in March 1964. The movie is centered on David Niven's role as Sir Charles Lytton, the infamous jewel thief nicknamed "the Phantom", and his plan to steal the Pink Panther diamond from a vacationing princess. The Clouseau character was a supporting, comedic role as Lytton's incompetent and oblivious antagonist. Clouseau's wife Simone (Capucine), is secretly Sir Charles's lover and accomplice, and departs with him at the end of the film after they have framed Clouseau for the theft of the Pink Panther. A Shot in the Dark (1964) A Shot in the Dark (1964) was based upon a stage play that originally did not include the Clouseau character. In this film, Sellers began to develop the exaggerated French accent that later became a hallmark of the character. The film also introduces two of the series' regular characters: his superior, Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), who is driven mad by Clouseau's blundering in the investigation; and his long-suffering Chinese manservant, Cato (Burt Kwouk), who is expected to improve Clouseau's martial arts skills by attacking him at random. Sellers declined to appear as Clouseau in Inspector Clouseau (1968) but he returned for The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) and its sequels. Inspector Clouseau (1968) In Inspector Clouseau, the character was portrayed by American actor Alan Arkin; Blake Edwards was not involved in this production. The film's opening credits, animated by DePatie-Freleng