10 Movie Characters They Couldn't Stop Recasting

The original Pink Panther movie series ran from 1963 to 1993, during which time nine Pink Panther films were produced and three actors shared the lead role of Inspector Clouseau.

First and most famously, Clouseau was played to great acclaim by Peter Sellers, who appeared in the first two Pink Panther films before a falling out with director Blake Edwards caused him to (temporarily) exit the franchise.

At this point, the mantle was passed to Alan Arkin for the third film, Inspector Clouseau, yet following its disastrous critical and box office performance, Sellers was convinced to return - and work again with director Edwards - for the fourth movie, 1975's The Return of the Pink Panther.

The film was well-received and a major box office success, prompting Sellers to play Clouseau twice more in The Pink Panther Strikes Again and Revenge of the Pink Panther, before passing away in 1980.

Given that Sellers was Clouseau in the eyes of the public, the filmmakers faced quite the challenge with what to do next. 1982's Trail of the Pink Panther ultimately repurposed deleted scenes from The Pink Panther Strikes Again to construct a new narrative, as predictably resulted in critical and commercial failure.

1983's Curse of the Pink Panther, then, was focused largely around a missing Clouseau, before it was revealed at the end of the film that Clouseau had undergone plastic surgery and was now assuming the guise of film star Roger Moore (who appears in a cameo).

Curse was also a flop, but the series limped along for one final entry, 1993's Son of the Pink Panther, where Roberto Benigni played Clouseau's son and - shocker - it also failed to make a dent.

The lesson here? Sometimes actors own roles, and if they pass away, it's probably best to just retire them, at least for a while.

The Pink Panther was finally brought back to prominence in 2006, however, when Steve Martin played Clouseau in a modestly successful yet critically drubbed franchise reboot.