Pink Panther Sidekick 'Cato' Dead at 85

RIP, Cato. Burt Kwouk, who played the memorable character in the comic Pink Panther films, has died at age 85, reports the AP. In 1964, director Blake Edwards cast him in A Shot in the Dark, a comedy centered on Peter Sellers' bumbling Inspector Clouseau. Kwouk appeared in half a dozen more Pink Panther movies as Cato Fong, a manservant whose job was to attack Clouseau when he least expected it. As the Guardian notes, "these were designed to keep the incompetent police detective on his toes at all times, but usually resulted in the wrecking of the Frenchman’s flat."

Born in northwest England and raised in Shanghai, Kwouk had his breakthrough film role in The Inn of the Sixth Happiness in 1958, and appeared in the James Bond films Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice. He last played Cato in 1993 in Son of the Pink Panther. Kwouk's agent said he "passed peacefully" on Tuesday but didn't give a cause of death. (More Pink Panther stories.)