The Pink Panther Edwards tried again to revive the series, this time by casting Roberto Benigni as Gendarme Jacques Gambrelli, Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son by Maria Gambrelli, the murder suspect from "A Shot in the Dark." Once again, many former Panther co-stars return – Herbert Lom, Burt Kwouk, and Graham Stark, and a star of the original 1963 film, Claudia Cardinale. Although intended to relaunch the series with a new lovable inept hero, "Son" failed critically and commercially and became the final installment in the original Pink Panther series. This reboot launches a new series starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau and Kevin
The Pink Panther later adopted by the animated spin-off series, "The Inspector." Although official, the live-action film "Inspector Clouseau" (1968) starring Alan Arkin, is generally not considered by fans to be part of the series canon, since it involved neither Sellers nor Edwards. Some elements of Arkin's performance and costuming, however, were retained when Peter Sellers resumed the role of Clouseau for "Return" in 1975. Despite speculation, Alan Arkin does not appear in "Trail of the Pink Panther." The film that launched the second Pink Panther series, "The Pink Panther," starring Martin as Clouseau, directed by Shawn Levy and produced by Robert Simonds,