The American film-maker, Blake Edwards, has died in southern California at the age of 88, his publicist has said.

Edwards died of complications from pneumonia at 1030 (1830 GMT) at St John's Health Centre in Santa Monica, Gene Schwam told the Associated Press.

His wife, the actress Julie Andrews, and other members of his family were at his side, Mr Schwam added.

Among the films Edwards directed were The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Victor/Victoria and 10.

Edwards married Julie Andrews in 1969 and directed her in a string of films He never won an Academy Award for any of his films, but was given honorary Oscar in 2004 for his "extraordinary body of work".

Edwards had been receiving treatment in hospital for two weeks prior to his death, Mr Schwam said.

Edwards had knee problems and had been "pretty much confined to a wheelchair for the last year-and-a-half or two", he added.

At the time of his death, Edwards was working on two Broadway musicals - one based on the Pink Panther movies, and the other a comedy set during Prohibition entitled Big Rosemary.