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Peter Sellers

January 12, 2023

This article is about the English actor. For the New Zealand sports broadcaster, see Peter Sellers (broadcaster). For the American director, see Peter Sellars.

Peter Sellers CBE (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show, featured on a number of hit comic songs and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series.

Peter Sellers

CBE
Sellers in 1973
Born(1925-09-08)8 September 1925
Portsmouth, England
Died24 July 1980(1980-07-24) (aged 54)
London, England
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
Years active1925–1980
WorksFull list
Spouses
Anne Howe
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(m. 1951; div. 1963)​
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(m. 1964; div. 1968)​
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(m. 1970; div. 1976)​
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(m. 1977)​
Children3; including Michael and Victoria

Born in Southsea, Portsmouth, Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres. He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader's wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain and the Far East. After the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ShowTime, and eventually became a regular performer on various BBC radio shows. During the early 1950s, Sellers, along with Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, took part in the successful radio series The Goon Show, which ended in 1960.

Sellers began his film career during the 1950s. Although the bulk of his work was comedic, often parodying characters of authority such as military officers or policemen, he also performed in other film genres and roles. Films demonstrating his artistic range include I'm All Right Jack (1959), Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (1962) and Dr. Strangelove (1964), What's New, Pussycat? (1965), Casino Royale (1967), The Party (1968), Being There (1979) and five films of the Pink Panther series (1963–1978). Sellers's versatility enabled him to portray a wide range of comic characters using different accents and guises, and he would often assume multiple roles within the same film, frequently with contrasting temperaments and styles. Satire and black humour were major features of many of his films, as they had been in his radio and record performances, and they had a strong influence on a number of later comedians. Sellers was nominated three times for an Academy Award, twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor, for his performances in Dr. Strangelove and Being There, and once for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959). He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role twice, for I'm All Right Jack and for the original Pink Panther film, The Pink Panther (1963) and was nominated as Best Actor three times. In 1980 he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Being There, and was previously nominated three times in the same category. Turner Classic Movies calls Sellers "one of the most accomplished comic actors of the late 20th century".[1]

In his personal life, Sellers struggled with depression and insecurities. An enigmatic figure, he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played. His behaviour was often erratic and compulsive, and he frequently clashed with his directors and co-stars, especially in the mid-1970s when his physical and mental health, together with his alcohol and drug problems, were at their worst. Sellers was married four times and had three children from his first two marriages. He died from a heart attack, aged 54, in 1980. English filmmakers the Boulting brothers, with whom Sellers had made two films in the late 1950s, described Sellers as "the greatest comic genius this country has produced since Charles Chaplin".[2]

Biography

Early life (1925–1935)

 
Blue plaque memorial at Sellers's birthplace in Castle Road, Portsmouth
 

Sellers was born on 8 September 1925, in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth. His parents were Yorkshire-born William "Bill" Sellers and Agnes Doreen "Peg" (née Marks). Both were variety entertainers; Peg was in the Ray Sisters troupe.[3] Although christened Richard Henry, his parents called him Peter, after his elder brother, who was stillborn.[4] Sellers had no other siblings.[5] Peg Sellers was related to the prizefighter Daniel Mendoza (1764–1836) (an engraving of whom later hung in Sellers' office), whom Sellers greatly revered. At one time, Sellers planned to use Mendoza's image for his production company's logo.[6]

Sellers was two weeks old when he was carried on stage by Dick Henderson, the headline act at the Kings Theatre in Southsea: the crowd sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", which caused the infant to cry.[7] The family constantly toured, causing much upheaval and unhappiness in the young Sellers's life.[8]

Sellers maintained a very close relationship with his mother, which his friend Spike Milligan later considered unhealthy for a grown man.[9] Sellers's agent, Dennis Selinger, recalled his first meeting with Peg and Peter Sellers, noting that "Sellers was an immensely shy young man, inclined to be dominated by his mother, but without resentment or objection".[10] As an only child though, he spent much time alone.[11]

In 1935 the Sellers family moved to North London and settled in affluent Muswell Hill.[12] Although Bill Sellers was Protestant and Peg was Jewish, Sellers attended a Roman Catholic school, St Aloysius' College, run by the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God about a mile from their home.[3] The family was not wealthy, but Peg set her sights on a private education for her son.[13] According to biographer Peter Evans, Sellers was fascinated, puzzled, and worried by religion from a young age,[14] particularly Catholicism; Roger Lewis believed that soon after entering Catholic school, Sellers "discovered he was a Jew—he was someone on the outside of the mysteries of faith".[15] Later in his life, Sellers observed that while his father's faith was according to the Church of England, his mother was Jewish, "and Jews take the faith of their mother."[15] According to Milligan, Sellers held a guilt complex about being Jewish and recalls that Sellers was once reduced to tears when presented with a candlestick from a synagogue for Christmas, by Milligan (who himself was raised a Catholic) believing the gesture to be an anti-Jewish slur.[14] Sellers became a top student at the school, excelling in drawing in particular. He was prone to laziness, but his natural talents shielded him from criticism by his teachers.[16] Sellers recalled that a teacher scolded the other boys for not studying, saying: "The Jewish boy knows his catechism better than the rest of you!"[17][a]

Early performances (1935–1939)

Accompanying his family on the variety show circuit,[19] Sellers learned stagecraft, but received conflicting encouragement from his parents and developed mixed feelings about show business. His father doubted Sellers's abilities in the entertainment field, even suggesting that his son's talents were only enough to become a road sweeper, while Sellers's mother encouraged him continuously.[20]

While at St Aloysius College, Sellers began to develop his improvisational skills. He and his closest friend at the time, Bryan Connon, both enjoyed listening to early radio comedy shows. Connon remembers that "Peter got endless pleasure imitating the people in Monday Night at Eight. He had a gift for improvising dialogue. Sketches, too. I'd be the 'straight man', the 'feed', ... I'd cue Peter and he'd do all the radio personalities and chuck in a few voices of his own invention as well."[21]

Second World War (1939–1945)

With the outbreak of the Second World War, St. Aloysius College was evacuated to Cambridgeshire. Because his mother did not allow Sellers to go,[22] his formal education ended at fourteen.[3] Early in 1940, the family moved to the north Devon town of Ilfracombe, where Sellers's maternal uncle managed the Victoria Palace Theatre;[22] Sellers got his first job at the theatre, aged fifteen, starting as a caretaker.[23] He was steadily promoted, becoming a box office clerk, usher, assistant stage manager and lighting operator. He was also offered some small acting parts.[23] Working backstage gave him a chance to study actors such as Paul Scofield. He became close friends with Derek Altman, and together they launched Sellers's first stage act under the name "Altman and Sellers", consisting of playing ukuleles, singing, and telling jokes.[23]

During his backstage theatre job, Sellers began practising on a set of drums that belonged to the band Joe Daniels and his Hot Shots. Daniels noticed his efforts and gave him practical instructions. The instrument greatly suited Sellers's temperament and artistic skills.[24] Spike Milligan later noted that Sellers was very proficient on the drums and might have remained a jazz drummer, had he lacked his skills in mimicry and improvisation.[3] As the war progressed, Sellers continued to develop his drumming skills, and played with a series of touring bands, including those of Oscar Rabin, Henry Hall and Waldini,[9] as well as his father's quartet, before he left and joined a band from Blackpool.[25] Sellers became a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), which provided entertainment for British forces and factory workers during the war.[25] Sellers also performed comedy routines at these concerts, including impersonations of George Formby, with Sellers accompanying his own singing on ukulele.[26]

In September 1943, he joined the Royal Air Force, although it is unclear whether he volunteered or was conscripted;[27] his mother unsuccessfully tried to have him deferred on medical grounds.[3] Sellers wanted to become a pilot, but his poor eyesight restricted him to ground staff duties.[28] He found these duties dull, so auditioned for Squadron Leader Ralph Reader's RAF Gang Show entertainment troupe: Reader accepted him and Sellers toured the UK before the troupe was transferred to India.[29] His tour also included Ceylon and Burma, although the duration of his stay in Asia is unknown, and Sellers may have exaggerated its length.[30] He also served in Germany and France after the war.[30] According to David Lodge, who became friends with Sellers, he was "one of the best performers ever" on the drums and developed a fine ability to impersonate military officers during this period.[31]

Early post-war career and The Goon Show (1946–1955)

In 1946, Sellers made his final show with ENSA starring in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris.[32] He was posted back to England shortly afterwards to work at the Air Ministry,[33] and demobilised later that year.[32] On resuming his theatrical career, Sellers could get only sporadic work.[34] He was fired after one performance of a comedy routine in Peterborough; the headline act, Welsh vocalist Dorothy Squires, however, persuaded the management to reinstate him.[35] Sellers also continued his drumming and was billed on his appearance at The Hippodrome in Aldershot as "Britain's answer to Gene Krupa".[34] In March 1948 Sellers gained a six-week run at the Windmill Theatre in London, which predominantly staged revue acts: he provided the comedy turns in between the nude shows on offer.[36]

Sellers wrote to the BBC in 1948, and was subsequently auditioned. As a result, he made his television debut on 18 March 1948 in New To You. His act, largely based on impressions, was well received, and he returned the following week.[37] Frustrated with the slow pace of his career, Sellers telephoned BBC radio producer Roy Speer, pretending to be Kenneth Horne, star of the radio show Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. Speer called Sellers a "cheeky young sod" for his efforts, but gave him an audition. This led to his brief appearance on 1 July 1948 on ShowTime[38] and subsequently to work on Ray's a Laugh with comedian Ted Ray.[39] In October 1948, Sellers was a regular radio performer, appearing in Starlight Hour, The Gang Show, Henry Hall's Guest Night and It's Fine To Be Young.[40]

By the end of 1948, the BBC Third Programme began to broadcast the comedy series Third Division, which starred, among others, Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Sellers.[41] One evening, Sellers and Bentine visited the Hackney Empire, where Secombe was performing, and Bentine introduced Sellers to Spike Milligan.[42] The four would meet up at Grafton's public house near Victoria, owned by Jimmy Grafton, who was also a BBC script writer. The four comedians dubbed him KOGVOS (Keeper of Goons and Voice of Sanity).[b] Grafton later edited some of the first Goon Shows.[44]

 
Sellers (top), with Spike Milligan (left) and Harry Secombe (right) in the BBC's The Goon Show

In 1949, Sellers started to date Anne Howe,[45][c] an Australian actress who lived in London.[47] He proposed to her in April 1950[48] and the couple were married in London on 15 September 1951;[49] their son, Michael, was born on 2 April 1954,[50] and their daughter, Sarah, followed in 1958.[51] Sellers's introduction to film work came in 1950, where he dubbed the voice of Alfonso Bedoya in The Black Rose.[52] He continued to work with Bentine, Milligan, and Secombe. On 3 February 1951, he made a trial tape entitled The Goons, and sent it to the BBC producer Pat Dixon, who eventually accepted it.

The first Goon Show[43] was broadcast on 28 May 1951.[53] Against their wishes, they appeared under the name Crazy People.[5] Sellers appeared in The Goons until the last programme of the ten-series run, broadcast on 28 January 1960; he only missed one episode in the show's entire run.[43] Sellers played four main characters—Major Denis Bloodnok, Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, Bluebottle and Henry Crun—and seventeen minor ones.[54] Starting with 370,000 listeners, the show eventually reached up to seven million people in Britain,[43] and was described by one newspaper as "probably the most influential comedy show of all time".[55] For Sellers, the BBC considers it had the effect of launching his career "on the road to stardom".[56]

In 1951 the Goons made their feature film debut in Penny Points to Paradise.[57] Sellers and Milligan then penned the script to Let's Go Crazy, the earliest film to showcase Sellers's ability to portray a series of different characters within the same film, and he made another appearance opposite his Goons co-stars in the 1952 flop, Down Among the Z Men.[58] In 1954, Sellers was cast opposite Sid James, Tony Hancock, Raymond Huntley, Donald Pleasence and Eric Sykes in the British Lion Film Corporation comedy production, Orders Are Orders. John Grierson believes that this was Sellers's breakthrough role on screen and credits this film with launching the film careers of both Sellers and Hancock.[59]

I'm All Right Jack and early years in film (1956–1959)

"The first real film I made was The Ladykillers. I used to watch Alec Guinness, who is an absolute idol of mine, do everything, his rehearsals, his scenes, everything. He is my ideal... and my idol."

—Sellers on studying Sir Alec Guinness during filming The Ladykillers.[60]

Sellers pursued a film career and took a number of small roles such as a police officer in John and Julie (1955).[61] He accepted a larger part in the 1955 Alexander Mackendrick-directed Ealing comedy The Ladykillers in which he starred opposite his idol Alec Guinness, in addition to Herbert Lom and Cecil Parker. Sellers portrayed Harry Robinson, the Teddy Boy; biographer Peter Evans considers this Sellers's first good role.[62] The Ladykillers was a success in both the UK and the US,[63] and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.[64] The following year Sellers appeared in a further three television series based on The Goons: The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d; A Show Called Fred; and Son of Fred. The shows aired on Britain's new ITV channel.[65] In 1957 film producer Michael Relph, impressed with Sellers's portrayal of an elderly character in Idiot Weekly, cast the 32-year-old actor as a 68-year-old projectionist in Basil Dearden's The Smallest Show on Earth, supporting Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna and Margaret Rutherford.[66] The film was a commercial success and is now thought of as a minor classic of post-war British screen comedy.[67] Following this, Sellers provided the growling voice of Winston Churchill to the BAFTA award-winning film The Man Who Never Was.[68] Later in 1957 Sellers portrayed a television star with a talent for disguises in Mario Zampi's offbeat black comedy The Naked Truth, opposite Terry-Thomas, Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton and Dennis Price.[69]

 
Terry-Thomas starred with Sellers in four films between 1957 and 1959. Their last film together, I'm All Right Jack – the highest-grossing film at the British box office in 1960 – saw Sellers receive the BAFTA Award for Best British Actor.

Sellers's difficulties in getting his film career to take off, and increasing problems in his personal life, prompted him to seek periodic consultations with astrologer Maurice Woodruff, who held considerable sway over his later career.[70] After a chance meeting with a North American Indian spirit guide in the 1950s, Sellers became convinced that the music hall comedian Dan Leno, who died in 1904, haunted him and guided his career and life-decisions.[71] Sellers was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats, the same exclusive theatrical fraternity founded by Leno in 1890.[72] In 1958 Sellers starred with David Tomlinson, Wilfrid Hyde-White, David Lodge and Lionel Jeffries as a chief petty officer in Val Guest's Up the Creek.[73] Guest later claimed that he had written and directed the film as a vehicle for Sellers, and thus had started Sellers's film career.[74] To practise his voice, Sellers purchased a reel-to-reel tape recorder.[75] The film received critical acclaim in the United States[76] and Roger Lewis viewed it as an important practice ground for Sellers.[75] Next, Sellers featured with Terry-Thomas as one of a pair of comic villains in George Pal's Tom Thumb (1958), a musical fantasy film, opposite Russ Tamblyn, Jessie Matthews and Peter Butterworth. Terry-Thomas later said that "my part was perfect, but Peter's was bloody awful. He wasn't difficult about it, but he knew it".[77] The performance was a landmark in Sellers's career and became his first contact with the Hollywood film industry.[78]

Sellers released his first studio album in 1958 called The Best of Sellers; a collection of comic songs and sketches, among them "Balham - Gateway to the South", where Sellers plays a variety of comic characters.[79][80] Produced by George Martin and released on Parlophone,[81] the album reached number three in the UK Albums Chart;[82] The same year, Sellers made his first film with John and Roy Boulting in Carlton-Browne of the F.O., a comedy in which he played a supporting role for the film's lead, Terry-Thomas.[83] Before the release of that film, the Boultings, along with Sellers and Thomas in the cast, started filming I'm All Right Jack, which became the highest-grossing film at the British box office in 1960.[84] In preparation for his role as Fred Kite, Sellers watched footage of union officials.[2][85] The role earned him a BAFTA, and the critic for The Manchester Guardian believed it was Sellers's best screen performance to date.[86] In between Carlton-Browne of the F.O. and I'm All Right Jack, Sellers starred in The Mouse That Roared, a film in which Jean Seberg also appeared, and was directed by Jack Arnold. He played three distinct leading roles: the elderly Grand Duchess, the ambitious Prime Minister and the innocent and clumsy farm boy selected to lead an invasion of the United States.[87] The film received high praise from critics.[88] It had a disappointing box office in the U.K. But was a surprise hit in America.

After completing I'm All Right Jack, Sellers returned to record a new series of The Goon Show.[89] Over the course of two weekends, he took his 16mm cine-camera to Totteridge Lane in London and filmed himself, Spike Milligan, Mario Fabrizi, Leo McKern and Richard Lester. Originally intended as a private film, the eleven-minute short film The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film was screened at the 1959 Edinburgh and San Francisco film festivals. It won the award for best fiction short in the latter festival, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject (Live Action).[90][91] In 1959 Sellers released his second album, Songs for Swingin' Sellers, which—like his first record—reached number three in the UK Albums Chart.[82] Sellers's last film of the fifties was The Battle of the Sexes; a comedy directed by Charles Crichton.[92]

The Millionairess, Lolita, The Pink Panther and divorce (1960–1963)

In 1960 Sellers portrayed an Indian doctor, Dr Ahmed el Kabir, in Anthony Asquith's romantic comedy The Millionairess, a film based on a George Bernard Shaw play of the same name. Sellers was not interested in the role until he learned that Sophia Loren would be his co-star.[93] When asked about Loren, he explained to reporters, "I don't normally act with romantic, glamorous women ... She's a lot different from Harry Secombe."[94] Sellers and Loren developed a close relationship during filming, culminating in Sellers declaring his love for her in front of his wife.[95] Sellers also woke his son at night to ask: "Do you think I should divorce your mummy?"[96] There is uncertainty if the relationship was anything more than platonic: a number of people, including Spike Milligan, consider it an affair, while others, including Graham Stark, think it remained only a strong friendship. Sellers's wife at the time, Anne, afterwards commented, "I don't know to this day whether he had an affair with her. Nobody does."[97] Roger Lewis observed that Sellers immersed himself completely in the characters he enacted during productions, that "He'd play a role as an Indian doctor, and for the next six months, he'd be an Indian in his real [daily] life."[98] The film inspired the George Martin-produced novelty hit single "Goodness Gracious Me", with Sellers and Loren, which reached number four in the UK Singles Chart in November 1960.[99] A follow-up single by the duo, "Bangers and Mash", reached number 22 in the UK chart.[99] The songs were included on an album released by the couple, Peter & Sophia, which reached number five in the UK Albums Chart.[82] That year he also appeared in Never Let Go (1960) playing a straight villain part.[100]

In 1961 Sellers made his directorial debut with Mr. Topaze, in which he also starred.[101] The film was based on the Marcel Pagnol play Topaze.[102] Sellers portrayed an ex-schoolmaster in a small French town who turns to a life of crime to obtain wealth. The film and Sellers's directorial abilities received unenthusiastic responses from the public and critics, and Sellers rarely referred to it again.[103][104][105] The same year, he starred in the Sidney Gilliat-directed Only Two Can Play, a film based on the novel That Uncertain Feeling by Kingsley Amis.[106] He was nominated for the Best British Actor award at the 16th British Academy Film Awards for his role as John Lewis, a frustrated Welsh librarian whose affections swing between the glamorous Liz (Mai Zetterling) and his long-suffering wife Jean (Virginia Maskell).[107]

 
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther

In 1962 Sellers played a retired British army general in John Guillermin's Waltz of the Toreadors, based on the play of the same name. The film was widely criticised for its slapstick cinematic adaption, and director Guillermin himself considered the film "amateurish".[108] However, Sellers won the San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a BAFTA award nomination for his performance, and it was well received by the critics.[108][109] Stanley Kubrick asked Sellers to play the role of Clare Quilty in the 1962 film Lolita, opposite James Mason and Shelley Winters.[110] Kubrick had seen Sellers in The Battle of the Sexes and listened to the album The Best of Sellers, and was impressed by the range of characters he could portray.[111] Sellers was apprehensive about accepting the role, doubting his ability to successfully portray the part of a flamboyant American television playwright who was according to Sellers "a fantastic nightmare, part homosexual, part drug addict, part sadist".[112] Kubrick encouraged Sellers to improvise and stated that he often reached a "state of comic ecstasy".[113] Kubrick had American jazz producer Norman Granz record portions of the script for Sellers to listen to, so he could study the voice and develop confidence, granting Sellers a free artistic licence.[111] Sellers later claimed that his relationship with Kubrick became one of the most rewarding of his career.[114] Writing in The Sunday Times, Dilys Powell commented that Sellers gave "a firework performance, funny, malicious, only once for a few seconds overreaching itself, and in the murder scene which is both prologue and epilogue achieving the macabre in comedy".[115] Towards the end of 1962, Sellers appeared in The Dock Brief, a legal satire directed by James Hill and co-starring Richard Attenborough.[116]

Sellers's behaviour towards his family worsened in 1962; according to his son Michael, Sellers asked him and his sister Sarah "who we love more, our mother or him. Sarah, to keep the peace, said, 'I love you both equally'. I said, 'No, I love my mum.'" This prompted Sellers to throw both children out, saying that he never wanted to see them again.[117] At the end of 1962, his marriage to Anne broke down.[118][d] In 1963, Sellers starred as gang leader "Pearly Gates" in Cliff Owen's The Wrong Arm of the Law,[120] followed by his portrayal of a vicar in Heavens Above![121]

"I'll play Clouseau with great dignity, because he thinks of himself as one of the world's best detectives. Even when he comes a cropper, he must pick himself up with that notion intact. The original script makes him out to be a complete idiot. I think a forgivable vanity would humanize him and make him kind of touching. It's as if filmgoers are kept one fall ahead of him."

—Sellers on portraying Clouseau.[122]

After his father's death in October 1962, Sellers decided to leave England and was approached by director Blake Edwards who offered him the role of Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther, after Peter Ustinov had backed out of the film.[123] Edwards later recalled his feelings as "desperately unhappy and ready to kill, but as fate would have it, I got Mr. Sellers instead of Mr. Ustinov—thank God!"[124] Sellers accepted a fee of £90,000 (£796,598 in 2021 pounds)[125] for five weeks' work on location in Rome and Cortina.[126] The film starred David Niven in the principal role, with two other actors—Capucine and Claudia Cardinale—having more prominent roles than Sellers.[127] However, Sellers's performance is regarded as being on par with that of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, according to biographer Peter Evans.[127] Although the Clouseau character was in the script, Sellers created the personality, devising the costume, accent, make-up, moustache and trench coat.[122]

The Pink Panther was released in the UK in January 1964[128] and received a mixed reception from the critics,[129] although Penelope Gilliatt, writing in The Observer, remarked that Sellers had a "flawless sense of mistiming" in a performance that was "one of the most delicate studies in accident-proneness since the silents".[130] Despite the views of the critics, the film was one of the top ten grossing films of the year.[131] The role earned Sellers a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 22nd Golden Globe Awards,[132] and for a Best British Actor award at the 18th British Academy Film Awards.[133]

Dr. Strangelove, health problems, a second marriage and Casino Royale (1964–1969)

 
Sellers in the 1966 film After the Fox

In 1963, Stanley Kubrick cast Sellers to appear in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb alongside George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn and Slim Pickens. Sellers and Kubrick got along famously during the film's production and had the greatest of respect for each other, also sharing a love of photography.[134] The director asked Sellers to play three roles: US President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake of the RAF. Sellers was initially hesitant about taking on these divergent characters, but Kubrick prevailed.[135] According to some accounts, Sellers was also invited to play the part of General Buck Turgidson, but turned it down because it was too physically demanding.[136] Kubrick later commented that the idea of having Sellers in so many of the film's key roles was that "everywhere you turn there is some version of Peter Sellers holding the fate of the world in his hands".[137] Sellers was especially anxious about successfully enacting the role of Kong and accurately affecting a Texan accent.[138] Kubrick requested screenwriter Terry Southern to record in his natural accent a tape of Kong's lines.[139] After practising with Southern's recording, Sellers got sufficient control of the accent, and started shooting the scenes in the aeroplane.

After the first day's shooting, Sellers sprained his ankle while leaving a restaurant and could no longer work in the cramped cockpit set.[140] Kubrick then re-cast Slim Pickens as Kong.[141] The three roles Sellers undertook were distinct, "variegated, complex and refined",[142] and critic Alexander Walker considered that these roles "showed his genius at full stretch".[143] Sellers played Muffley as a bland, placid intellectual in the mould of Adlai Stevenson;[144] he played Mandrake as an unflappable Englishman;[142] and Dr. Strangelove, a character influenced by pre-war German cinema, as a wheelchair-using fanatic.[145] The critic for The Times wrote that the film includes, "three remarkable performances from Mr. Peter Sellers, masterly as the President, diverting as a revue-sketch ex-Nazi US Scientist ... and acceptable as an RAF officer,"[146] although the critic from The Guardian thought his portrayal of the RAF officer alone was, "worth the price of an admission ticket".[147] For his performance in all three roles, Sellers was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor at the 37th Academy Awards,[148] and the Best British Actor award at the 18th British Academy Film Awards.[133]

Between November 1963 and February 1964, Sellers began filming A Shot in the Dark,[149] an adaptation of a French play, L'Idiote by Marcel Achard.[150] Sellers found the part and the director, Anatole Litvak, uninspiring; the producers brought in Blake Edwards to replace Litvak. Together with writer William Peter Blatty, they turned the script into a Clouseau comedy, also adding Herbert Lom as Commissioner Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Cato. During filming, Sellers's relationship with Edwards became strained; the two would often stop speaking to each other during filming, communicating only by the passing of notes.[151] Sellers's personality was described by others as difficult and demanding, and he often clashed with fellow actors and directors.[152] Upon its release in late June 1964, Bosley Crowther noted the "joyously free and facile way" in which Sellers had developed his comedy technique.[153]

"I feel extremely vulnerable, and I need help a lot. A lot. I suppose I feel mainly I need the help of a woman. I'm continually searching for this woman. They mother you, they're great in bed, they're like a sister, they're there when you want to see them, they're not there when you don't. I don't know where they are. Maybe they're around somewhere. I'll find one, one of these days."

—Sellers on his need for women.[154]

Towards the end of filming, in early February 1964, Sellers met Britt Ekland, a Swedish actress who had arrived in London to film Guns at Batasi. On 19 February 1964, just ten days after their first meeting, the couple married.[138] Sellers soon showed signs of insecurity and paranoia; he would become highly anxious and jealous, for example, when Ekland starred opposite attractive men.[155] Shortly after the wedding, Sellers started filming on location in Twentynine Palms, California for Billy Wilder's Kiss Me, Stupid, opposite Dean Martin and Kim Novak.[156] The relationship between Wilder and Sellers became strained; both had different approaches to work and often clashed as a result.[157] On the night of 5 April 1964, prior to having sex with Ekland, Sellers inhaled amyl nitrites (poppers) as a sexual stimulant in his search for "the ultimate orgasm",[158] and suffered a series of eight heart attacks over the course of three hours as a result.[159] His illness forced him to withdraw from the filming of Kiss Me, Stupid and he was replaced by Ray Walston.[160] Wilder was unsympathetic about the heart attacks, saying that "you have to have a heart before you can have an attack".[161]

After some time recovering, Sellers returned to filming in October 1964, playing King of the Individualists alongside Ekland in A Carol for Another Christmas,[162][e] a feature-length United Nations special broadcast in the United States on the ABC channel on 28 December 1964.[163] Sellers had been concerned that his heart attacks might have caused brain damage[162] and that he would be unable to remember his lines, but he was reassured that his memory and abilities were unimpaired after the experience of filming.[164] Sellers followed this with the role of the perverted Austrian psychoanalyst Doctor Fritz Fassbender in Clive Donner's What's New Pussycat?, appearing alongside Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine, Paula Prentiss and Ursula Andress.[127] The film was the first screenwriting and acting credit for Woody Allen, and featured Sellers in a love triangle.[165][166] Because of Sellers's poor health, producer Charles K. Feldman insured him at a cost of $360,000[167] ($3,145,365 in 2021 dollars).[168]

 
Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland in 1964

On 20 January 1965, Sellers and Ekland announced the birth of a daughter, Victoria.[169] They moved to Rome in May to film After the Fox, an Anglo-Italian production in which they were both to appear.[170] The film was directed by Vittorio De Sica, whose English Sellers struggled to understand.[171] Sellers attempted to have De Sica fired, causing tensions on the set.[171] Sellers also became unhappy with his wife's performance, straining their relationship[172] and triggering open arguments during one of which Sellers threw a chair at Ekland.[173] Despite these conflicts, the script was praised for its wit.[174][175]

Following the commercial success of What's New Pussycat?, Charles Feldman again brought together Sellers and Woody Allen for his next project, Casino Royale, which also starred Orson Welles;[176] Sellers signed a $1 million contract for the film[177] ($8,126,747 in 2021 dollars).[168] Seven screenwriters worked on the project,[176] and filming was chaotic.[178] To make matters worse, according to Ekland, Sellers was "so insecure, he won't trust anyone".[179] A poor working relationship quickly developed between Sellers and Welles: Sellers eventually demanded that the two should not share the same set.[180] Sellers left the film before his part was complete. A further agent's part was then written for Terence Cooper, to cover Sellers's departure.[181][f]

Shortly after leaving Casino Royale, Sellers was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in honour of his career achievements.[184] The day before the investiture at Buckingham Palace, Sellers and Ekland argued, with Ekland scratching his face in the process; Sellers had a make-up artist cover the marks.[185] During his next film, The Bobo, which again co-starred Ekland, the couple's marital problems worsened. Three weeks into production in Italy, Sellers told director Robert Parrish to fire his wife, saying "I'm not coming back after lunch if that bitch is on the set".[186] Ekland later stated that the marriage was "an atrocious sham" at this stage.[187] In the midst of filming The Bobo, Sellers's mother had a heart attack; Parrish asked Sellers if he wanted to visit her in hospital, but Sellers remained on set. She died within days, without Sellers having seen her.[188] He was deeply affected by her death and remorseful at not having returned to London to see her.[189] Ekland served him with divorce papers shortly afterwards. The divorce was finalised on 18 December 1968, and Sellers's friend Spike Milligan sent Ekland a congratulatory telegram.[190] Upon its release in September 1967, The Bobo was poorly received.[191]

Sellers's first film appearance of 1968 was a reunion with Blake Edwards for the fish-out-of-water comedy The Party, in which he starred alongside Claudine Longet and Denny Miller. He appears as Hrundi V. Bakshi, a bungling Indian actor who accidentally receives an invitation to a lavish Hollywood dinner party. His character, according to Sellers's biographer Peter Evans, was "clearly an amalgam of Clouseau and the doctor in The Millionairess".[192] Roger Lewis notes that like a number of Sellers's characters, he is played in a sympathetic and dignified manner.[193] He followed it later that year with Hy Averback's I Love You, Alice B. Toklas, playing an attorney who abandons his lifestyle to become a hippie. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars, remarking that Sellers was "back doing what he does best", although he also said that in Sellers's previous films he had "been at his worst recently".[194]

In 1969 Sellers starred opposite Ringo Starr in the Joseph McGrath-directed film The Magic Christian. Sellers portrayed Sir Guy Grand, an eccentric billionaire who plays elaborate practical jokes on people. The critic Irv Slifkin remarked that the film was a reflection of the cynicism of Peter Sellers, describing the film as a "proto-Pythonesque adaption of Terry Southern's semi-free-form short novel", and "one of the strangest films to be shown at a gala premiere for Britain's royal family".[195] The film, a satire on human nature,[196] was in general viewed negatively by critics. Roger Greenspun of The New York Times believed that the film was of variable quality and summarised it as a "brutal satire".[197]

"Period of indifference": two marriages, three Pink Panther films (1970–1978)

 
Sellers in 1971

After a cameo appearance in A Day at the Beach (1970),[198] and a serious role later in 1970 as an aging businessman who seduces Sinéad Cusack in Hoffman,[199] Sellers starred in Roy Boulting's There's a Girl in My Soup opposite Goldie Hawn. According to The Times, the film was a major commercial success and became the seventh most popular film at the British box office in 1970.[200] Andrew Spicer, writing for the British Film Institute's Screenonline, considers that although Sellers favoured playing romantic roles, he "was always more successful in parts that sent up his own vanities and pretensions, as with the TV presenter and narcissistic lothario" he played in There's a Girl in My Soup.[201] The film was seen as a small revival of his career.[202]

Sellers's next films, including Rodney Amateau's Where Does It Hurt? (1972)[203] and Peter Medak's Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1974), were again poorly received, and his acting was viewed as frenetic rather than funny.[204] Despite these setbacks, Sellers won the Best Actor award at the 1973 Tehran Film Festival for his tragi-comedic role as a street performer in Anthony Simmons's The Optimists of Nine Elms.[205][206][207] Fellow comedian and friend Spike Milligan believed that the early 1970s were for Sellers "a period of indifference, and it would appear at one time that his career might have come to a conclusion".[3] This was echoed by Sellers's biographer, Peter Evans, who notes that out of nine films in the period, three were never released and five had flopped, while only There's a Girl in My Soup had been a success.[208] In his private life, he had been seeing the twenty-three-year-old model Miranda Quarry. The couple married on 24 August 1970,[209] despite Sellers's private doubts—expressed to his agent, Dennis Selinger—about his decision to remarry.[210]

In April 1972, Sellers reunited with Milligan and Harry Secombe to record The Last Goon Show of All, which was broadcast on 5 October.[211] In May 1973, with his third marriage failing,[182] Sellers went to the theatre to watch Liza Minnelli perform. He became entranced with Minnelli and the couple became engaged three days later, despite Minnelli's current betrothal to Desi Arnaz, Jr., and Sellers still being married.[212][g] Their relationship lasted a month before breaking up.[214] By 1974, Sellers's friends were concerned that he was having a nervous breakdown.[192] Directors John and Roy Boulting considered that Sellers was "a deeply troubled man, distrustful, self-absorbed, ultimately self-destructive. He was the complete contradiction."[2] Sellers was shy and insecure when out of character.[215][216] When he was invited to appear on Michael Parkinson's eponymous chat show in 1974, he withdrew the day before, explaining to Parkinson that "I just can't walk on as myself". When he was told he could come on as someone else, he appeared dressed as a member of the Gestapo.[217] After a few lines in keeping with his assumed character, he stepped out of the role and settled down and, according to Parkinson himself, "was brilliant, giving the audience an astonishing display of his virtuosity".[218] In 1974, Sellers again claimed to have communicated with the long-dead music hall comic Dan Leno, who advised him to return to the role of Clouseau.[192]

In 1974, Sellers portrayed a "sexually voracious" Queen Victoria in Joseph McGrath's comedic biographical film of the Scottish poet William McGonagall, The Great McGonagall, starring opposite Milligan and Julia Foster.[219] However, the film was a critical failure, and Sellers's career and life reached an all-time low. As a result, by 1974 he agreed to accept salaries of £100,000 and 10 per cent of the gross to appear in TV productions and advertisements, well below the £1 million he had once commanded per film.[220] In 1973, he appeared in a Benson & Hedges cinema commercial; in 1975, he appeared in a series of advertisements for Trans World Airlines, in which he played several eccentric characters, including Thrifty McTravel, Jeremy "Piggy" Peak Thyme and an Italian singer, Vito.[221] Biographer Michael Starr asserts that Sellers showed enthusiasm towards these roles, [222] although the airline campaign failed commercially.[223]

A turning point in Sellers's flailing career came in 1974, when he teamed up with Blake Edwards to make The Return of the Pink Panther, starring alongside Christopher Plummer, Herbert Lom and Catherine Schell.[224] The film was shot on a budget of £3 million and earned $33 million at the box office upon release in May 1975, reinvigorating Sellers's career as an A-list film star and restoring his millionaire status.[3][225] The film earned Sellers a nomination for the Best Actor – Musical or Comedy award at the 33rd Golden Globe Awards.[226] In 1976, he followed it with The Pink Panther Strikes Again. During the filming from February to June 1976, the already fraught relationship between Sellers and Blake Edwards had seriously deteriorated. Edwards says of the actor's mental state at the time of The Pink Panther Strikes Again, "If you went to an asylum and you described the first inmate you saw, that's what Peter had become. He was certifiable."[227] With declining physical health, Sellers could at times be unbearable on set. His behaviour was regarded as unprofessional and childish, and he frequently threw tantrums, often threatening to abandon projects.[220] His difficult behaviour during productions was widely reported and made it more difficult for Sellers to get employment in the industry at a time when he most needed the work.[11] Despite Sellers's deep personal problems, The Pink Panther Strikes Again was well received critically. Vincent Canby of The New York Times said of Sellers in the film, "There is, too, something most winningly seedy about Mr. Sellers' Clouseau, a fellow who, when he attempts to tear off his clothes in the heat of passion, gets tangled up in his necktie, and who, when he masquerades—for reasons never gone into—as Quasimodo, overinflates his hump with helium."[228] Sellers's performance earned him a further nomination at the 34th Golden Globe Awards.[229]

In March 1976 Sellers began dating actress Lynne Frederick, whom he married on 18 February 1977.[230] Biographer Roger Lewis documents that of all of Sellers's wives, Frederick was the most poorly treated; Julian Upton likened it to a boxing match between a heavyweight and a featherweight, a relationship that "oscillated from ardour to hatred, reconciliation and remorse."[231] On 20 March 1977, Sellers suffered a second major heart attack during a flight from Paris to London; he was subsequently fitted with a pacemaker.[231][232] Sellers returned from his illness to undertake Revenge of the Pink Panther; although it was a commercial success, the critics were tiring of Inspector Clouseau. Julian Upton expressed the view that the strain behind the scenes began to manifest itself in the sluggish pace of the film, describing it as a "laboured, stunt-heavy hotchpotch of half-baked ideas and rehashed gags".[231] Sellers too had become tired of the role, saying after production, "I've honestly had enough of Clouseau—I've got nothing more to give".[233] Steven Bach, the senior vice-president and head of worldwide productions for United Artists, who worked with Sellers on Revenge of the Pink Panther, considered that Sellers was "deeply unbalanced, if not committable: that was the source of his genius and his truly quite terrifying aspects as manipulator and hysteric."[234] He refused to seek professional help for his mental issues.[235] Sellers would claim that he had no personality and was almost unnoticeable, which meant that he "needed a strongly defined character to play."[236] He would make similar references throughout his life: when he appeared on The Muppet Show in 1978, a guest appearance that earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Variety or Music,[237] he chose not to appear as himself, instead appearing in a variety of costumes and accents. When Kermit the Frog told Sellers he could relax and be himself, Sellers replied:

But that, you see, my dear Kermit, would be altogether impossible. I could never be myself ... You see, there is no me. I do not exist ... There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed.

— Peter Sellers, The Muppet Show, February 1978[238]

Being There, Fu Manchu, and continued domestic problems (1979–1980)

In 1979, Sellers starred alongside Lynne Frederick, Lionel Jeffries and Elke Sommer in Richard Quine's The Prisoner of Zenda. He portrayed three roles, including King Rudolf IV and King Rudolf V—rulers of the fictional small nation of Ruritania—and Syd Frewin, Rudolf V's half-brother. Upon its release in May 1979, the film was well received; Janet Maslin of The New York Times observed how Sellers divided "his energies between a serious character and a funny one, but that it was his serious performance which was more impressive".[239] However, Philip French, for The Observer, was unimpressed by the film, describing it as "a mess of porridge" and stating that "Sellers reveals that he cannot draw the line between the sincere and the sentimental".[240]

Later in 1979, Sellers starred opposite Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas and Jack Warden in the black comedy Being There as Chance, a simple-minded gardener addicted to watching TV who is regarded as a sage by the rich and powerful.[241] In a BBC interview in 1971, Sellers had said that more than anything else, he wanted to play the role, and successfully persuaded the author of the book, Jerzy Kosinski, to allow him and director Hal Ashby to make the film, provided Kosinski could write the script.[242][243] During filming, to remain in character, Sellers refused most interview requests and kept his distance from the other actors.[243] Sellers considered Chance's walking and voice the character's most important attributes, and in preparing for the role worked alone with a tape recorder or with his wife, and then with Ashby, to perfect the clear enunciation and flat delivery needed to reveal "the childlike mind behind the words".[243] Sellers described his experience of working on the film as "so humbling, so powerful", and co-star Shirley MacLaine found Sellers "a dream" to work with.[244] Sellers's performance was universally lauded by critics and is considered by critic Danny Smith to be the "crowning triumph of Peter Sellers's remarkable career".[242] Critic Frank Rich wrote that the acting skill required for this sort of role, with a "schismatic personality that Peter had to convey with strenuous vocal and gestural technique ... A lesser actor would have made the character's mental dysfunction flamboyant and drastic ... [His] intelligence was always deeper, his onscreen confidence greater, his technique much more finely honed":[245] in achieving this, Sellers "makes the film's fantastic premise credible".[245] The film earned Sellers a Best Actor award at the 51st National Board of Review Awards;[246] the London Critics Circle Film Awards Special Achievement Award, the Best Actor award at the 45th New York Film Critics Circle Awards;[247] and the Best Actor – Musical or Comedy award at the 37th Golden Globe Awards.[248] Additionally, Sellers was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 52nd Academy Awards[249] and the Best Actor in a Leading Role award at the 34th British Academy Film Awards.[250]

In March 1980, Sellers asked his 15-year-old daughter Victoria what she thought about Being There: she reported later that "I said yes, I thought it was great. But then I said, 'You looked like a little fat old man'. ... he went mad. He threw his drink over me and told me to get the next plane home."[251] His other daughter Sarah told Sellers her thoughts about the incident and he sent her a telegram that read "After what happened this morning with Victoria, I shall be happy if I never hear from you again. I won't tell you what I think of you. It must be obvious. Goodbye, Your Father."[251]

Sellers's last film was The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu, a comedic re-imagining of the eponymous adventure novels by Sax Rohmer; Sellers played both police inspector Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu, alongside Helen Mirren and David Tomlinson. The production of the film was troublesome before filming started, with two directors—Richard Quine and John Avildsen—fired before the script had been completed.[252] Sellers also expressed dissatisfaction with his own portrayal of Manchu[253] with his ill-health often causing delays.[254] Arguments between Sellers and director Piers Haggard led to Haggard's firing at Sellers's instigation and Sellers took over direction, using his long-time friend David Lodge to direct some sequences.[255] Tom Shales of The Washington Post described the film as "an indefensibly inept comedy",[256] adding that "it is hard to name another good actor who ever made so many bad movies as Sellers, a comedian of great gifts but ferociously faulty judgment. "Manchu" will take its rightful place alongside such colossally ill-advised washouts as Tell Me Where It Hurts, The Bobo and The Prisoner of Zenda".[256]

Sellers's final performances were a series of advertisements for Barclays Bank. Filmed in April 1980 in Ireland, he played Monty Casino, a Jewish con-man.[h] Four adverts were scheduled, but only three were filmed as Sellers collapsed in Dublin, again with heart problems.[258] After two days in care—and against the advice of his doctors—he travelled to the Cannes Film Festival, where Being There was in competition.[259] Sellers was again ill in Cannes, returning to his residence in Gstaad to work on the script for his next project, Romance of the Pink Panther.[260] At the urging of his friends, he made an appointment to undergo an angiogram at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on 30 July 1980, to see if he was able to undergo open-heart surgery.[261] Spike Milligan later considered that Sellers's heart condition had lasted for over 15 years and had "made life difficult for him and had a debilitating effect on his personality."[3] Sellers's fourth marriage to Frederick collapsed soon after.[262]

Sellers had recently started to rebuild his relationship with his son Michael after the failure of the latter's marriage. In lighter moments, Sellers had joked that his epitaph should read "Star of stage, screen and alimony."[263]

Death and subsequent family issues

 
Plaque commemorating Sellers at Golders Green Crematorium

On 21 July 1980 Sellers arrived in London from Geneva. He checked into the Dorchester hotel, before visiting Golders Green Crematorium for the first time to see the location of his parents' ashes.[264] He had plans to attend a reunion dinner with his Goon Show partners Milligan and Secombe, scheduled for the evening of 22 July.[265] On the day of the dinner, Sellers took lunch in his hotel suite and shortly afterwards collapsed from a heart attack. He was taken to the Middlesex Hospital, London, and died just after midnight on 24 July 1980, aged 54.[266]

Following Sellers's death, fellow actor Richard Attenborough said that Sellers "had the genius comparable to Chaplin",[267] while the Boulting brothers considered Sellers as "a man of enormous gifts; and these gifts he gave to the world. For them, he is assured of a place in the history of art as entertainment."[2] Burt Kwouk, who appeared as Cato in the Pink Panther films, stated that "Peter was a well-loved actor in Britain ... the day he died, it seemed that the whole country came to a stop. Everywhere you went, the fact that Peter had died seemed like an umbrella over everything".[268] Director Blake Edwards thought that "Peter was brilliant. He had an enormous facility for finding really unusual, unique facets of the character he was playing".[269] Sellers's friend and Goon Show colleague Spike Milligan was too upset to speak to the press at the time of Sellers's death,[270] while fellow Goon Harry Secombe said "I'm shattered. Peter was such a tremendous artist. He had so much talent, it just oozed out of him";[271] in dark humour, referring to the missed dinner the Goons had planned, he added, "Anything to avoid paying for dinner".[268] Secombe later declared to journalists "Bluebottle is deaded now".[272] Milligan later said that "it's hard to say this, but he died at the right time."[268]

A private funeral service was held at Golders Green Crematorium on 26 July, conducted by Sellers's old friend, Canon John Hester.[265] Sellers's final joke was the playing of "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller, a tune which all the Goons hated; he knew they would have to sit there in silence and listen to it.[273] A memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields on 8 September 1980—what would have been Sellers's 55th birthday.[274] Close friend Lord Snowdon read the twenty-third Psalm, Harry Secombe sang "Bread of Heaven" and the eulogy was read by David Niven.[274]

Although Sellers was reportedly in the process of excluding Frederick from his will a week before he died,[275] she inherited almost his entire estate worth an estimated £4.5 million (£20.5 million in 2021 pounds)[125] while his children received £800 each[275] (£3,649 in 2021 pounds).[125] Spike Milligan appealed to her on behalf of Sellers's three children, but she refused to increase the amount.[276][i] Sellers's only son, Michael, died of a heart attack at 52 during surgery on 24 July 2006, twenty-six years to the day after his father's death.[277]

After his death, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer tried to continue with Romance of the Pink Panther and offered the role of Clouseau to Dudley Moore, who turned it down. The studio subsequently returned to Blake Edwards, who was adamant not to recast the character, feeling certain that no one could adequately replace Sellers. In 1982 Edwards released Trail of the Pink Panther, which was composed entirely of deleted scenes from his past three Panther films.[278] Frederick sued, claiming the use of the clips was a breach of contract; the court awarded her $1 million ($2.8 million today), plus 3.15 per cent of the film's profits and 1.36 per cent of its gross revenue.[279][280]

Technique

"I start with the voice. I find out how the character sounds. It's through the way he speaks that I find out the rest about him. ... After the voice comes the looks of the man. I do a lot of drawings of the character I play. Then I get together with the makeup man and we sort of transfer my drawings onto my face. An involved process. After that I establish how the character walks. Very important, the walk. And then, suddenly, something strange happens. The person takes over. The man you play begins to exist."

—Sellers describing how he prepared for his wide range of roles in an October 1962 interview for Playboy.[281]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times said of the Pink Panther films "I'm not sure why Mr. Sellers and Mr. Lom are such a hilarious team, though it may be because each is a fine comic actor with a special talent for portraying the sort of all-consuming, epic self-absorption that makes slapstick farce initially acceptable—instead of alarming—and finally so funny."[228] The film critic Elvis Mitchell said that Sellers was one of the few comic geniuses who was able to truly hide behind his characters, giving the audience no sense of what he was really like in real life.[282] A feature of the characterisations undertaken by Sellers is that, regardless of how clumsy or idiotic they are, he ensured that they always retain their dignity.[39] On his playing of Clouseau, Sellers said: "I set out to play Clouseau with great dignity because I feel that he thinks he is probably one of the greatest detectives in the world. The original script makes him out to be a complete idiot. I thought a forgivable vanity would humanise him and make him kind of touching."[283]

Sellers's biographer, Ed Sikov, notes that because of this retained dignity, Sellers is "the master of playing men who have no idea how ridiculous they are."[284] Social historian Sam Wasson notes the complexity in Sellers's performances in the Pink Panther films, which has the effect of alienating Clouseau from his environment. Wesson considers that "As 'low' and 'high' comedy rolled into one, it's the performative counterpoint to Edwardian sophisticated naturalism".[285] This combination of "high" and "low", exemplified by Clouseau's attempting to retain dignity after a fall, means that within the film Clouseau was "the sole representative of humanity".[286] Film critic Dilys Powell also saw the inherent dignity in the parts and wrote that Sellers had a "balance between character and absurdity".[287] Richard Attenborough also thought that because of his sympathy, Sellers could "inject into his characterisations the frailty and substance of a human being".[267]

Author Aaron Sultanik observed that in Sellers's early films, such as I'm All Right Jack, he displays "deft, technical interpretations [that] pinpoint the mechanical nature of his comic characterization", which "reduces each of his characters to a series of gross, awkward tics".[288] Academic Cynthia Baron observed that Sellers's external characterisations led to doubt with reviewers as to whether Sellers's work was "true" acting.[289][j] Critic Tom Milne saw a change over Sellers's career and thought that his "comic genius as a character actor was ... stifled by his elevation to leading man" and his later films suffered as a result.[152] Sultanik agreed, commenting that Sellers's "exceptional vocal and physical technique" was under-used during his career in the US.[288]

Academics Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis remarked that Sellers fits the mould of a technical actor because he displays a mastery of physical characterisation, such as accent or physical trait.[290] Writer and playwright John Mortimer saw the process for himself when Sellers was about to undertake filming on Mortimer's The Dock Brief and could not decide how to play the character of the barrister. By chance he ordered cockles for lunch and the smell brought back a memory of the seaside town of Morecambe: this gave him "the idea of a faded North Country accent and the suggestion of a scrappy moustache".[216] So important was the voice as the starting point for character development, that Sellers would walk around London with a reel-to-reel tape recorder, recording voices to study at home.[291]

Legacy

 
Sellers's hands and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

New York magazine stated that all of the films starring Sellers as Clouseau showcased his "comedic brilliance".[292] Sellers's friend and Goon Show colleague Spike Milligan said that Sellers "had one of the most glittering comic talents of his age",[3] while English filmmakers John and Roy Boulting noted that he was "the greatest comic genius this country has produced since Charles Chaplin".[2] Irv Slifkin said that the most prominent albeit ever-changing face in comedies of the 1960s was Sellers who "changed like a chameleon throughout the era, dazzling audiences".[293] In a 2005 poll to find "The Comedian's Comedian", Sellers was voted 14 in the list of the top 20 greatest comedians by fellow comics and comedy insiders.[294]

Sellers and The Goon Show were a strong influence on the Monty Python performers,[295] with John Cleese calling him "the greatest voice man of all time", adding, "If he could listen to you for five minutes, he could do a perfect impersonation of you."[296] The Goons were imported to the United States by the NBC program Monitor, which played recorded Goon show episodes starting in 1955. The American comedy troupe the Firesign Theatre also cited the Goons as a big influence on their radio comedy style.[297]

Sellers and the Goons were also an influence on Peter Cook,[298] who described Sellers as "the best comic actor in the world".[267] British actor Stephen Mangan stated that Sellers was a large influence,[299] as did the comedians Mike Myers,[300] Alan Carr[301] and Rob Brydon.[302] Sellers's characters Hrundi Bakshi (The Party) and Inspector Clouseau (The Pink Panther) later influenced comedian Rowan Atkinson's characters Mr. Bean and Johnny English.[303] The comic performer Sacha Baron Cohen referred to Sellers as "the most seminal force in shaping [his] early ideas on comedy". Cohen was considered for the role of Sellers in the biographical film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.[304] Will Ferrell considers Sellers to be an important influence on him, citing his "unique combination of being extremely subtle and over-the-top all at the same time."[305] The three members of Spinal Tap—Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer—have also cited Sellers as being an influence on them,[306] as has the US talk-show host Conan O'Brien.[307] David Schwimmer is another whose approach was influenced by Sellers: "he could do anything, from Dr Strangelove to Inspector Clouseau. He was just amazing."[308]

As a child, Eddie Murphy developed his dual acting skills in imitation of Sellers, whom he called his acting hero,[309] with Chris Rock hailing Murphy's performances (such as the multiple roles in The Nutty Professor) as "Peter Sellers-esque".[310] During an interview in 2002, Robin Williams told Michael Parkinson that Sellers was an important influence, especially his multi-character roles in Dr. Strangelove, stating, "It doesn't get better than that." Williams was considered to play Sellers in the HBO biopic but turned it down over scheduling conflicts, though Williams considered it an honour to be able to portray him.[311] Eddie Izzard notes that the Goons "influenced a new generation of comedians who came to be known as 'alternative'"—including herself,[312] while the media historian Graham McCann states "the anarchic spirit of the Goon Show ... would inspire, directly or indirectly and to varying extents, ... The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Young Ones, Vic Reeves Big Night Out, The League of Gentlemen [and] Brass Eye."[313]

The stage play Being Sellers premiered in Australia in 1998, three years after the release of the biography by Roger Lewis, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. In 2004, the book was turned into an HBO film with the same title, starring Geoffrey Rush. The play later transferred to New York in December 2010.[314] The Belfast Telegraph notes how the film captured Sellers's "life of drugs, drink, fast cars and lots and lots of beautiful women".[315]

Filmography and other works

Main article: Peter Sellers on stage, radio, screen and record
Selected works of Peter Sellers, based on award nominations
Film Year Role Award
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film 1959 [k] Nominated – Academy Award for Short Subject (Live Action)[90]
I'm All Right Jack 1959 Fred Kite Won – British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor[86]
Waltz of the Toreadors 1962 General Leo Fitzjohn Won – San Sebastián International Film Festival for Best Actor[108]
Lolita 1962 Clare Quilty Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor
Only Two Can Play 1962 John Lewis Nominated – British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor[107]
The Pink Panther 1963 Inspector Jacques Clouseau Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy[132]
Nominated – British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor[133]
Dr. Strangelove 1964 Group Captain Lionel Mandrake/
President Merkin Muffley/
Dr. Strangelove 		Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor[148]
Nominated – British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor[133]
The Optimists of Nine Elms 1973 Sam Won – Tehran Film Festival Award for Best Actor[206]
The Return of the Pink Panther 1975 Inspector Jacques Clouseau Won – The Evening News British Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy[226]
The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1976 Inspector Jacques Clouseau Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy[229]
Being There 1979 Chance Won – National Board of Review Award for Best Actor[246]
Won – New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor[247]
Won – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy[248]
Won – London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
Nominated – British Academy Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role[250]
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor[249]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ The film critic Kenneth Tynan noted that Sellers's ambition as an actor was fuelled mainly by "his hatred of anti-Semitism." This may have spurred his determination to become a great actor or director.[18]
  2. ^ The meaning of the acronym KOGVOS was flexible: it has also been defined as "King of Goons and Voice of Sanity."[43] and "King of the Goons Voices Society".[44]
  3. ^ Her maiden name was Anne Howe, while her professional name was Anne Hayes.[46]
  4. ^ The decree nisi was granted in March 1963 and Anne married Elias 'Ted' Levy in October the same year.[119]
  5. ^ The character may have been called Imperial Me, according to The New York Times.[163]
  6. ^ Various theories have been given about the animosity between the two actors, including Sellers trying to get Welles to laugh and Welles not responding; Sellers hearing a young woman comment that Welles was sexy; Sellers's comments about Welles's weight being objected to; and Sellers's jealousy at Welles's friendship with Princess Margaret, who was also a friend of Sellers.[182] Sellers's biographer Peter Evans declared that, "the real reason for this ... hostility is still uncertain",[183] while another biographer, Ed Sikov commented that others were as much to blame for problems with the film.[181]
  7. ^ The marriage to Quarry was formally dissolved in September 1974.[213]
  8. ^ According to biographer Peter Evans, Sellers received criticism for his portrayal of characters interpreted to be Jewish right from The Goon Show days and the show received complaints accusing them of anti-Semitism. The Monty Casino character was similarly criticised, and Barclays made the decision to immediately cancel the commercial, although, according to them, as a mark of respect upon his death.[257]
  9. ^ Frederick subsequently married David Frost; she divorced him and married a cardiologist, Dr Barry Unger. She died in 1994 after struggling with drug and alcohol dependency.[276]
  10. ^ Baron goes on to note that much of the "true acting" question was due to the "polemical publicity" of Lee Strasberg that British characterisation led to artificial performances in contrast to method acting.[289]
  11. ^ Sellers appeared in the film but was nominated in his capacity as the producer. It was Sellers's only producing credit.

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External links

January 12, 2023
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This article is about the English actor For the New Zealand sports broadcaster see Peter Sellers broadcaster For the American director see Peter Sellars Peter Sellers CBE born Richard Henry Sellers 8 September 1925 24 July 1980 was an English actor and comedian He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show featured on a number of hit comic songs and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series Peter SellersCBESellers in 1973Born 1925 09 08 8 September 1925Portsmouth EnglandDied24 July 1980 1980 07 24 aged 54 London EnglandOccupationsActorcomedianYears active1925 1980WorksFull listSpousesAnne Howe m 1951 div 1963 wbr Britt Ekland m 1964 div 1968 wbr Miranda Quarry m 1970 div 1976 wbr Lynne Frederick m 1977 wbr Children3 including Michael and VictoriaBorn in Southsea Portsmouth Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre Southsea when he was two weeks old He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association ENSA He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader s wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe which toured Britain and the Far East After the war Sellers made his radio debut in ShowTime and eventually became a regular performer on various BBC radio shows During the early 1950s Sellers along with Spike Milligan Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine took part in the successful radio series The Goon Show which ended in 1960 Sellers began his film career during the 1950s Although the bulk of his work was comedic often parodying characters of authority such as military officers or policemen he also performed in other film genres and roles Films demonstrating his artistic range include I m All Right Jack 1959 Stanley Kubrick s Lolita 1962 and Dr Strangelove 1964 What s New Pussycat 1965 Casino Royale 1967 The Party 1968 Being There 1979 and five films of the Pink Panther series 1963 1978 Sellers s versatility enabled him to portray a wide range of comic characters using different accents and guises and he would often assume multiple roles within the same film frequently with contrasting temperaments and styles Satire and black humour were major features of many of his films as they had been in his radio and record performances and they had a strong influence on a number of later comedians Sellers was nominated three times for an Academy Award twice for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performances in Dr Strangelove and Being There and once for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for The Running Jumping amp Standing Still Film 1959 He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role twice for I m All Right Jack and for the original Pink Panther film The Pink Panther 1963 and was nominated as Best Actor three times In 1980 he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Being There and was previously nominated three times in the same category Turner Classic Movies calls Sellers one of the most accomplished comic actors of the late 20th century 1 In his personal life Sellers struggled with depression and insecurities An enigmatic figure he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played His behaviour was often erratic and compulsive and he frequently clashed with his directors and co stars especially in the mid 1970s when his physical and mental health together with his alcohol and drug problems were at their worst Sellers was married four times and had three children from his first two marriages He died from a heart attack aged 54 in 1980 English filmmakers the Boulting brothers with whom Sellers had made two films in the late 1950s described Sellers as the greatest comic genius this country has produced since Charles Chaplin 2 Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1925 1935 1 2 Early performances 1935 1939 1 3 Second World War 1939 1945 1 4 Early post war career and The Goon Show 1946 1955 1 5 I m All Right Jack and early years in film 1956 1959 1 6 The Millionairess Lolita The Pink Panther and divorce 1960 1963 1 7 Dr Strangelove health problems a second marriage and Casino Royale 1964 1969 1 8 Period of indifference two marriages three Pink Panther films 1970 1978 1 9 Being There Fu Manchu and continued domestic problems 1979 1980 1 10 Death and subsequent family issues 2 Technique 3 Legacy 4 Filmography and other works 5 Notes and references 5 1 Notes 5 2 References 5 3 Sources 6 External linksBiography EditEarly life 1925 1935 Edit Blue plaque memorial at Sellers s birthplace in Castle Road Portsmouth Sellers was born on 8 September 1925 in Southsea a suburb of Portsmouth His parents were Yorkshire born William Bill Sellers and Agnes Doreen Peg nee Marks Both were variety entertainers Peg was in the Ray Sisters troupe 3 Although christened Richard Henry his parents called him Peter after his elder brother who was stillborn 4 Sellers had no other siblings 5 Peg Sellers was related to the prizefighter Daniel Mendoza 1764 1836 an engraving of whom later hung in Sellers office whom Sellers greatly revered At one time Sellers planned to use Mendoza s image for his production company s logo 6 Sellers was two weeks old when he was carried on stage by Dick Henderson the headline act at the Kings Theatre in Southsea the crowd sang For He s a Jolly Good Fellow which caused the infant to cry 7 The family constantly toured causing much upheaval and unhappiness in the young Sellers s life 8 Sellers maintained a very close relationship with his mother which his friend Spike Milligan later considered unhealthy for a grown man 9 Sellers s agent Dennis Selinger recalled his first meeting with Peg and Peter Sellers noting that Sellers was an immensely shy young man inclined to be dominated by his mother but without resentment or objection 10 As an only child though he spent much time alone 11 In 1935 the Sellers family moved to North London and settled in affluent Muswell Hill 12 Although Bill Sellers was Protestant and Peg was Jewish Sellers attended a Roman Catholic school St Aloysius College run by the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God about a mile from their home 3 The family was not wealthy but Peg set her sights on a private education for her son 13 According to biographer Peter Evans Sellers was fascinated puzzled and worried by religion from a young age 14 particularly Catholicism Roger Lewis believed that soon after entering Catholic school Sellers discovered he was a Jew he was someone on the outside of the mysteries of faith 15 Later in his life Sellers observed that while his father s faith was according to the Church of England his mother was Jewish and Jews take the faith of their mother 15 According to Milligan Sellers held a guilt complex about being Jewish and recalls that Sellers was once reduced to tears when presented with a candlestick from a synagogue for Christmas by Milligan who himself was raised a Catholic believing the gesture to be an anti Jewish slur 14 Sellers became a top student at the school excelling in drawing in particular He was prone to laziness but his natural talents shielded him from criticism by his teachers 16 Sellers recalled that a teacher scolded the other boys for not studying saying The Jewish boy knows his catechism better than the rest of you 17 a Early performances 1935 1939 Edit Accompanying his family on the variety show circuit 19 Sellers learned stagecraft but received conflicting encouragement from his parents and developed mixed feelings about show business His father doubted Sellers s abilities in the entertainment field even suggesting that his son s talents were only enough to become a road sweeper while Sellers s mother encouraged him continuously 20 While at St Aloysius College Sellers began to develop his improvisational skills He and his closest friend at the time Bryan Connon both enjoyed listening to early radio comedy shows Connon remembers that Peter got endless pleasure imitating the people in Monday Night at Eight He had a gift for improvising dialogue Sketches too I d be the straight man the feed I d cue Peter and he d do all the radio personalities and chuck in a few voices of his own invention as well 21 Second World War 1939 1945 Edit With the outbreak of the Second World War St Aloysius College was evacuated to Cambridgeshire Because his mother did not allow Sellers to go 22 his formal education ended at fourteen 3 Early in 1940 the family moved to the north Devon town of Ilfracombe where Sellers s maternal uncle managed the Victoria Palace Theatre 22 Sellers got his first job at the theatre aged fifteen starting as a caretaker 23 He was steadily promoted becoming a box office clerk usher assistant stage manager and lighting operator He was also offered some small acting parts 23 Working backstage gave him a chance to study actors such as Paul Scofield He became close friends with Derek Altman and together they launched Sellers s first stage act under the name Altman and Sellers consisting of playing ukuleles singing and telling jokes 23 During his backstage theatre job Sellers began practising on a set of drums that belonged to the band Joe Daniels and his Hot Shots Daniels noticed his efforts and gave him practical instructions The instrument greatly suited Sellers s temperament and artistic skills 24 Spike Milligan later noted that Sellers was very proficient on the drums and might have remained a jazz drummer had he lacked his skills in mimicry and improvisation 3 As the war progressed Sellers continued to develop his drumming skills and played with a series of touring bands including those of Oscar Rabin Henry Hall and Waldini 9 as well as his father s quartet before he left and joined a band from Blackpool 25 Sellers became a member of the Entertainments National Service Association ENSA which provided entertainment for British forces and factory workers during the war 25 Sellers also performed comedy routines at these concerts including impersonations of George Formby with Sellers accompanying his own singing on ukulele 26 In September 1943 he joined the Royal Air Force although it is unclear whether he volunteered or was conscripted 27 his mother unsuccessfully tried to have him deferred on medical grounds 3 Sellers wanted to become a pilot but his poor eyesight restricted him to ground staff duties 28 He found these duties dull so auditioned for Squadron Leader Ralph Reader s RAF Gang Show entertainment troupe Reader accepted him and Sellers toured the UK before the troupe was transferred to India 29 His tour also included Ceylon and Burma although the duration of his stay in Asia is unknown and Sellers may have exaggerated its length 30 He also served in Germany and France after the war 30 According to David Lodge who became friends with Sellers he was one of the best performers ever on the drums and developed a fine ability to impersonate military officers during this period 31 Early post war career and The Goon Show 1946 1955 Edit In 1946 Sellers made his final show with ENSA starring in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk at the Theatre Marigny in Paris 32 He was posted back to England shortly afterwards to work at the Air Ministry 33 and demobilised later that year 32 On resuming his theatrical career Sellers could get only sporadic work 34 He was fired after one performance of a comedy routine in Peterborough the headline act Welsh vocalist Dorothy Squires however persuaded the management to reinstate him 35 Sellers also continued his drumming and was billed on his appearance at The Hippodrome in Aldershot as Britain s answer to Gene Krupa 34 In March 1948 Sellers gained a six week run at the Windmill Theatre in London which predominantly staged revue acts he provided the comedy turns in between the nude shows on offer 36 Sellers wrote to the BBC in 1948 and was subsequently auditioned As a result he made his television debut on 18 March 1948 in New To You His act largely based on impressions was well received and he returned the following week 37 Frustrated with the slow pace of his career Sellers telephoned BBC radio producer Roy Speer pretending to be Kenneth Horne star of the radio show Much Binding in the Marsh Speer called Sellers a cheeky young sod for his efforts but gave him an audition This led to his brief appearance on 1 July 1948 on ShowTime 38 and subsequently to work on Ray s a Laugh with comedian Ted Ray 39 In October 1948 Sellers was a regular radio performer appearing in Starlight Hour The Gang Show Henry Hall s Guest Night and It s Fine To Be Young 40 By the end of 1948 the BBC Third Programme began to broadcast the comedy series Third Division which starred among others Harry Secombe Michael Bentine and Sellers 41 One evening Sellers and Bentine visited the Hackney Empire where Secombe was performing and Bentine introduced Sellers to Spike Milligan 42 The four would meet up at Grafton s public house near Victoria owned by Jimmy Grafton who was also a BBC script writer The four comedians dubbed him KOGVOS Keeper of Goons and Voice of Sanity b Grafton later edited some of the first Goon Shows 44 Sellers top with Spike Milligan left and Harry Secombe right in the BBC s The Goon Show In 1949 Sellers started to date Anne Howe 45 c an Australian actress who lived in London 47 He proposed to her in April 1950 48 and the couple were married in London on 15 September 1951 49 their son Michael was born on 2 April 1954 50 and their daughter Sarah followed in 1958 51 Sellers s introduction to film work came in 1950 where he dubbed the voice of Alfonso Bedoya in The Black Rose 52 He continued to work with Bentine Milligan and Secombe On 3 February 1951 he made a trial tape entitled The Goons and sent it to the BBC producer Pat Dixon who eventually accepted it The first Goon Show 43 was broadcast on 28 May 1951 53 Against their wishes they appeared under the name Crazy People 5 Sellers appeared in The Goons until the last programme of the ten series run broadcast on 28 January 1960 he only missed one episode in the show s entire run 43 Sellers played four main characters Major Denis Bloodnok Hercules Grytpype Thynne Bluebottle and Henry Crun and seventeen minor ones 54 Starting with 370 000 listeners the show eventually reached up to seven million people in Britain 43 and was described by one newspaper as probably the most influential comedy show of all time 55 For Sellers the BBC considers it had the effect of launching his career on the road to stardom 56 In 1951 the Goons made their feature film debut in Penny Points to Paradise 57 Sellers and Milligan then penned the script to Let s Go Crazy the earliest film to showcase Sellers s ability to portray a series of different characters within the same film and he made another appearance opposite his Goons co stars in the 1952 flop Down Among the Z Men 58 In 1954 Sellers was cast opposite Sid James Tony Hancock Raymond Huntley Donald Pleasence and Eric Sykes in the British Lion Film Corporation comedy production Orders Are Orders John Grierson believes that this was Sellers s breakthrough role on screen and credits this film with launching the film careers of both Sellers and Hancock 59 I m All Right Jack and early years in film 1956 1959 Edit The first real film I made was The Ladykillers I used to watch Alec Guinness who is an absolute idol of mine do everything his rehearsals his scenes everything He is my ideal and my idol Sellers on studying Sir Alec Guinness during filming The Ladykillers 60 Sellers pursued a film career and took a number of small roles such as a police officer in John and Julie 1955 61 He accepted a larger part in the 1955 Alexander Mackendrick directed Ealing comedy The Ladykillers in which he starred opposite his idol Alec Guinness in addition to Herbert Lom and Cecil Parker Sellers portrayed Harry Robinson the Teddy Boy biographer Peter Evans considers this Sellers s first good role 62 The Ladykillers was a success in both the UK and the US 63 and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay 64 The following year Sellers appeared in a further three television series based on The Goons The Idiot Weekly Price 2d A Show Called Fred and Son of Fred The shows aired on Britain s new ITV channel 65 In 1957 film producer Michael Relph impressed with Sellers s portrayal of an elderly character in Idiot Weekly cast the 32 year old actor as a 68 year old projectionist in Basil Dearden s The Smallest Show on Earth supporting Bill Travers Virginia McKenna and Margaret Rutherford 66 The film was a commercial success and is now thought of as a minor classic of post war British screen comedy 67 Following this Sellers provided the growling voice of Winston Churchill to the BAFTA award winning film The Man Who Never Was 68 Later in 1957 Sellers portrayed a television star with a talent for disguises in Mario Zampi s offbeat black comedy The Naked Truth opposite Terry Thomas Peggy Mount Shirley Eaton and Dennis Price 69 Terry Thomas starred with Sellers in four films between 1957 and 1959 Their last film together I m All Right Jack the highest grossing film at the British box office in 1960 saw Sellers receive the BAFTA Award for Best British Actor Sellers s difficulties in getting his film career to take off and increasing problems in his personal life prompted him to seek periodic consultations with astrologer Maurice Woodruff who held considerable sway over his later career 70 After a chance meeting with a North American Indian spirit guide in the 1950s Sellers became convinced that the music hall comedian Dan Leno who died in 1904 haunted him and guided his career and life decisions 71 Sellers was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats the same exclusive theatrical fraternity founded by Leno in 1890 72 In 1958 Sellers starred with David Tomlinson Wilfrid Hyde White David Lodge and Lionel Jeffries as a chief petty officer in Val Guest s Up the Creek 73 Guest later claimed that he had written and directed the film as a vehicle for Sellers and thus had started Sellers s film career 74 To practise his voice Sellers purchased a reel to reel tape recorder 75 The film received critical acclaim in the United States 76 and Roger Lewis viewed it as an important practice ground for Sellers 75 Next Sellers featured with Terry Thomas as one of a pair of comic villains in George Pal s Tom Thumb 1958 a musical fantasy film opposite Russ Tamblyn Jessie Matthews and Peter Butterworth Terry Thomas later said that my part was perfect but Peter s was bloody awful He wasn t difficult about it but he knew it 77 The performance was a landmark in Sellers s career and became his first contact with the Hollywood film industry 78 Sellers released his first studio album in 1958 called The Best of Sellers a collection of comic songs and sketches among them Balham Gateway to the South where Sellers plays a variety of comic characters 79 80 Produced by George Martin and released on Parlophone 81 the album reached number three in the UK Albums Chart 82 The same year Sellers made his first film with John and Roy Boulting in Carlton Browne of the F O a comedy in which he played a supporting role for the film s lead Terry Thomas 83 Before the release of that film the Boultings along with Sellers and Thomas in the cast started filming I m All Right Jack which became the highest grossing film at the British box office in 1960 84 In preparation for his role as Fred Kite Sellers watched footage of union officials 2 85 The role earned him a BAFTA and the critic for The Manchester Guardian believed it was Sellers s best screen performance to date 86 In between Carlton Browne of the F O and I m All Right Jack Sellers starred in The Mouse That Roared a film in which Jean Seberg also appeared and was directed by Jack Arnold He played three distinct leading roles the elderly Grand Duchess the ambitious Prime Minister and the innocent and clumsy farm boy selected to lead an invasion of the United States 87 The film received high praise from critics 88 It had a disappointing box office in the U K But was a surprise hit in America After completing I m All Right Jack Sellers returned to record a new series of The Goon Show 89 Over the course of two weekends he took his 16mm cine camera to Totteridge Lane in London and filmed himself Spike Milligan Mario Fabrizi Leo McKern and Richard Lester Originally intended as a private film the eleven minute short film The Running Jumping amp Standing Still Film was screened at the 1959 Edinburgh and San Francisco film festivals It won the award for best fiction short in the latter festival and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject Live Action 90 91 In 1959 Sellers released his second album Songs for Swingin Sellers which like his first record reached number three in the UK Albums Chart 82 Sellers s last film of the fifties was The Battle of the Sexes a comedy directed by Charles Crichton 92 The Millionairess Lolita The Pink Panther and divorce 1960 1963 Edit In 1960 Sellers portrayed an Indian doctor Dr Ahmed el Kabir in Anthony Asquith s romantic comedy The Millionairess a film based on a George Bernard Shaw play of the same name Sellers was not interested in the role until he learned that Sophia Loren would be his co star 93 When asked about Loren he explained to reporters I don t normally act with romantic glamorous women She s a lot different from Harry Secombe 94 Sellers and Loren developed a close relationship during filming culminating in Sellers declaring his love for her in front of his wife 95 Sellers also woke his son at night to ask Do you think I should divorce your mummy 96 There is uncertainty if the relationship was anything more than platonic a number of people including Spike Milligan consider it an affair while others including Graham Stark think it remained only a strong friendship Sellers s wife at the time Anne afterwards commented I don t know to this day whether he had an affair with her Nobody does 97 Roger Lewis observed that Sellers immersed himself completely in the characters he enacted during productions that He d play a role as an Indian doctor and for the next six months he d be an Indian in his real daily life 98 The film inspired the George Martin produced novelty hit single Goodness Gracious Me with Sellers and Loren which reached number four in the UK Singles Chart in November 1960 99 A follow up single by the duo Bangers and Mash reached number 22 in the UK chart 99 The songs were included on an album released by the couple Peter amp Sophia which reached number five in the UK Albums Chart 82 That year he also appeared in Never Let Go 1960 playing a straight villain part 100 In 1961 Sellers made his directorial debut with Mr Topaze in which he also starred 101 The film was based on the Marcel Pagnol play Topaze 102 Sellers portrayed an ex schoolmaster in a small French town who turns to a life of crime to obtain wealth The film and Sellers s directorial abilities received unenthusiastic responses from the public and critics and Sellers rarely referred to it again 103 104 105 The same year he starred in the Sidney Gilliat directed Only Two Can Play a film based on the novel That Uncertain Feeling by Kingsley Amis 106 He was nominated for the Best British Actor award at the 16th British Academy Film Awards for his role as John Lewis a frustrated Welsh librarian whose affections swing between the glamorous Liz Mai Zetterling and his long suffering wife Jean Virginia Maskell 107 Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther In 1962 Sellers played a retired British army general in John Guillermin s Waltz of the Toreadors based on the play of the same name The film was widely criticised for its slapstick cinematic adaption and director Guillermin himself considered the film amateurish 108 However Sellers won the San Sebastian International Film Festival Award for Best Actor and a BAFTA award nomination for his performance and it was well received by the critics 108 109 Stanley Kubrick asked Sellers to play the role of Clare Quilty in the 1962 film Lolita opposite James Mason and Shelley Winters 110 Kubrick had seen Sellers in The Battle of the Sexes and listened to the album The Best of Sellers and was impressed by the range of characters he could portray 111 Sellers was apprehensive about accepting the role doubting his ability to successfully portray the part of a flamboyant American television playwright who was according to Sellers a fantastic nightmare part homosexual part drug addict part sadist 112 Kubrick encouraged Sellers to improvise and stated that he often reached a state of comic ecstasy 113 Kubrick had American jazz producer Norman Granz record portions of the script for Sellers to listen to so he could study the voice and develop confidence granting Sellers a free artistic licence 111 Sellers later claimed that his relationship with Kubrick became one of the most rewarding of his career 114 Writing in The Sunday Times Dilys Powell commented that Sellers gave a firework performance funny malicious only once for a few seconds overreaching itself and in the murder scene which is both prologue and epilogue achieving the macabre in comedy 115 Towards the end of 1962 Sellers appeared in The Dock Brief a legal satire directed by James Hill and co starring Richard Attenborough 116 Sellers s behaviour towards his family worsened in 1962 according to his son Michael Sellers asked him and his sister Sarah who we love more our mother or him Sarah to keep the peace said I love you both equally I said No I love my mum This prompted Sellers to throw both children out saying that he never wanted to see them again 117 At the end of 1962 his marriage to Anne broke down 118 d In 1963 Sellers starred as gang leader Pearly Gates in Cliff Owen s The Wrong Arm of the Law 120 followed by his portrayal of a vicar in Heavens Above 121 I ll play Clouseau with great dignity because he thinks of himself as one of the world s best detectives Even when he comes a cropper he must pick himself up with that notion intact The original script makes him out to be a complete idiot I think a forgivable vanity would humanize him and make him kind of touching It s as if filmgoers are kept one fall ahead of him Sellers on portraying Clouseau 122 After his father s death in October 1962 Sellers decided to leave England and was approached by director Blake Edwards who offered him the role of Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther after Peter Ustinov had backed out of the film 123 Edwards later recalled his feelings as desperately unhappy and ready to kill but as fate would have it I got Mr Sellers instead of Mr Ustinov thank God 124 Sellers accepted a fee of 90 000 796 598 in 2021 pounds 125 for five weeks work on location in Rome and Cortina 126 The film starred David Niven in the principal role with two other actors Capucine and Claudia Cardinale having more prominent roles than Sellers 127 However Sellers s performance is regarded as being on par with that of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton according to biographer Peter Evans 127 Although the Clouseau character was in the script Sellers created the personality devising the costume accent make up moustache and trench coat 122 The Pink Panther was released in the UK in January 1964 128 and received a mixed reception from the critics 129 although Penelope Gilliatt writing in The Observer remarked that Sellers had a flawless sense of mistiming in a performance that was one of the most delicate studies in accident proneness since the silents 130 Despite the views of the critics the film was one of the top ten grossing films of the year 131 The role earned Sellers a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 22nd Golden Globe Awards 132 and for a Best British Actor award at the 18th British Academy Film Awards 133 Dr Strangelove health problems a second marriage and Casino Royale 1964 1969 Edit Sellers in the 1966 film After the Fox In 1963 Stanley Kubrick cast Sellers to appear in Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb alongside George C Scott Sterling Hayden Keenan Wynn and Slim Pickens Sellers and Kubrick got along famously during the film s production and had the greatest of respect for each other also sharing a love of photography 134 The director asked Sellers to play three roles US President Merkin Muffley Dr Strangelove and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake of the RAF Sellers was initially hesitant about taking on these divergent characters but Kubrick prevailed 135 According to some accounts Sellers was also invited to play the part of General Buck Turgidson but turned it down because it was too physically demanding 136 Kubrick later commented that the idea of having Sellers in so many of the film s key roles was that everywhere you turn there is some version of Peter Sellers holding the fate of the world in his hands 137 Sellers was especially anxious about successfully enacting the role of Kong and accurately affecting a Texan accent 138 Kubrick requested screenwriter Terry Southern to record in his natural accent a tape of Kong s lines 139 After practising with Southern s recording Sellers got sufficient control of the accent and started shooting the scenes in the aeroplane After the first day s shooting Sellers sprained his ankle while leaving a restaurant and could no longer work in the cramped cockpit set 140 Kubrick then re cast Slim Pickens as Kong 141 The three roles Sellers undertook were distinct variegated complex and refined 142 and critic Alexander Walker considered that these roles showed his genius at full stretch 143 Sellers played Muffley as a bland placid intellectual in the mould of Adlai Stevenson 144 he played Mandrake as an unflappable Englishman 142 and Dr Strangelove a character influenced by pre war German cinema as a wheelchair using fanatic 145 The critic for The Times wrote that the film includes three remarkable performances from Mr Peter Sellers masterly as the President diverting as a revue sketch ex Nazi US Scientist and acceptable as an RAF officer 146 although the critic from The Guardian thought his portrayal of the RAF officer alone was worth the price of an admission ticket 147 For his performance in all three roles Sellers was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor at the 37th Academy Awards 148 and the Best British Actor award at the 18th British Academy Film Awards 133 Between November 1963 and February 1964 Sellers began filming A Shot in the Dark 149 an adaptation of a French play L Idiote by Marcel Achard 150 Sellers found the part and the director Anatole Litvak uninspiring the producers brought in Blake Edwards to replace Litvak Together with writer William Peter Blatty they turned the script into a Clouseau comedy also adding Herbert Lom as Commissioner Dreyfus and Burt Kwouk as Cato During filming Sellers s relationship with Edwards became strained the two would often stop speaking to each other during filming communicating only by the passing of notes 151 Sellers s personality was described by others as difficult and demanding and he often clashed with fellow actors and directors 152 Upon its release in late June 1964 Bosley Crowther noted the joyously free and facile way in which Sellers had developed his comedy technique 153 I feel extremely vulnerable and I need help a lot A lot I suppose I feel mainly I need the help of a woman I m continually searching for this woman They mother you they re great in bed they re like a sister they re there when you want to see them they re not there when you don t I don t know where they are Maybe they re around somewhere I ll find one one of these days Sellers on his need for women 154 Towards the end of filming in early February 1964 Sellers met Britt Ekland a Swedish actress who had arrived in London to film Guns at Batasi On 19 February 1964 just ten days after their first meeting the couple married 138 Sellers soon showed signs of insecurity and paranoia he would become highly anxious and jealous for example when Ekland starred opposite attractive men 155 Shortly after the wedding Sellers started filming on location in Twentynine Palms California for Billy Wilder s Kiss Me Stupid opposite Dean Martin and Kim Novak 156 The relationship between Wilder and Sellers became strained both had different approaches to work and often clashed as a result 157 On the night of 5 April 1964 prior to having sex with Ekland Sellers inhaled amyl nitrites poppers as a sexual stimulant in his search for the ultimate orgasm 158 and suffered a series of eight heart attacks over the course of three hours as a result 159 His illness forced him to withdraw from the filming of Kiss Me Stupid and he was replaced by Ray Walston 160 Wilder was unsympathetic about the heart attacks saying that you have to have a heart before you can have an attack 161 After some time recovering Sellers returned to filming in October 1964 playing King of the Individualists alongside Ekland in A Carol for Another Christmas 162 e a feature length United Nations special broadcast in the United States on the ABC channel on 28 December 1964 163 Sellers had been concerned that his heart attacks might have caused brain damage 162 and that he would be unable to remember his lines but he was reassured that his memory and abilities were unimpaired after the experience of filming 164 Sellers followed this with the role of the perverted Austrian psychoanalyst Doctor Fritz Fassbender in Clive Donner s What s New Pussycat appearing alongside Peter O Toole Romy Schneider Capucine Paula Prentiss and Ursula Andress 127 The film was the first screenwriting and acting credit for Woody Allen and featured Sellers in a love triangle 165 166 Because of Sellers s poor health producer Charles K Feldman insured him at a cost of 360 000 167 3 145 365 in 2021 dollars 168 Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland in 1964 On 20 January 1965 Sellers and Ekland announced the birth of a daughter Victoria 169 They moved to Rome in May to film After the Fox an Anglo Italian production in which they were both to appear 170 The film was directed by Vittorio De Sica whose English Sellers struggled to understand 171 Sellers attempted to have De Sica fired causing tensions on the set 171 Sellers also became unhappy with his wife s performance straining their relationship 172 and triggering open arguments during one of which Sellers threw a chair at Ekland 173 Despite these conflicts the script was praised for its wit 174 175 Following the commercial success of What s New Pussycat Charles Feldman again brought together Sellers and Woody Allen for his next project Casino Royale which also starred Orson Welles 176 Sellers signed a 1 million contract for the film 177 8 126 747 in 2021 dollars 168 Seven screenwriters worked on the project 176 and filming was chaotic 178 To make matters worse according to Ekland Sellers was so insecure he won t trust anyone 179 A poor working relationship quickly developed between Sellers and Welles Sellers eventually demanded that the two should not share the same set 180 Sellers left the film before his part was complete A further agent s part was then written for Terence Cooper to cover Sellers s departure 181 f Shortly after leaving Casino Royale Sellers was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire CBE in honour of his career achievements 184 The day before the investiture at Buckingham Palace Sellers and Ekland argued with Ekland scratching his face in the process Sellers had a make up artist cover the marks 185 During his next film The Bobo which again co starred Ekland the couple s marital problems worsened Three weeks into production in Italy Sellers told director Robert Parrish to fire his wife saying I m not coming back after lunch if that bitch is on the set 186 Ekland later stated that the marriage was an atrocious sham at this stage 187 In the midst of filming The Bobo Sellers s mother had a heart attack Parrish asked Sellers if he wanted to visit her in hospital but Sellers remained on set She died within days without Sellers having seen her 188 He was deeply affected by her death and remorseful at not having returned to London to see her 189 Ekland served him with divorce papers shortly afterwards The divorce was finalised on 18 December 1968 and Sellers s friend Spike Milligan sent Ekland a congratulatory telegram 190 Upon its release in September 1967 The Bobo was poorly received 191 Sellers s first film appearance of 1968 was a reunion with Blake Edwards for the fish out of water comedy The Party in which he starred alongside Claudine Longet and Denny Miller He appears as Hrundi V Bakshi a bungling Indian actor who accidentally receives an invitation to a lavish Hollywood dinner party His character according to Sellers s biographer Peter Evans was clearly an amalgam of Clouseau and the doctor in The Millionairess 192 Roger Lewis notes that like a number of Sellers s characters he is played in a sympathetic and dignified manner 193 He followed it later that year with Hy Averback s I Love You Alice B Toklas playing an attorney who abandons his lifestyle to become a hippie Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film three stars remarking that Sellers was back doing what he does best although he also said that in Sellers s previous films he had been at his worst recently 194 In 1969 Sellers starred opposite Ringo Starr in the Joseph McGrath directed film The Magic Christian Sellers portrayed Sir Guy Grand an eccentric billionaire who plays elaborate practical jokes on people The critic Irv Slifkin remarked that the film was a reflection of the cynicism of Peter Sellers describing the film as a proto Pythonesque adaption of Terry Southern s semi free form short novel and one of the strangest films to be shown at a gala premiere for Britain s royal family 195 The film a satire on human nature 196 was in general viewed negatively by critics Roger Greenspun of The New York Times believed that the film was of variable quality and summarised it as a brutal satire 197 Period of indifference two marriages three Pink Panther films 1970 1978 Edit Sellers in 1971 After a cameo appearance in A Day at the Beach 1970 198 and a serious role later in 1970 as an aging businessman who seduces Sinead Cusack in Hoffman 199 Sellers starred in Roy Boulting s There s a Girl in My Soup opposite Goldie Hawn According to The Times the film was a major commercial success and became the seventh most popular film at the British box office in 1970 200 Andrew Spicer writing for the British Film Institute s Screenonline considers that although Sellers favoured playing romantic roles he was always more successful in parts that sent up his own vanities and pretensions as with the TV presenter and narcissistic lothario he played in There s a Girl in My Soup 201 The film was seen as a small revival of his career 202 Sellers s next films including Rodney Amateau s Where Does It Hurt 1972 203 and Peter Medak s Ghost in the Noonday Sun 1974 were again poorly received and his acting was viewed as frenetic rather than funny 204 Despite these setbacks Sellers won the Best Actor award at the 1973 Tehran Film Festival for his tragi comedic role as a street performer in Anthony Simmons s The Optimists of Nine Elms 205 206 207 Fellow comedian and friend Spike Milligan believed that the early 1970s were for Sellers a period of indifference and it would appear at one time that his career might have come to a conclusion 3 This was echoed by Sellers s biographer Peter Evans who notes that out of nine films in the period three were never released and five had flopped while only There s a Girl in My Soup had been a success 208 In his private life he had been seeing the twenty three year old model Miranda Quarry The couple married on 24 August 1970 209 despite Sellers s private doubts expressed to his agent Dennis Selinger about his decision to remarry 210 In April 1972 Sellers reunited with Milligan and Harry Secombe to record The Last Goon Show of All which was broadcast on 5 October 211 In May 1973 with his third marriage failing 182 Sellers went to the theatre to watch Liza Minnelli perform He became entranced with Minnelli and the couple became engaged three days later despite Minnelli s current betrothal to Desi Arnaz Jr and Sellers still being married 212 g Their relationship lasted a month before breaking up 214 By 1974 Sellers s friends were concerned that he was having a nervous breakdown 192 Directors John and Roy Boulting considered that Sellers was a deeply troubled man distrustful self absorbed ultimately self destructive He was the complete contradiction 2 Sellers was shy and insecure when out of character 215 216 When he was invited to appear on Michael Parkinson s eponymous chat show in 1974 he withdrew the day before explaining to Parkinson that I just can t walk on as myself When he was told he could come on as someone else he appeared dressed as a member of the Gestapo 217 After a few lines in keeping with his assumed character he stepped out of the role and settled down and according to Parkinson himself was brilliant giving the audience an astonishing display of his virtuosity 218 In 1974 Sellers again claimed to have communicated with the long dead music hall comic Dan Leno who advised him to return to the role of Clouseau 192 In 1974 Sellers portrayed a sexually voracious Queen Victoria in Joseph McGrath s comedic biographical film of the Scottish poet William McGonagall The Great McGonagall starring opposite Milligan and Julia Foster 219 However the film was a critical failure and Sellers s career and life reached an all time low As a result by 1974 he agreed to accept salaries of 100 000 and 10 per cent of the gross to appear in TV productions and advertisements well below the 1 million he had once commanded per film 220 In 1973 he appeared in a Benson amp Hedges cinema commercial in 1975 he appeared in a series of advertisements for Trans World Airlines in which he played several eccentric characters including Thrifty McTravel Jeremy Piggy Peak Thyme and an Italian singer Vito 221 Biographer Michael Starr asserts that Sellers showed enthusiasm towards these roles 222 although the airline campaign failed commercially 223 A turning point in Sellers s flailing career came in 1974 when he teamed up with Blake Edwards to make The Return of the Pink Panther starring alongside Christopher Plummer Herbert Lom and Catherine Schell 224 The film was shot on a budget of 3 million and earned 33 million at the box office upon release in May 1975 reinvigorating Sellers s career as an A list film star and restoring his millionaire status 3 225 The film earned Sellers a nomination for the Best Actor Musical or Comedy award at the 33rd Golden Globe Awards 226 In 1976 he followed it with The Pink Panther Strikes Again During the filming from February to June 1976 the already fraught relationship between Sellers and Blake Edwards had seriously deteriorated Edwards says of the actor s mental state at the time of The Pink Panther Strikes Again If you went to an asylum and you described the first inmate you saw that s what Peter had become He was certifiable 227 With declining physical health Sellers could at times be unbearable on set His behaviour was regarded as unprofessional and childish and he frequently threw tantrums often threatening to abandon projects 220 His difficult behaviour during productions was widely reported and made it more difficult for Sellers to get employment in the industry at a time when he most needed the work 11 Despite Sellers s deep personal problems The Pink Panther Strikes Again was well received critically Vincent Canby of The New York Times said of Sellers in the film There is too something most winningly seedy about Mr Sellers Clouseau a fellow who when he attempts to tear off his clothes in the heat of passion gets tangled up in his necktie and who when he masquerades for reasons never gone into as Quasimodo overinflates his hump with helium 228 Sellers s performance earned him a further nomination at the 34th Golden Globe Awards 229 In March 1976 Sellers began dating actress Lynne Frederick whom he married on 18 February 1977 230 Biographer Roger Lewis documents that of all of Sellers s wives Frederick was the most poorly treated Julian Upton likened it to a boxing match between a heavyweight and a featherweight a relationship that oscillated from ardour to hatred reconciliation and remorse 231 On 20 March 1977 Sellers suffered a second major heart attack during a flight from Paris to London he was subsequently fitted with a pacemaker 231 232 Sellers returned from his illness to undertake Revenge of the Pink Panther although it was a commercial success the critics were tiring of Inspector Clouseau Julian Upton expressed the view that the strain behind the scenes began to manifest itself in the sluggish pace of the film describing it as a laboured stunt heavy hotchpotch of half baked ideas and rehashed gags 231 Sellers too had become tired of the role saying after production I ve honestly had enough of Clouseau I ve got nothing more to give 233 Steven Bach the senior vice president and head of worldwide productions for United Artists who worked with Sellers on Revenge of the Pink Panther considered that Sellers was deeply unbalanced if not committable that was the source of his genius and his truly quite terrifying aspects as manipulator and hysteric 234 He refused to seek professional help for his mental issues 235 Sellers would claim that he had no personality and was almost unnoticeable which meant that he needed a strongly defined character to play 236 He would make similar references throughout his life when he appeared on The Muppet Show in 1978 a guest appearance that earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actor in Variety or Music 237 he chose not to appear as himself instead appearing in a variety of costumes and accents When Kermit the Frog told Sellers he could relax and be himself Sellers replied But that you see my dear Kermit would be altogether impossible I could never be myself You see there is no me I do not exist There used to be a me but I had it surgically removed Peter Sellers The Muppet Show February 1978 238 Being There Fu Manchu and continued domestic problems 1979 1980 Edit In 1979 Sellers starred alongside Lynne Frederick Lionel Jeffries and Elke Sommer in Richard Quine s The Prisoner of Zenda He portrayed three roles including King Rudolf IV and King Rudolf V rulers of the fictional small nation of Ruritania and Syd Frewin Rudolf V s half brother Upon its release in May 1979 the film was well received Janet Maslin of The New York Times observed how Sellers divided his energies between a serious character and a funny one but that it was his serious performance which was more impressive 239 However Philip French for The Observer was unimpressed by the film describing it as a mess of porridge and stating that Sellers reveals that he cannot draw the line between the sincere and the sentimental 240 Later in 1979 Sellers starred opposite Shirley MacLaine Melvyn Douglas and Jack Warden in the black comedy Being There as Chance a simple minded gardener addicted to watching TV who is regarded as a sage by the rich and powerful 241 In a BBC interview in 1971 Sellers had said that more than anything else he wanted to play the role and successfully persuaded the author of the book Jerzy Kosinski to allow him and director Hal Ashby to make the film provided Kosinski could write the script 242 243 During filming to remain in character Sellers refused most interview requests and kept his distance from the other actors 243 Sellers considered Chance s walking and voice the character s most important attributes and in preparing for the role worked alone with a tape recorder or with his wife and then with Ashby to perfect the clear enunciation and flat delivery needed to reveal the childlike mind behind the words 243 Sellers described his experience of working on the film as so humbling so powerful and co star Shirley MacLaine found Sellers a dream to work with 244 Sellers s performance was universally lauded by critics and is considered by critic Danny Smith to be the crowning triumph of Peter Sellers s remarkable career 242 Critic Frank Rich wrote that the acting skill required for this sort of role with a schismatic personality that Peter had to convey with strenuous vocal and gestural technique A lesser actor would have made the character s mental dysfunction flamboyant and drastic His intelligence was always deeper his onscreen confidence greater his technique much more finely honed 245 in achieving this Sellers makes the film s fantastic premise credible 245 The film earned Sellers a Best Actor award at the 51st National Board of Review Awards 246 the London Critics Circle Film Awards Special Achievement Award the Best Actor award at the 45th New York Film Critics Circle Awards 247 and the Best Actor Musical or Comedy award at the 37th Golden Globe Awards 248 Additionally Sellers was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 52nd Academy Awards 249 and the Best Actor in a Leading Role award at the 34th British Academy Film Awards 250 In March 1980 Sellers asked his 15 year old daughter Victoria what she thought about Being There she reported later that I said yes I thought it was great But then I said You looked like a little fat old man he went mad He threw his drink over me and told me to get the next plane home 251 His other daughter Sarah told Sellers her thoughts about the incident and he sent her a telegram that read After what happened this morning with Victoria I shall be happy if I never hear from you again I won t tell you what I think of you It must be obvious Goodbye Your Father 251 Sellers s last film was The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu a comedic re imagining of the eponymous adventure novels by Sax Rohmer Sellers played both police inspector Nayland Smith and Fu Manchu alongside Helen Mirren and David Tomlinson The production of the film was troublesome before filming started with two directors Richard Quine and John Avildsen fired before the script had been completed 252 Sellers also expressed dissatisfaction with his own portrayal of Manchu 253 with his ill health often causing delays 254 Arguments between Sellers and director Piers Haggard led to Haggard s firing at Sellers s instigation and Sellers took over direction using his long time friend David Lodge to direct some sequences 255 Tom Shales of The Washington Post described the film as an indefensibly inept comedy 256 adding that it is hard to name another good actor who ever made so many bad movies as Sellers a comedian of great gifts but ferociously faulty judgment Manchu will take its rightful place alongside such colossally ill advised washouts as Tell Me Where It Hurts The Bobo and The Prisoner of Zenda 256 Sellers s final performances were a series of advertisements for Barclays Bank Filmed in April 1980 in Ireland he played Monty Casino a Jewish con man h Four adverts were scheduled but only three were filmed as Sellers collapsed in Dublin again with heart problems 258 After two days in care and against the advice of his doctors he travelled to the Cannes Film Festival where Being There was in competition 259 Sellers was again ill in Cannes returning to his residence in Gstaad to work on the script for his next project Romance of the Pink Panther 260 At the urging of his friends he made an appointment to undergo an angiogram at the Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on 30 July 1980 to see if he was able to undergo open heart surgery 261 Spike Milligan later considered that Sellers s heart condition had lasted for over 15 years and had made life difficult for him and had a debilitating effect on his personality 3 Sellers s fourth marriage to Frederick collapsed soon after 262 Sellers had recently started to rebuild his relationship with his son Michael after the failure of the latter s marriage In lighter moments Sellers had joked that his epitaph should read Star of stage screen and alimony 263 Death and subsequent family issues Edit Plaque commemorating Sellers at Golders Green Crematorium On 21 July 1980 Sellers arrived in London from Geneva He checked into the Dorchester hotel before visiting Golders Green Crematorium for the first time to see the location of his parents ashes 264 He had plans to attend a reunion dinner with his Goon Show partners Milligan and Secombe scheduled for the evening of 22 July 265 On the day of the dinner Sellers took lunch in his hotel suite and shortly afterwards collapsed from a heart attack He was taken to the Middlesex Hospital London and died just after midnight on 24 July 1980 aged 54 266 Following Sellers s death fellow actor Richard Attenborough said that Sellers had the genius comparable to Chaplin 267 while the Boulting brothers considered Sellers as a man of enormous gifts and these gifts he gave to the world For them he is assured of a place in the history of art as entertainment 2 Burt Kwouk who appeared as Cato in the Pink Panther films stated that Peter was a well loved actor in Britain the day he died it seemed that the whole country came to a stop Everywhere you went the fact that Peter had died seemed like an umbrella over everything 268 Director Blake Edwards thought that Peter was brilliant He had an enormous facility for finding really unusual unique facets of the character he was playing 269 Sellers s friend and Goon Show colleague Spike Milligan was too upset to speak to the press at the time of Sellers s death 270 while fellow Goon Harry Secombe said I m shattered Peter was such a tremendous artist He had so much talent it just oozed out of him 271 in dark humour referring to the missed dinner the Goons had planned he added Anything to avoid paying for dinner 268 Secombe later declared to journalists Bluebottle is deaded now 272 Milligan later said that it s hard to say this but he died at the right time 268 A private funeral service was held at Golders Green Crematorium on 26 July conducted by Sellers s old friend Canon John Hester 265 Sellers s final joke was the playing of In the Mood by Glenn Miller a tune which all the Goons hated he knew they would have to sit there in silence and listen to it 273 A memorial service was held at St Martin in the Fields on 8 September 1980 what would have been Sellers s 55th birthday 274 Close friend Lord Snowdon read the twenty third Psalm Harry Secombe sang Bread of Heaven and the eulogy was read by David Niven 274 Although Sellers was reportedly in the process of excluding Frederick from his will a week before he died 275 she inherited almost his entire estate worth an estimated 4 5 million 20 5 million in 2021 pounds 125 while his children received 800 each 275 3 649 in 2021 pounds 125 Spike Milligan appealed to her on behalf of Sellers s three children but she refused to increase the amount 276 i Sellers s only son Michael died of a heart attack at 52 during surgery on 24 July 2006 twenty six years to the day after his father s death 277 After his death Metro Goldwyn Mayer tried to continue with Romance of the Pink Panther and offered the role of Clouseau to Dudley Moore who turned it down The studio subsequently returned to Blake Edwards who was adamant not to recast the character feeling certain that no one could adequately replace Sellers In 1982 Edwards released Trail of the Pink Panther which was composed entirely of deleted scenes from his past three Panther films 278 Frederick sued claiming the use of the clips was a breach of contract the court awarded her 1 million 2 8 million today plus 3 15 per cent of the film s profits and 1 36 per cent of its gross revenue 279 280 Technique Edit I start with the voice I find out how the character sounds It s through the way he speaks that I find out the rest about him After the voice comes the looks of the man I do a lot of drawings of the character I play Then I get together with the makeup man and we sort of transfer my drawings onto my face An involved process After that I establish how the character walks Very important the walk And then suddenly something strange happens The person takes over The man you play begins to exist Sellers describing how he prepared for his wide range of roles in an October 1962 interview for Playboy 281 Vincent Canby of The New York Times said of the Pink Panther films I m not sure why Mr Sellers and Mr Lom are such a hilarious team though it may be because each is a fine comic actor with a special talent for portraying the sort of all consuming epic self absorption that makes slapstick farce initially acceptable instead of alarming and finally so funny 228 The film critic Elvis Mitchell said that Sellers was one of the few comic geniuses who was able to truly hide behind his characters giving the audience no sense of what he was really like in real life 282 A feature of the characterisations undertaken by Sellers is that regardless of how clumsy or idiotic they are he ensured that they always retain their dignity 39 On his playing of Clouseau Sellers said I set out to play Clouseau with great dignity because I feel that he thinks he is probably one of the greatest detectives in the world The original script makes him out to be a complete idiot I thought a forgivable vanity would humanise him and make him kind of touching 283 Sellers s biographer Ed Sikov notes that because of this retained dignity Sellers is the master of playing men who have no idea how ridiculous they are 284 Social historian Sam Wasson notes the complexity in Sellers s performances in the Pink Panther films which has the effect of alienating Clouseau from his environment Wesson considers that As low and high comedy rolled into one it s the performative counterpoint to Edwardian sophisticated naturalism 285 This combination of high and low exemplified by Clouseau s attempting to retain dignity after a fall means that within the film Clouseau was the sole representative of humanity 286 Film critic Dilys Powell also saw the inherent dignity in the parts and wrote that Sellers had a balance between character and absurdity 287 Richard Attenborough also thought that because of his sympathy Sellers could inject into his characterisations the frailty and substance of a human being 267 Author Aaron Sultanik observed that in Sellers s early films such as I m All Right Jack he displays deft technical interpretations that pinpoint the mechanical nature of his comic characterization which reduces each of his characters to a series of gross awkward tics 288 Academic Cynthia Baron observed that Sellers s external characterisations led to doubt with reviewers as to whether Sellers s work was true acting 289 j Critic Tom Milne saw a change over Sellers s career and thought that his comic genius as a character actor was stifled by his elevation to leading man and his later films suffered as a result 152 Sultanik agreed commenting that Sellers s exceptional vocal and physical technique was under used during his career in the US 288 Academics Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis remarked that Sellers fits the mould of a technical actor because he displays a mastery of physical characterisation such as accent or physical trait 290 Writer and playwright John Mortimer saw the process for himself when Sellers was about to undertake filming on Mortimer s The Dock Brief and could not decide how to play the character of the barrister By chance he ordered cockles for lunch and the smell brought back a memory of the seaside town of Morecambe this gave him the idea of a faded North Country accent and the suggestion of a scrappy moustache 216 So important was the voice as the starting point for character development that Sellers would walk around London with a reel to reel tape recorder recording voices to study at home 291 Legacy Edit Sellers s hands and footprints at Grauman s Chinese Theatre New York magazine stated that all of the films starring Sellers as Clouseau showcased his comedic brilliance 292 Sellers s friend and Goon Show colleague Spike Milligan said that Sellers had one of the most glittering comic talents of his age 3 while English filmmakers John and Roy Boulting noted that he was the greatest comic genius this country has produced since Charles Chaplin 2 Irv Slifkin said that the most prominent albeit ever changing face in comedies of the 1960s was Sellers who changed like a chameleon throughout the era dazzling audiences 293 In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian s Comedian Sellers was voted 14 in the list of the top 20 greatest comedians by fellow comics and comedy insiders 294 Sellers and The Goon Show were a strong influence on the Monty Python performers 295 with John Cleese calling him the greatest voice man of all time adding If he could listen to you for five minutes he could do a perfect impersonation of you 296 The Goons were imported to the United States by the NBC program Monitor which played recorded Goon show episodes starting in 1955 The American comedy troupe the Firesign Theatre also cited the Goons as a big influence on their radio comedy style 297 Sellers and the Goons were also an influence on Peter Cook 298 who described Sellers as the best comic actor in the world 267 British actor Stephen Mangan stated that Sellers was a large influence 299 as did the comedians Mike Myers 300 Alan Carr 301 and Rob Brydon 302 Sellers s characters Hrundi Bakshi The Party and Inspector Clouseau The Pink Panther later influenced comedian Rowan Atkinson s characters Mr Bean and Johnny English 303 The comic performer Sacha Baron Cohen referred to Sellers as the most seminal force in shaping his early ideas on comedy Cohen was considered for the role of Sellers in the biographical film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers 304 Will Ferrell considers Sellers to be an important influence on him citing his unique combination of being extremely subtle and over the top all at the same time 305 The three members of Spinal Tap Michael McKean Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer have also cited Sellers as being an influence on them 306 as has the US talk show host Conan O Brien 307 David Schwimmer is another whose approach was influenced by Sellers he could do anything from Dr Strangelove to Inspector Clouseau He was just amazing 308 As a child Eddie Murphy developed his dual acting skills in imitation of Sellers whom he called his acting hero 309 with Chris Rock hailing Murphy s performances such as the multiple roles in The Nutty Professor as Peter Sellers esque 310 During an interview in 2002 Robin Williams told Michael Parkinson that Sellers was an important influence especially his multi character roles in Dr Strangelove stating It doesn t get better than that Williams was considered to play Sellers in the HBO biopic but turned it down over scheduling conflicts though Williams considered it an honour to be able to portray him 311 Eddie Izzard notes that the Goons influenced a new generation of comedians who came to be known as alternative including herself 312 while the media historian Graham McCann states the anarchic spirit of the Goon Show would inspire directly or indirectly and to varying extents The Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy The Young Ones Vic Reeves Big Night Out The League of Gentlemen and Brass Eye 313 The stage play Being Sellers premiered in Australia in 1998 three years after the release of the biography by Roger Lewis The Life and Death of Peter Sellers In 2004 the book was turned into an HBO film with the same title starring Geoffrey Rush The play later transferred to New York in December 2010 314 The Belfast Telegraph notes how the film captured Sellers s life of drugs drink fast cars and lots and lots of beautiful women 315 Filmography and other works EditMain article Peter Sellers on stage radio screen and record Selected works of Peter Sellers based on award nominations Film Year Role AwardThe Running Jumping amp Standing Still Film 1959 k Nominated Academy Award for Short Subject Live Action 90 I m All Right Jack 1959 Fred Kite Won British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor 86 Waltz of the Toreadors 1962 General Leo Fitzjohn Won San Sebastian International Film Festival for Best Actor 108 Lolita 1962 Clare Quilty Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting ActorOnly Two Can Play 1962 John Lewis Nominated British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor 107 The Pink Panther 1963 Inspector Jacques Clouseau Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Musical or Comedy 132 Nominated British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor 133 Dr Strangelove 1964 Group Captain Lionel Mandrake President Merkin Muffley Dr Strangelove Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor 148 Nominated British Academy Film Award for Best British Actor 133 The Optimists of Nine Elms 1973 Sam Won Tehran Film Festival Award for Best Actor 206 The Return of the Pink Panther 1975 Inspector Jacques Clouseau Won The Evening News British Film Award for Best ActorNominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Musical or Comedy 226 The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1976 Inspector Jacques Clouseau Nominated Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Musical or Comedy 229 Being There 1979 Chance Won National Board of Review Award for Best Actor 246 Won New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor 247 Won Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Musical or Comedy 248 Won London Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated British Academy Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 250 Nominated Academy Award for Best Actor 249 Notes and references EditNotes Edit The film critic Kenneth Tynan noted that Sellers s ambition as an actor was fuelled mainly by his hatred of anti Semitism This may have spurred his determination to become a great actor or director 18 The meaning of the acronym KOGVOS was flexible it has also been defined as King of Goons and Voice of Sanity 43 and King of the Goons Voices Society 44 Her maiden name was Anne Howe while her professional name was Anne Hayes 46 The decree nisi was granted in March 1963 and Anne married Elias Ted Levy in October the same year 119 The character may have been called Imperial Me according to The New York Times 163 Various theories have been given about the animosity between the two actors including Sellers trying to get Welles to laugh and Welles not responding Sellers hearing a young woman comment that Welles was sexy Sellers s comments about Welles s weight being objected to and Sellers s jealousy at Welles s friendship with Princess Margaret who was also a friend of Sellers 182 Sellers s biographer Peter Evans declared that the real reason for this hostility is still uncertain 183 while another biographer Ed Sikov commented that others were as much to blame for problems with the film 181 The marriage to Quarry was formally dissolved in September 1974 213 According to biographer Peter Evans Sellers received criticism for his portrayal of characters interpreted to be Jewish right from The Goon Show days and the show received complaints accusing them of anti Semitism The Monty Casino character was similarly criticised and Barclays made the decision to immediately cancel the commercial although according to them as a mark of respect upon his death 257 Frederick subsequently married David Frost she divorced him and married a cardiologist Dr Barry Unger She died in 1994 after struggling with drug and alcohol dependency 276 Baron goes on to note that much of the true acting question was due to the polemical publicity of Lee Strasberg that British characterisation led to artificial performances in contrast to method acting 289 Sellers appeared in the film but was nominated in his capacity as the producer It was Sellers s only producing credit References Edit Peter Sellers Turner Classic Movies Turner Broadcasting System Archived from the original on 24 October 2012 Retrieved 14 August 2012 a b c d e Boulting John Boulting Roy 25 July 1980 Peter the Great The Guardian London p 11 a b c d e f g h i Milligan Spike 2004 Sellers Peter 1925 1980 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 31669 Archived from the original on 7 April 2014 Retrieved 9 July 2012 Subscription or UK public library membership required Sikov 2002 p 5 a b Lewis 1995 p 690 Lewis 1995 p 9 Lewis 1995 p 25 Sikov 2002 p 9 a b Evans 1980 p 45 Evans 1980 p 57 a b Gibson Eric 13 October 2002 Behind Inspector Clouseau The funny often elusive Peter Sellers and his wives The Washington Times Retrieved 4 August 2012 subscription required Rigelsford 2004 p 24 Starr 1991 p 84 a b Evans 1980 p 194 a b Lewis 1995 p 44 Moritz 1961 p 371 Sikov 2002 p 12 Walker 1981 p 11 Sikov 2002 p 8 Sikov 2002 p 18 Walker 1981 p 28 a b Walker 1981 p 32 a b c Sikov 2002 p 19 Sikov 2002 p 20 a b Sikov 2002 p 22 Lewis 1995 p 85 Walker 1981 p 40 Sikov 2002 p 25 Rigelsford 2004 p 32 Walker 1981 p 42 a b Sikov 2002 p 26 Walker 1981 p 46 a b Lewis 1995 p 132 Sikov 2002 p 32 a b Sikov 2002 p 38 Walker 1981 p 57 Walker 1981 p 58 Sikov 2002 p 40 Rigelsford 2004 p 45 Rigelsford 2004 pp 47 48 a b Lewis 1995 p 164 Rigelsford 2004 p 48 Sikov 2002 p 46 Carpenter 2003 p 90 a b c d Barker Dennis 2004 Goons act 1951 1960 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 ref odnb 95276 Retrieved 11 July 2012 Subscription or UK public library membership required subscription required a b Sikov 2002 p 55 Lewis 1995 p 230 Lewis 1995 p 231 Evans 1980 p 68 Sikov 2002 p 56 Sikov 2002 p 57 Walker 1981 p 71 Walker 1981 p 98 Lewis 1995 p 284 Rigelsford 2004 p 177 Wilmut amp Grafton 1981 p 116 Cook William 27 April 1993 Radio Landmarks in radio comedy The Guardian London p 58 Comedy The Goon Show London BBC Archived from the original on 11 November 2012 Retrieved 12 August 2012 Brown Mark 26 July 2009 Forgotten film of Goons restored by BFI The Guardian Archived from the original on 16 January 2014 Retrieved 4 August 2012 Sikov 2002 p 72 Grierson 1966 p 34 Lewis Roger 1995 The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Random House p 368 Lewis 1995 p 362 Evans 1980 p 79 Duguid Mark Ladykillers The 1955 Screenonline British Film Institute Archived from the original on 5 August 2012 Retrieved 14 August 2012 The 29th Academy Awards 1957 Nominees and Winners Oscar Legacy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archived from the original on 7 May 2016 Retrieved 16 July 2012 Rigelsford 2004 p 65 Rigelsford 2004 p 71 Burton amp O Sullivan 2009 p 25 Rankin 2009 p 383 Sources The Naked Truth 1957 Film amp TV Database British Film Institute Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Film Review Orpheus Pub 1996 Sikov 2002 pp 117 118 Anthony 2010 p 200 Lewis 1995 p 151 Spicer 2003 p 116 Johnson amp Vecchio 1996 p 136 Dixon 2007 p 35 a b Lewis 1995 p 478 A H Weiler 11 November 1958 Movie Review Up the Creek Up the Creek at 55th NYTimes com Archived from the original on 9 March 2014 Retrieved 10 March 2014 Terry Thomas amp Daum 1990 p 93 Culhane 1986 p 156 Starr 1991 p 21 Hall 2006 p 254 Lewis 1995 p 79 Rigelsford 2004 p 186 a b c Peter Sellers albums Official UK Charts Archive The Official UK Charts Company Archived from the original on 29 June 2012 Retrieved 26 June 2012 Sikov 2002 p 123 Sikov 2002 p 130 Evans 1980 p 85 a b Boultings on top form Satirical I m All Right Jack The Manchester Guardian Manchester 15 August 1959 p 3 Lewis 1995 p 536 Sources Subtlety and slapstick The Guardian London 27 February 1960 p 5 Crowther Bosley 27 October 1959 The Mouse That Roared 1959 The New York Times Archived from the original on 7 March 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Lewis 1995 p 594 a b Sikov 2002 pp 120 121 Sources Oliver John Running Jumping and Standing Still Film The 1960 Screenonline British Film Institute Archived from the original on 7 October 2012 Retrieved 17 July 2012 The 32nd Academy Awards 1960 Nominees and Winners Oscar Legacy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archived from the original on 6 July 2011 Retrieved 9 July 2012 The Battle of the Sexes 1960 The New York Times 13 April 1959 Archived from the original on 26 September 2015 Retrieved 4 August 2012 Sikov 2002 p 141 Rigelsford 2004 p 84 Sikov 2002 p 146 Sellers 1981 p 72 Sikov 2002 p 145 Chollet Laurence 1 December 1996 Pursuing Peter Sellers comic and madman The Record New Jersey p Y06 a b Peter Sellers amp Sophia Loren Official UK Charts Archive The Official UK Charts Company Archived from the original on 28 September 2012 Retrieved 26 June 2012 Vagg Stephen 17 November 2020 John Guillermin Action Man Filmink Mr Topaze 1961 Film amp TV Database British Film Institute Archived from the original on 16 January 2014 Retrieved 17 July 2012 Walker 1981 p 108 Walker 1981 p 109 Mr Topaze Radio Times Archived from the original on 3 October 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Sikov 2002 p 167 Lewis 1995 p 733 a b BAFTA Awards 1962 BAFTA Awards Database British Academy of Film and Television Arts Archived from the original on 23 September 2012 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b c Sikov 2002 p 171 Waltz of the Toreadors 1962 The New York Times 4 August 1962 Archived from the original on 7 March 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Evans 1980 p 98 a b Walker 1981 p 117 Rigelsford 2004 p 91 Walker 1981 p 118 LoBrutto 1999 pp 204 205 LoBrutto 1999 p 205 Powell Dilys 9 September 1962 A Test for Lolita The Sunday Times London p 33 Crowther Bosley 17 November 1962 Trial and Error 1962 The New York Times Archived from the original on 25 March 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Sikov 2002 p 254 Sikov 2002 p 180 Walker 1981 p 114 Crowther Bosley 3 April 1963 The Wrong Arm of the Law 1963 The New York Times Archived from the original on 3 February 2015 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Crowther Bosley 21 May 1963 Heavens Above 1963 The New York Times Archived from the original on 7 March 2016 Retrieved 20 August 2015 a b Walker 1981 p 128 Walker 1981 pp 126 127 Sikov 2002 p 185 Walker 1981 p 127 a b c UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark Gregory 2017 The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain 1209 to Present New Series MeasuringWorth Retrieved 11 June 2022 Starr 1991 p 89 a b c Evans 1980 p 101 Peter Sellers triumphs as a detective The Guardian London 27 January 1964 p 7 Sikov 2002 p 187 Gilliatt Penelope 12 January 1964 Sellers strikes encore FILMS The Observer London p 27 Miles 2009 p 174 a b The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards 1965 Golden Globe Awards Hollywood Foreign Press Association Archived from the original on 22 July 2012 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b c d BAFTA Awards 1964 BAFTA Awards Database British Academy of Film and Television Arts Archived from the original on 23 September 2012 Retrieved 9 July 2012 Duncan 2003 p 95 Sikov 2002 p 191 Rigelsford 2004 p 101 Rigelsford 2004 p 100 a b Evans 1980 p 106 Sikov 2002 p 192 Sikov 2002 pp 192 193 Sikov 2002 p 193 a b Sikov 2002 p 197 Walker 1981 p 119 Sikov 2002 p 195 Walker 1981 p 120 Film Comedy about the End of the World The Times London 30 January 1964 p 16 Intelligent subtle funny Dr Strangelove At the cinema The Guardian London 2 March 1964 p 4 a b The 37th Academy Awards 1965 Nominees and Winners Oscar Legacy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archived from the original on 31 October 2014 Retrieved 9 July 2012 Sikov 2002 p 206 Sikov 2002 p 205 Sikov 2002 p 210 a b Milne Tom 27 July 1980 The comic chameleon The Observer London p 32 Crowther Bosley 24 June 1964 A Shot in the Dark 1964 The New York Times Archived from the original on 10 December 2013 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Tibbetts John C 1 October 2010 The World of Peter Sellers Film amp History 40 2 136 doi 10 1353 flm 2010 0017 S2CID 143604839 Retrieved 4 August 2012 subscription required Smith Richard 31 July 2009 Tortured love letter Peter Sellers wrote to Britt Ekland weeks after whirlwind marriage Daily Mirror Archived from the original on 18 September 2016 Retrieved 7 March 2021 Walker 1981 p 134 Sikov 2002 p 215 Sikov 2002 p 217 Evans 1980 p 116 Sellers 1981 p 96 Walker 1981 p 138 Sikov 2002 p 224 a b Sikov 2002 p 228 a b Vinciguerra Thomas 20 December 2007 Marley Is Dead Killed in a Nuclear War The New York Times Archived from the original on 15 February 2017 Retrieved 18 July 2012 Walker 1981 p 139 Sikov 2002 p 231 What s New Pussycat Film4 Archived from the original on 7 October 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Rigelsford 2004 p 108 a b 1634 1699 McCusker J J 1997 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States Addenda et Corrigenda PDF American Antiquarian Society 1700 1799 McCusker J J 1992 How Much Is That in Real Money A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States PDF American Antiquarian Society 1800 present Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Consumer Price Index estimate 1800 Retrieved 16 April 2022 Sikov 2002 p 233 Walker 1981 p 141 a b Walker 1981 p 142 Sikov 2002 p 238 Sikov 2002 p 240 After the Fox Variety 31 December 1965 Archived from the original on 11 November 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 After the Fox 1966 Time Out Archived from the original on 21 October 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 a b Benson 1988 p 238 Walker 1981 p 143 Walker 1981 p 146 Evans 1980 p 127 Walker 1981 p 148 a b Sikov 2002 p 252 a b Sikov 2002 p 31 Evans 1980 p 130 The Birthday Honours The Times London 11 June 1966 p 14 Sellers 1981 p 113 Sikov 2002 p 259 Sikov 2002 p 264 Sikov 2002 p 261 Sellers 1981 p 112 Sikov 2002 p 285 Crowther Bosley 29 September 1967 The Bobo 1967 The New York Times Archived from the original on 8 March 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2012 a b c Evans 1980 p 236 Lewis 1995 p 620 Ebert Roger 27 November 1968 I Love You Alice B Toklas Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on 16 January 2014 Retrieved 9 September 2012 Slifkin 2004 p 447 Ginibre Lithgow amp Cady 2005 p 296 Greenspun Roger 12 February 1970 The Magic Christian 1969 The New York Times Archived from the original on 25 March 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2012 A Day at the Beach was worth digging up The Seattle Times 31 August 2007 Archived from the original on 30 January 2013 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Hoffman 1970 Film4 Archived from the original on 10 October 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Waymark Peter 30 December 1971 Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas The Times London p 2 Spicer Andrew Sellers Peter 1925 1980 Screenonline British Film Institute Archived from the original on 9 July 2012 Retrieved 20 July 2012 Rigelsford 2004 p 119 Weiler A H 2016 Where Does It Hurt 1972 The New York Times Archived from the original on 25 March 2016 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Mannika Eleanor 2012 Ghost in the Noonday Sun 1974 Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 In the News Take One Unicorn Publisher 4 35 1972 a b WWW 1981 p 714 The Optimists of Nine Elms Film4 Archived from the original on 10 October 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 Evans 1980 p 235 Walker 1981 p 171 Sikov 2002 p 310 Walker 1981 p 172 Rigelsford 2004 p 182 Sikov 2002 p 326 Walker 1981 p 186 Evans 1980 p 231 Lewis 1995 p 823 a b Mortimer John 27 July 1980 Creative Force of a Meticulous Clown The Sunday Times London p 37 Parkinson 2009 p 255 Parkinson 2009 p 256 Hal Erickson 2012 The Great McGonagall 1975 Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 3 August 2012 a b Upton 2004 p 56 Rigelsford 2004 p 176 Starr 1991 p 185 Segrave 2005 p 161 Lewis 1995 p 469 Barnes amp Noble 2004 p 828 Upton 2004 p 56 a b The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards 1976 Golden Globe Awards Hollywood Foreign Press Association Archived from the original on 14 April 2013 Retrieved 9 July 2012 Thames Stephanie The Pink Panther Strikes Again TCM Archived from the original on 22 January 2010 Retrieved 4 August 2012 a b Canby Vincent 16 December 1976 The Pink Panther Strikes Again 1976 The New York Times Retrieved 3 August 2012 a b The 23rd Annual Golden Globe Awards 1977 Golden Globe Awards Hollywood Foreign Press Association Archived from the original on 14 April 2013 Retrieved 9 July 2012 Walker 1981 p 192 a b c Upton 2004 p 58 Buchan David 29 March 1977 Sellers op Daily Express London p 7 Rigelsford 2004 p 131 Lewis 1995 p 591 Rebuilding Peter Sellers The Record Bergen County NJ 5 December 2004 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 4 August 2012 subscription required Obituary Mr Peter Sellers The Times London 25 July 1980 p 16 The Muppet Show Emmys Archived from the original on 8 October 2012 Retrieved 4 August 2012 Sikov 2002 p 352 Maslin Janet 25 May 1979 The Prisoner of Zenda 1979 The New York Times Retrieved 3 August 2012 French Philip 7 December 1979 The Panting Pathan Cinema The Observer London p 18 Sikov 2002 p 357 a b Smith Danny February 1981 Giving Peter Sellers a Chance Third Way Hymns Ancient amp Modern 4 12 22 23 a b c Dawson 2009 p 211 Walker 1981 p 204 a b Rich Frank 14 January 1980 Cinema Gravity Defied Time Archived from the original on 5 November 2012 Retrieved 26 June 2012 subscription required a b Awards for 1979 NBR Awards National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Archived from the original on 12 September 2012 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b Peter Sellers The Official Site Peter Sellers Awards The Estate of Peter Sellers Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b The 37th Annual Golden Globe Awards 1980 Golden Globe Awards Hollywood Foreign Press Association Archived from the original on 14 April 2013 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b The 52nd Academy Awards 1980 Nominees and Winners Oscar Legacy Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Archived from the original on 10 November 2014 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b BAFTA Awards 1980 BAFTA Awards Database British Academy of Film and Television Arts Archived from the original on 23 September 2012 Retrieved 9 July 2012 a b Sikov 2002 p 374 Evans 1980 p 242 Walker 1981 p 212 Walker 1981 p 213 Sikov 2002 pp 370 371 a b Shales Tom 8 August 1980 Fu for Naught The Fiendish Plod The Washington Post Washington p C1 Evans 1980 pp 194 195 Lewis 1995 p 47 Rigelsford 2004 p 176 Walker 1981 p 215 Sikov 2002 p 375 Sikov 2002 pp 375 376 Evans 1980 p 246 Walker 1981 p 217 Sikov 2002 p 379 Sellers 1981 p 222 Sikov 2002 p 379 Sikov 2002 p 336 Sikov 2002 p 380 a b Evans 1980 p 246 Sikov 2002 pp 381 382 a b c Chorlton Penny 25 July 1980 Stars tributes to Peter Sellers The Guardian London p 1 a b c Sikov 2002 p 382 Showbiz hails a comic genius Daily Mirror London 25 July 1980 p 5 Merrin Tom 25 July 1980 No ex wives at funeral Daily Mirror London p 5 Mason Peter 24 July 1980 Actor Peter Dies Daily Express London p 1 Walker 1981 p 225 Rigelsford 2004 p 7 a b Sikov 2002 p 383 a b Peter Sellers changed his will on the day he died legal papers show The Telegraph Archived from the original on 10 January 2022 Retrieved 7 December 2020 a b Sikov 2002 p 384 Sellers amp Morecambe 2000 Sikov 2002 p 385 Sikov 2002 pp 385 386 1m damages awarded to widow of Peter Sellers over Pink Panther film The Times No 62147 London 25 May 1985 p 3 Playboy interview Peter Sellers Playboy 9 10 72 1 October 1962 Simon Scott 4 December 2004 Profile Movie on HBO examines the life of Peter Sellers NPR Weekend Edition Saturday Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 4 August 2012 subscription required Rigelsford 2004 p 97 Sikov 2002 p 270 Wasson 2009 p 86 Wasson 2009 p 87 Powell Dilys 27 July 1980 The delicate balance of Peter Sellers The Sunday Times London p 37 a b Sultanik 1986 p 86 a b Baron 2012 p 138 Pramaggiore amp Wallis 2005 p 86 Rigelsford 2004 p 72 New York 2003 p 54 Archived from the original on 20 June 2013 Retrieved 3 August 2012 a href Template Cite magazine html title Template Cite magazine cite magazine a Cite magazine requires magazine help Slifkin 2004 pp 358 Cook voted comedians comedian BBC News 2 January 2005 Archived from the original on 23 August 2008 Retrieved 15 June 2008 Perry 2007 p 16 Abriss Erik 10 July 2018 John Cleese on The Goon Show His Earliest Comedy Influence Vulture Retrieved 10 September 2019 Firezine 4 Under the Influence of the Goons Firezine net Winter 1997 1998 Archived from the original on 27 June 2006 Retrieved 28 October 2012 Perry 2007 p 19 Stephen Mangan Interview Channel 4 6 March 2009 Archived from the original on 5 November 2012 Retrieved 20 July 2012 I owe film fame to dad s Scouse sense of humour Liverpool Echo Retrieved 10 September 2019 An Interview with Alan Carr Channel 4 8 March 2010 Archived from the original on 24 October 2012 Retrieved 20 July 2012 Grant Brigit 18 December 2011 Little big man boxing clever Sunday Express London pp 47 49 Want funny See his movies Los Angeles Times 13 July 2003 Retrieved 8 September 2019 Saunders 2009 p 22 Will Ferrell interview Megamind Anchorman and playing a villain Den of Geek Retrieved 17 November 2020 Molitorisz Sacha 22 July 2003 Hard rock troubadours turn folk for larks The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney p 12 Houpt Simon 7 February 2004 Conan gets creative with his Canadian invasion The Globe and Mail Toronto p R1 Waterman Ivan 17 June 2001 After winning 1million an episode deal the sitcom superstars call it a day goodbye dear friends Sunday Express London p 3 Eddie Murphy I ll retire from films at 50 Today Retrieved 23 September 2019 The 5 Greatest Comedies of All Time According To Chris Rock Cinemablend Retrieved 23 September 2019 video Williams Robin Robin Williams Parkinson interview 2002 Interview Interviewed by Michael Parkinson Archived from the original on 17 September 2014 Retrieved 18 September 2014 Games 2003 p vii McCann 2006 pp 344 345 Merwin Ted 23 November 2010 Who Was Peter Sellers The Jewish Week New York Archived from the original on 20 October 2012 Retrieved 26 June 2012 The Life and Death of Peter Sellers The monster who made us laugh The Belfast Telegraph 8 October 2004 Archived from the original on 7 November 2012 Retrieved 4 August 2012 subscription required Sources Edit Anthony Barry 2010 The King s Jester London I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 84885 430 7 Baron Cynthia 2012 Peter Sellers A figure of the Impasse In Robertson Wojcik Pamela ed New Constellations Movie Stars of the 1960s Piscataway New Jersey Rutgers University Press ISBN 978 0 8135 5229 3 Benson Raymond 1988 The James Bond Bedside Companion London Boxtree Ltd ISBN 978 1 85283 233 9 Burton Alan O Sullivan Tim 2009 The Cinema of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press ISBN 978 0 7486 3289 3 Carpenter Humphrey 2003 Spike Milligan The Biography London Coronet Books ISBN 978 0 340 82612 6 Culhane John 1986 Special Effects in the Movies How They Do It New York Ballantine Books ISBN 978 0 345 34536 3 Dawson Nick 2009 Being Hal Ashby Life of a Hollywood Rebel Lexington Kentucky University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0 8131 2538 1 Dixon Wheeler Winston 2007 Film Talk Directors at Work Piscataway New Jersey Rutgers University Press ISBN 978 0 8135 4147 1 Duncan Paul 2003 Stanley Kubrick The Complete Films Taschen GmbH p 95 ISBN 978 3 8365 2775 0 Evans Peter 1980 The Mask Behind the Mask London Severn House Publishers ISBN 0 7278 0688 2 Games Alexander 2003 The Essential Spike Milligan London Fourth Estate ISBN 978 0 00 715511 8 Ginibre Jean Louis Lithgow John Cady Barbara 2005 Ladies Or Gentlemen A Pictorial History of Male Cross Dressing in the Movies New York Filipacchi Publishing ISBN 978 1 933231 04 4 Grierson John 1966 Grierson on Documentary Berkeley California University of California Press OCLC 592409828 Hall Julian 2006 The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy London Rough Guides ISBN 978 1 84353 618 5 Johnson Tom Vecchio Deborah Del 1996 Hammer Films An Exhaustive Filmography Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company ISBN 978 0 7864 0034 8 Lewis Roger 1995 The Life and Death of Peter Sellers London Arrow Books ISBN 978 0 09 974700 0 LoBrutto Vincent 1999 Stanley Kubrick A Biography Cambridge Massachusetts Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 306 80906 4 McCann Graham 2006 Spike amp Co London Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 978 0 340 89809 3 Miles Barry 2009 The British invasion New York Sterling Publishing ISBN 978 1 4027 6976 4 Moritz Charles 1961 Current Biography Yearbook Volume 21 New York H W Wilson Company Parkinson Michael 2009 Parky My Autobiography London Hodder amp Stoughton ISBN 978 0 340 96167 4 Perry George 2007 The Life of Python London Pavilion Books ISBN 978 1 86205 762 3 Pramaggiore Maria Wallis Tom 2005 Film A Critical Introduction London Laurence King Publishing ISBN 978 1 85669 442 1 Rankin Nicholas 2009 A Genius for Deception How Cunning Helped the British Win Two World Wars Oxford Oxford University Press p 383 ISBN 978 0 19 538704 9 Rigelsford Adrian 2004 Peter Sellers A Life in Character London Virgin Books ISBN 978 0 7535 0270 9 Saunders Robert A 2009 The Many Faces of Sacha Baron Cohen Politics Parody and the Battle Over Borat Lanham Maryland Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 0 7391 2337 9 Segrave Kerry 2005 Endorsements in advertising a social history Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company ISBN 978 0 7864 2043 8 Sellers Michael 1981 P S I Love You Glasgow William Collins Sons ISBN 0 00 216649 6 Sellers Michael Morecambe Gary 2000 Sellers on Sellers London Andre Deutsch ISBN 978 0 233 99883 1 Sikov Ed 2002 Mr Strangelove A Biography of Peter Sellers London Sidgwick amp Jackson ISBN 978 0 283 07297 0 Slifkin Irv 2004 VideoHound s Groovy Movies Far Out Films of the Psychedelic Era Detroit Michigan Visible Ink Press ISBN 978 1 57859 155 8 Spicer Andrew 2003 Typical Men The Representation of Masculinity in Popular British Cinema London I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 86064 931 8 Starr Michael 1991 Peter Sellers A Film History Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company ISBN 978 0 89950 512 1 Sultanik Aaron 1986 Film a Modern Art Cranbury New Jersey Associated University Presses ISBN 978 0 8453 4752 2 Terry Thomas Daum Terry 1990 Terry Thomas Tells Tales London Robson Books ISBN 978 0 86051 662 0 TV Guide film amp video companion New York Barnes amp Noble 2004 ISBN 978 0 7607 6104 5 Walker Alexander 1981 Peter Sellers Littlehampton Littlehampton Book Services ISBN 978 0 297 77965 0 Upton Julian 2004 Fallen Stars Tragic Lives and Lost Careers Manchester Headpress Critical Vision ISBN 978 1 900486 38 5 Wasson Sam 2009 A Splurch in the Kisser The Movies of Blake Edwards Middletown Connecticut Wesleyan University Press ISBN 978 0 8195 6915 8 Who Was Who 1971 1980 London A amp C Black 1981 ISBN 978 0 7136 2176 1 Wilmut Roger Grafton Jimmy 1981 The Goon Show Companion A History and Goonography London Robson Books ISBN 0 903895 64 1 External links EditPeter Sellers at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Data from Wikidata Official website Peter Sellers at the British Film Institute Peter Sellers at the BFI s Screenonline Peter Sellers at IMDb Peter Sellers at the TCM Movie Database Peter Sellers on Pathe News Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peter Sellers amp oldid 1132291740, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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