Comprehensive information and links about Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers CBE (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series

Biography

Sellers was born in Southsea, Hampshire, England, to a family of entertainers. Despite his real name being , his parents called him "Peter" from an early age, in memory of his still-born brother of that name. He attended a Catholic school, although his father was Protestant and his mother was Jewish.

Probably following his family in the variety circuit, Sellers learnt this popular yet difficult art and the immediate instinct of the "gag". He was an incredibly versatile artist: an excellent dancer, a drummer good enough to tour with several jazz bands, and a skilful player of the ukulele and banjo (family legend has it that Seller's father actually taught George Formby to play the ukelele). He is known to have performed at the Windmill Theatre.

During World War II, Sellers was an airman in the Royal Air Force, rising to corporal by the end of the war. During his leisure periods, he did impersonations of his superiors. This helped Sellers in his later film .

His success was quite slow in coming. He phoned up a television producer pretending to be Kenneth Horne, who was currently in the show with fellow comedians Spike Milligan, Sir Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine and was followed by early television work.

Sellers' first film successes were in British comedies, including movies, which gave him a worldwide audience. He would play the character in four sequels between (1964) and (1978). was released posthumously in 1982, containing previously unused footage of Sellers. His widow Lynne Frederick later successfully sued the film's producers.

Sellers was launched internationally with the hit . His portrayal (or caricature) of Asian characters though, here and elsewhere, has caused some controversy in recent years. In Stanley Kubrick's he notably played a triple role, comprising U.S. President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove, and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake of the RAF (the first two appearing in the same room throughout the film). Sellers was also cast in the role of Major T.J 'King' Kong. However, he was unable to master the Southern drawl Kubrick wanted for the role and Slim Pickens played it instead.

He was remarkably versatile, switching easily from broad comedy as in , where he played Clare Quilty, the nemesis of the film's (and novel's) principal protagonist, Humbert Humbert.

Sellers' career had slumped by the early 1970s, but, after reviving the Clouseau character, he was able to produce his cherished project in 1979, winning his best reviews since the 1960s. This, his last great film, brought him his second Academy Award nomination. He was unsuccessful on both occasions, although he did win a British Academy Award (BAFTA) for .

Commonly considered a master actor and sometimes described as an "obsessive perfectionist", Sellers found in Blake Edwards a devoted director who could delicately underline and follow his comic rhythms. Edwards defined Sellers as a "mercurial clown" who could turn comedy into drama, and vice-versa, in an instant. He could also be cruel, as he demonstrated in his treatment of actress Jo Van Fleet on the set of and offended him.

Sellers had casual friendships with two of the Beatles, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Harrison told occasional Sellers' stories in interviews, and Starr appeared with him in the anarchic movie , and the tape was auctioned (and bootlegged) after his death.

Sellers was also a close friend of Princess Margaret. Another interesting trait was his love for cars: he was believed to have owned and sold many different models by the 1960s. This was briefly parodied in a fleeting cameo in the short film , which was directed by his friend Graham Stark.

Sellers was the first man to appear on the cover of Playboy — he appeared on the April (1964) cover with Karen Lynn.

Sellers played ukulele-banjo on the Actress Anne Howe (1951–1961). This marriage ended after she claimed he was having an affair with Sophia Loren. This is disputed: Loren has maintained that Sellers had become obsessed with her, but she did not reciprocate his attempts.

Premature death and legacy

Sellers died in London from a heart attack on July 24, 1980, aged 54. He was survived by his fourth wife, the English actress Lynne Frederick. He had already suffered a near-fatal heart attack in (1964), at the age of 39. At the time of his death, he was due to undergo heart surgery. He was cremated.

In his will, Sellers explicitly requested that Glenn Miller's song be played for his funeral. The request is considered his last touch of humour: his friends knew he deeply hated the song.

Roger Lewis wrote about the madness and bizarre behaviour of Sellers in his biography, , Sellers was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

that Peter Sellers was working on at the time of his death. He had planned to complete the film without Blake Edwards. (More information can be found in the book

Comedy Singles

Sellers released several comedy singles many of them produced by George Martin and released on the Parlophone record label. These include the following hits:

This was re-issued in 1993 and reached Number 52 in the UK Top 75 Singles chart. He covered several other Beatles hits, including