Richard Henry Sellers was born in Portsmouth, England on September 8th 1925. His parents,
Bill and Peg were both entertainers. They named their son Richard Henry but called him
Peter after his elder brother who was stillborn. Peter was an only child and his family toured
frequently in variety stage shows causing turmoil in the young boys life. The Sellers
family settled down in North London in 1935 where he attended a Roman Catholic school
even though his mother was Jewish.
During WWII The family moved to Ilfracombe, Devon where Sellers uncle managed a theater
where Peter was employed doing various jobs such as usher, box office clerk and lighting
operator. During this time he started playing drums and became very good at it eventually
touring with a couple of bands. He also became a member of ENSA which provided entertainment
for the British troops and factory workers during the war. Sellers would sometimes do
impersonations of other entertainers including George Formby.
In 1943 Peter joined the RAF and he wanted to be a pilot but his poor eyesight kept him
at a desk job. He was bored with his duties and successfully auditioned for his squadron
leader to be a member of a military entertainment group. During this time he performed in India
and served in France and Germany following the war.
Returning to civilian life Sellers had little success on the stage. He ultimately was able
to audition for the BBC and appeared for the first time on Television in 1948 on the show
“New to You”, where he did impressions. Soon after he was heard regularly on a variety
of BBC radio comedy programs including “The Third Division” with Harry Secombe and Michael
Bentine. Soon after he met Spike Milligan and the four formed a comedy troupe called
the Goons. The Goon show started in May of 1951 and ended in 1960. The Goon show was
very popular and had millions of listeners in the UK. Sellers would often play multiple
madcap characters as he would do in later films.
Peter Sellers’ film career started in the 1950’s appearing in “The Ladykillers”,
“The Smallest show on earth”,“The Naked truth”, “The Mouse that roared” And
“I’m alright Jack” among many others.
Peter had a successful recording career doing comedy novelty records, they were produced
by George Martin, later famous for his work with the Beatles. After meeting Sophia Loren
while filming “The Millionaires” the two recorded the popular songs “Goodness Gracious
me” and “Bangers and Mash”.
In fact, Peter Sellers fell madly in love with Sophia Loren. There has been debate over
whether they actually had a romantic affair or not. However on one occasion Sellers proclaimed
his love for Sophia in front of his wife Anne. He had married Anne Howe in 1951 and they
had two children, Michael and Sarah. Sellers’s mistreated his family and the couple split
in 1962, according to his son Michael, Sellers asked him and his sister Sarah "who we loved
more, our mother or him? Sarah, to keep the peace, said, 'I love you both equally'. I
said, 'No, I love my mum.'" This angered Sellers, saying that he never wanted to see them again.
Sellers did two films with Stanley Kubrick in the early 1960’s “Lolita” and “Dr.
Strangelove” where he famously played three of the main characters in the film.
The famous actor Peter Ustinov decided to back out of the role of Inspector Clouseau
in Blake Edward’s movie “The Pink Panther”. It was not the lead role in the film but Peter
Sellers took the part and developed it into what became his most famous and popular role.
In 1964 Peter Sellers married the Swedish actress Britt Ekland. It was not a good relationship
since Sellers was paranoid and jealous and they argued constantly. They had a daughter
named Victoria but they divorced in 1967.
While in production of the Billy Wilder film “Kiss me Stupid” in 1964 Peter suffered
a series of eight heart attacks in three hours. He was replaced in the film by Ray Walston.
Sellers recovered but had heart problems the rest of his life.
“A shot in the Dark” ,“What’s new Pussycat”, “The Bobo”, “After the
Fox”, ‘Casino Royale” and “The Party”. were some of the other films he did during
the 60’s. Peter Sellers was also appointed a C.B.E. Commander of the most excellent order
of the British Empire.
“A girl in my soup” with Goldie Hawn and “Where does it hurt?” Were a couple of
films Sellers did in the early 70’s. In August of 1972 Sellers married the 23 year
old model Miranda Quarry, the marriage did not last long.
Peter Sellers regained A-list star status in 1974 reprising his character Inspector
Clouseau, in “The Return of the Pink Panther” and again in “The Pink Panther strikes back”
in 1976 and Finally “The Revenge of the Pink Panther in 1978. Sellers was reportedly
not easy to work with due to his failing health. He sometimes would throw wild tantrums and
argue insanely with director Blake Edwards.
In March 1976 Sellers began dating actress Lynne Frederick, whom he married in February of
1977. The next month Sellers suffered another major Heart attack and was fitted with a pacemaker.
His last film of note and perhaps most critically acclaimed was “Being There” He played
the part of Chance the Gardner a TV watching simple minded Gardner thrust innocently into
the world. He was nominated for an Academy award.
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. Little did he know that he would return there soon. On July 22nd Sellers
had lunch in his hotel suite and shortly afterwards collapsed from a heart attack and fell into
a coma. He was taken to the Middlesex Hospital, London, Sadly…he died just after midnight
on July 24th 1980, He was only 54 years old.
His funeral service was held at Golders Green Crematorium on July 26th. Sellers's final
joke was the playing of "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller, a tune which he and his fellow Goons
hated, he knew they would have to sit there and listen in silence.
What was your favorite Peter Sellers movie? Let me know in the comment section below,
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