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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. [272] Milligan later said that "it's hard to say this, but he died at the right time. [315], Selected works, based on award nominations. [111] Sellers later claimed that his relationship with Kubrick became one of the most rewarding of his career. He had a gift for improvising dialogue. or redistributed. "[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. [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". [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. Britt Ekland got candid about her marriage to British comic legend Peter Sellers in a new BBC documentary. (1965), Casino Royale (1967), The Party (1968), Being There (1979) and five films of the Pink Panther series (19631978). [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". [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. [194], In 1969 Sellers starred opposite Ringo Starr in the Joseph McGrath-directed film The Magic Christian. [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. [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! I was taken straight back to our marble palace. Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines are here. [170] The film was directed by Vittorio De Sica, whose English Sellers struggled to understand. It's as if filmgoers are kept one fall ahead of him. [190] Upon its release in September 1967, The Bobo was poorly received. [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. According to sources . Rent SD $3.99 Buy SD $14.99 Add to Watchlist Redeem a gift card or promotion code By ordering or viewing, you agree to our Terms. [189] Ekland served him with divorce papers shortly afterwards. [86] In between Carlton-Browne of the F.O. For the New Zealand sports broadcaster, see, "Period of indifference": two marriages, three, The meaning of the acronym KOGVOS was flexible: it has also been defined as "King of Goons and Voice of Sanity". She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in The Pink Panther sequel A Shot in the Dark (1964), the Bob Hope comedy Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! Both were variety entertainers; Peg was in the Ray Sisters troupe. His character, according to Sellers's biographer Peter Evans, was "clearly an amalgam of Clouseau and the doctor in The Millionairess". [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. [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. He was the complete contradiction. [30] He also served in Germany and France after the war. [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". This article is about the English actor. [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. $7.33 + $9.65 shipping. Goodbye, Your Father. [278] Frederick sued, claiming the use of the clips was a breach of contract; the court awarded her $1million ($2.8 million today), plus 3.15 per cent of the film's profits and 1.36 per cent of its gross revenue. [2], Sellers was born on 8 September 1925, in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth. [51] Sellers's introduction to film work came in 1950, where he dubbed the voice of Alfonso Bedoya in The Black Rose. [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. [11] Despite Sellers's deep personal problems, The Pink Panther Strikes Again was well received critically. It was Sellers's only producing credit. [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]. And they said no. The scene, once again, was a glamorous hotel. Sellers appeared in the film but was nominated in his capacity as the producer. But then I said, 'You looked like a little fat old man'. [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. An involved process. [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. "[234] He refused to seek professional help for his mental issues. [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". 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? [235] Sellers would claim that he had no personality and was almost unnoticeable, which meant that he "needed a strongly defined character to play. "[3] Sellers's fourth marriage to Frederick collapsed soon after. 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. His parents were Yorkshire-born William "Bill" Sellers and Agnes Doreen "Peg" (ne Marks). [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. Wesley/Getty Images. Also Known As Elke Schletz Birth Place Berlin, DE Born November 05, 1940 Biography Read More An archetypal blonde bombshell in the tradition of Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, Elke Sommer had been born amid the devastation of World War II and raised by her Protestant parents to revere God and animals. He was just amazing. Filmed in April 1980 in Ireland, he played Monty Casino, a Jewish con-man. [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. Everywhere you went, the fact that Peter had died seemed like an umbrella over everything". He is my ideal and my idol. [99] The songs were included on an album released by the couple, Peter & Sophia, which reached number five in the UK Albums Chart. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres. [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 $1million contract for the film[177] ($8,126,747 in 2021 dollars). Legal Statement. I suppose I feel mainly I need the help of a woman. This prompted Sellers to throw both children out, saying that he never wanted to see them again. Even before their wedding in August 1970, Sellers was expressing private doubts about the wisdom of marrying again - doubts that were sadly proved right when, in early 1973, he became engaged to Liza Minnelli. "[228] Sellers's performance earned him a further nomination at the 34th Golden Globe Awards.[229]. I thought that I would like to meet what I saw, said Sellers in the documentarys archive footage. [168] Seven screenwriters worked on the project,[176] and filming was chaotic. 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. Casino Royale (1967) I'd cue Peter and he'd do all the radio personalities and chuck in a few voices of his own invention as well. [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. [66] The film was a commercial success and is now thought of as a minor classic of post-war British screen comedy. [102] Sellers portrayed an ex-schoolmaster in a small French town who turns to a life of crime to obtain wealth. The original script makes him out to be a complete idiot. [25] Sellers also performed comedy routines at these concerts, including impersonations of George Formby, with Sellers accompanying his own singing on ukulele. ", 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. Entertainments National Service Association, Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, San Sebastin International Film Festival Award for Best Actor, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Peter Sellers on stage, radio, screen and record, San Sebastin International Film Festival, "Behind Inspector Clouseau; The funny, often elusive Peter Sellers and his wives", "Forgotten film of Goons restored by BFI", "The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners", Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Movie Review Up the Creek Up the Creek' at 55th", "Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film, The (1960)", "The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners", British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", "The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1965)", "The 37th Academy Awards (1965) Nominees and Winners", "Tortured love letter Peter Sellers wrote to Britt Ekland weeks after whirlwind marriage", "Marley Is Dead, Killed in a Nuclear War", "A Day at the Beach" was worth digging up", "The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1976)", "The 23rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1977)", National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, "The 37th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1980)", "The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners", "Peter Sellers 'changed his will on the day he died', legal papers show", "Profile: Movie on HBO examines the life of Peter Sellers", "John Cleese on The Goon Show, His Earliest Comedy Influence", "Firezine #4: Under the Influence of the Goons", "I owe film fame to dad's Scouse sense of humour", "Will Ferrell interview: Megamind, Anchorman and playing a villain", "Eddie Murphy: I'll retire from films at 50", "The 5 Greatest Comedies of All-Time, According To Chris Rock", "Robin Williams, Parkinson interview 2002", "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers: The monster who made us laugh", Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor, National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Sellers&oldid=1140062486, Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners, Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent, Royal Air Force personnel of World War II, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, TCMDb name template using numeric ID from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Won Tehran Film Festival Award for Best Actor, This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 06:44. 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