Peter Sellers

Overview

Known for
Acting
Gender
Other
Birthday
Sep 08, 1925 (99 years old)
Death date
Jul 24, 1980

Peter Sellers

Known For

Peter Sellers: Genius at Work
1h 6m
Movie 2023

Peter Sellers: Genius at Work

An intimate portrait of the comic genius and one of Britain's greatest comic actors, with rare home movie footage of him at play. Peter Sellers' friends recall his obsessions with his leading ladies, superstitions, and a complicated relationship with his devoted mother. Plus, contributors, including Nanette Newman, Audrey Nicholson, Valerie Leon, and Charlie Higson, celebrate his multifaceted brilliance.

Directed By Blake Edwards
Movie 2021

Directed By Blake Edwards

Kubrick by Kubrick
1h 5m
Movie 2020

Kubrick by Kubrick

A rare and transcendent journey into the life and films of the legendary Stanley Kubrick like we've never seen before, featuring a treasure trove of unearthed interview recordings from the master himself.

Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy
1h 16m
Movie 2020

Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy

The comedy pioneer behind the Goon Show, Dr Strangelove and the Pink Panther series is explored in depth in this film, surveying his meteoric rise to fame and troubled personal life.

Biography

Richard Henry Sellers, CBE (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980), known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, for playing three different characters in Dr. Strangelove, as Clare Quilty in Lolita, and as the man-child and TV-addicted Chance the gardener in his penultimate film, Being There. Leading actress Bette Davis once remarked of him, "He isn't an actor—he's a chameleon." Sellers rose to fame on the BBC Radio comedy series The Goon Show. His ability to speak in different accents (e.g., French, Indian, American, German, as well as British regional accents), along with his talent to portray a range of characters to comic effect, contributed to his success as a radio personality and screen actor and earned him national and international nominations and awards. Many of his characters became ingrained in public perception of his work. Sellers' private life was characterized by turmoil and crises, and included emotional problems and substance abuse. Sellers was married four times, and had three children from the first two marriages. An enigmatic figure, he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played, but he left his own portrait since, "he obsessively filmed his homes, his family, people he knew, anything that took his fancy right to the end of his life—intimate film that remained undiscovered until long after his death in 1980." The director Peter Hall has said: "Peter had the ability to identify completely with another person, and think his way physically, mentally and emotionally into their skin. Where does that come from? I have no idea. Is it a curse? Often. I think it's not enough though in this business to have talent. You have to have talent to handle the talent. And that I think Peter did not have." Description above from the Wikipedia article Peter Sellers, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.