Peter Sellers

Richard Henry Sellers (known as Peter Sellers) was an English actor born in 1925. His most famous role was as inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, but also played in films such as, Dr. Strangelove and Lolita. He participated in the BBC radio comedy series, The Goons Show for a good number of years. This is what enabled his rise to fame, thanks to his ability to speak in many different accents and talk in different voices. Despite his award winning career, Sellers was a substance abuser, emotionally unstable and claimed to have no identity outside of the characters he played. He was married a total of four times and had three children, one of which is dead.

It is thought that despite his obvious talent for acting and directing, Sellers was unable to cope with the strain and pressure of fame, this is what many people think, pushed him to an early grave, making him die of a heart-attack at the age of 54.

In his early life, Peter attended Catholic school and was apparently fascinated by the Catholic religion, but after a few years in the school, he 'discovered' that he was in fact, a Jew. This made his years at Catholic school particularly difficult, as well as his integration into the world of show-business where, at the time, Jews were not really tolerated as comedians, actors and directors, the smaller and less significant roles. This did not, however, discourage Sellers from pursuing what he believed to be his calling: to entertain.

After serving as an airman during WWII, he returned to England in 1948 and began performing stand-up routines in various theatres. His first audition for a major role in radio resulted from him telephoning the BBC radio producer, Roy Speer and impersonating Kenneth Horne, a radio star so that the producer would agree to talk to him. Speer labelled him as a 'cheeky young sod' for this daring act, but it got him the audition!

The Goons Show constituted Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan. The shows used words to create 'slapstick' comedy. The humour was often based on bizarre and unlikely concepts such as the idea of an assailant who manages to keep a grand piano concealed on his person, striking the unsuspecting 'Eckles' on the head on numerous occasions. Each of the 'Goons' takes on several recurring characters who all have different voices and their own particular (and whacky) personalities.

The series The Pink Panther gained a cult following and a cartoon series of the same name was equally developed, the story-line, however, is very different to that of the film series. Peter Sellers actually died in the middle of the filming of the last Pink Panther film ever made. He had been the victim of several heart-attacks throughout his later life, but refusing to take the route of conventional medicine, which could have saved his life, he sought out psychic healers instead. The film crew decided to continue with the making of the final Pink Panther film without Sellers, in his memory, although the outcome was somewhat dull and uninspiring compared to the action and comedy packed prequels. It is possible to feel the sadness of the actors as they continue to act without Peter, and this obviously had an effect on the quality of their performance.