Peter Sellers

Some people are famous for 15 minutes, others are famous to 15 people but it's only a chosen few who get to be legends of the Silver Screen. Each month, Jo Mama selects a star and celebrates their life and work. This month: Peter Sellers. Illustration by Leonie Woods.

Peter Sellers was born in Portsmouth in 1925. His mother Peg was Jewish and she worked as a variety entertainer. Although he was christened Richard, Peg called him Peter (the name she had given his older brother who was stillborn). When war broke out Peg wouldn't allow Peter to be evacuated and kept a close eye on him. In the 2004 bio pic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" the part of Peg is played by the marvellous Miriam Margolyes who says things like, "I didn't bring you up to be content. I didn't slog round third-rate music halls doing 3 shows a night so you could powder your baby's bottom and whine about how no one gives the radio man a chance. Peter, no one's gonna hand it to you, you want success, you got to go out and take it. Bite the hand that feeds you, then there'll always be another hand with more food and they'll be impressed by the sharpness of your teeth!"

In the 1950s Peter Sellers appeared in a couple of brilliant British comedy films like The Lady Killers, and The Mouse That Roared. Although he was already a famous name, because of his funny voices on popular radio shows such as The Goons, his big break came when he landed the part of Fred Kite in a Boulting Brother's movie called, I'm Alright Jack in 1959. The Boulting Brothers (John and Ray) were identical twins who produced and directed classic films such as Brighton Rock. One day Peter Sellers was asked to take part in a charity cricket match and the captain of his side happened to be John Boulting. Had Peter been ill that day it's unlikely he'd been cast as Fred Kite, the petty, left-wing Shop Steward. Sellers observed that Fred Kite was, "a tragic figure, a man of great authority at the factory but a hen pecked mess in his own home." I'm Alright Jack was both a critical success and the most popular British film at the box office in 1959. Previously Mr Sellers had been thought of as a clown, a first class mimic, and as a kind of "comedic odd job man" but after I'm Alright Jack, Peter Sellers was a star.

In the early 1960s Peter Sellers was considered by many to be the funniest man on earth. His best known character is the bumbling and ineffectual Inspector Clousseau a man who was blinded by his own arrogance and yet somehow rather lovable. Sellers appears as Clousseau in several films directed by Blake Edwards including; The Pink Panther, and, A Shot In The Dark. All of the Clousseau films have some funny slapstick moments but sadly they have all dated very badly. Rather than watch the films Sellers made with Blake Edwards I would advise instead that you looked at the two films he made with Stanley Kubrick. In Lolita (released in 1962) Sellers plays the part of Clare Quilty. In Vladimir Nabokov's novel that inspired the film, Quilty isn't such a big part of the story but in the film version Kubrick allowed Sellers to dominate and show the world his magic. Dr Strangelove (which Kubrick made a year later) is a film that has to be seen on a big screen and probably has to be seen more than once. Mr Sellers was a perfectionist not known for giving praise but he described Kubrick's black comedy as being, "a wonderful film." Sellers played 3 roles - Dr Strangelove, Captain Lionel Mandrake, and the US president Merkin Muffley. Kubrick would have got Sellers to play even more roles in the film but sadly Sellers broke his ankle and so other actors were brought in.

Sellers did a lot of good things and was very funny and loveable on many, many occasions. In 1960 he had a hit single - the track was a duet with Sophia Loren called, "Goodness Gracious Me". In 1965 he was a hilarious guest on the TV show, Not Only, But Also where he appeared in sketches alongside Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. And, in 1972 Sellers made a wonderful guest star appearance as a gangster in the much loved British Sit-Com, Sykes. There are many other times Peter Sellers had us all in stitches. However, the best thing Peter Sellers ever did was also one of the last. It's a film called, Being There which won him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Being There was based on Jerzy Kosinski's 1971 novel of the same name. I'm not alone is seeing Being There as being one of the greatest commentaries of the human race ever put on screen. Sellers plays the character of a gardener who, by accident, becomes the president of the United States. The film, directed by Hal Ashby, implies that we, the viewers, are only slightly more intelligent versions of the character Sellers is playing. He suggests we are all trained from an early age to respond automatically to given words and ideas and that we never work out anything for ourselves as we're content to repeat what we see seemingly working for others when they were in our situation.

Many, many people have written biographies of Peter Sellers. They love the fact that he once said as a joke that, "there is no me" because they can expand on the idea of Sellers being a nowhere man or the world's saddest clown. Burt Kwouk who played the part of Cato in the Pink Panther films told Adrian Rigelsford (the author of A Life In Character) that he agreed that since Peter died writers had dwelt on his dark side. According to Burt, if Peter had a dark side, he never saw it. "He never gave me a hard time. We liked each other very much and got on very well. I want him to be remembered with fun." I believe that's the way Peter would have wanted it too. In the middle of his funeral service the loudspeakers blared out Peter's least favorite piece of music which was Glen Miller's 'In The Mood'. Peter's friends from The Goon Show, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe were both at the service and they loved the fact their old friend had given them one last laugh.

Jo Mama