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Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers

Birthday: 1925-09-08 | Place of Birth: Southsea, Hampshire, England, UK

Richard Henry Sellers, CBE (8 September 1925 – 24 July 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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2023
Peter Sellers: Genius at Work

as    Self (archive footage)

2020
Kubrick by Kubrick

as    Self (archive footage)

2018
The Ghost of Peter Sellers

as    Himself (Archive)

2014
Spike Milligan: Love, Light and Peace

as    Himself (archive footage)

2013
The 9th Wonder of the World: The Making of 'Gorgo'

as    The Villain Antony (archive footage)

2001
The Paranormal Peter Sellers

as    Self (Archive footage)

1995
The Peter Sellers Story

as    Himself

1992
Funny Business

as    (archive footage)

1992
Sellers' Best

as    Self (archive footage)

1985
Muppet Treasures

as    Self

1982
Trail of the Pink Panther

as    Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau (archive footage)

1981
Eric Sykes: One of the Great Troupers

as    Self (archive material)

1980
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu

as    Fu Manchu / Nayland Smith

1979
Being There

as    Chance

1979
The Prisoner of Zenda

as    Rudolf IV/Rudolf V/Sidney Frewin

1978
Revenge of the Pink Panther

as    Chief Inspector Clouseau

1976
The Pink Panther Strikes Again

as    Chief Inspector Clouseau

1976
Murder by Death

as    Sidney Wang

1975
The Return of the Pink Panther

as    Inspector Clouseau

1975
A Salute to Sir Lew Grade

as    Self

1975
Julie: My Favourite Things

as    Various

1974
Soft Beds, Hard Battles

as    Général Latour / Major Robinson / Herr Schroeder / Adolf Hitler / The President / Prince Kyoto

1974
Flip Wilson... Of Course

as    Self

1973
Ghost in the Noonday Sun

as    Dick Scratcher

1973
The Blockhouse

as    Rouquet

1973