Peter Sellers

Richard Henry Sellers
1925 - 1980 (heart attack)
British born Southsea

Height 5' 8" (1.73 m) . Peter Sellers was born to a well-off English acting family in 1925. His mother and father worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. As a child, Sellers was spoiled, as his parents' first child had died at birth. He enlisted in the army and fought during World War II, where he met Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, who would become his future workmates. After the war he set up a review in London, which was a combination of music (he played the drums) and impressions. Then, all of a sudden, he burst into prominence as the voices of numerous favourites on "The Goon Show" (1951-1960), making his debut in films in Penny Points to Paradise (1951) and Down Among the Z Men (1952), before making it big as one of the criminals in The Ladykillers (1955). These small but showy roles continued throughout the 1950s, but he got his first big break playing the dogmatic union man, Fred Kite, in I'm All Right Jack (1959). The film's success led to starring vehicles into the 1960s that showed off his extreme comic ability to its fullest, but after the relative failure of What's New, Pussycat (1965), which was Woody Allen's first film, Sellers embarked on a rapid downfall to "Grade Z" movies in the 1970s, all of which he claimed to have made only because he needed the money. In 1972 he read the book "Being There" and decided to make it into a film. It took him seven years to finally bring it to the screen, but it earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination (he lost to Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of "Superdad" in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)). Being There (1979) proved to be somewhat of a last hurrah for Sellers, as he died the following year. His last movie, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), completed just before his death, proved to be another flop. Director Blake Edwards' attempt at reviving the Pink Panther series after Sellers' death resulted in two panned 1980s comedies, the first of which, Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), deals with Inspector Clouseau's disappearance and was made from material cut from previous Pink Panther films and includes interviews with the original casts playing their original characters. Spouse Lynne Frederick (18 February 1977 - 24 July 1980) (his death), Miranda Quarry (24 August 1970 - 1974) (divorced), Britt Ekland (19 February 1964 - 18 December 1968) (divorced) 1 child, Anne Howe (15 September 1951 - 1961) (divorced) 2 children.

The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) , Being There (1979) , The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) , Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) , Kingdom of Gifts (1978) , The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) , Murder by Death (1976) , The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) , The Great McGonagall (1974) , Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974) , The Optimists (1973) , The Blockhouse (1973) , Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1973) , Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972) , "Sykes" (1972) , Where Does It Hurt? (1972) , 'Wiltons' - The Handsomest Hall in Town (1970) , There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) , A Day at the Beach (1970) , Hoffman (1970) , The Magic Christian (1969) , "It Takes a Thief" (1969) , I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968) , The Party (1968) , The Bobo (1967), Woman Times Seven (1967) , Casino Royale (1967) , Alice in Wonderland (1966/I) , Caccia alla volpe (1966) , The Wrong Box (1966) , What's New, Pussycat (1965) , Birds, Bees and Storks (1965) , Carol for Another Christmas (1964) , A Shot in the Dark (1964) ,The World of Henry Orient (1964) , Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) , The Pink Panther (1963) , Heavens Above! (1963) , The Wrong Arm of the Law (1963) , "The Telegoons" (1963) , The Dock Brief (1962) , Waltz of the Toreadors (1962) , Lolita (1962) , The Road to Hong Kong (1962) , Only Two Can Play (1962) , "The Jo Stafford Show" (1961) , Mr. Topaze (1961) , Two Way Stretch (1960) , The Millionairess (1960) , Never Let Go (1960) , The Battle of the Sexes (1959) , The Mouse That Roared (1959) , I'm All Right Jack (1959) , Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959) , The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film (1959) , tom thumb (1958) , Up the Creek (1958) , The April 8th Show (Seven Days Early) (1958) , The Naked Truth (1957) , The Smallest Show on Earth (1957) , "Yes, It's the Cathode-Ray Tube Show!" (1957) , Insomnia Is Good for You (1957) , "Son of Fred" (1956) , "A Show Called Fred" (1956) , The Man Who Never Was (1956) , "The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d" (1956) , The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn (1956) , The Ladykillers (1955) , John and Julie (1955) , "And So to Bentley" (1954) , Orders Are Orders (1954) , Our Girl Friday (1953) , Down Among the Z Men (1952) , Goonreel (1952) , Penny Points to Paradise (1951) , Let's Go Crazy (1951) , The Black Rose (1950)