Peter Sellers
Actor
Born September 8, 1925 in Southsea, Hampshire, England, UK
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."
Filmography
John Candy: I Like Me
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Love Left the Masquerade: Peter Medak's Cinema of Pretenders
Archive
Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Peter Sellers: Genius at Work
Self (archive footage)
The Beatles: Get Back
Self
Directed By Blake Edwards
Self
Kubrick by Kubrick
Self (archive footage)
Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy
Self (Archival Footage)
The Ghost of Peter Sellers
Self (archive footage)
Spike Milligan: Love, Light and Peace
Self (archive footage)
The 9th Wonder of the World: The Making of 'Gorgo'
The Villain Antony (archive footage)
Hitler: The Comedy Years
Dr. Strangelove / Fred Kite (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Beatles: Get Back...Winter of Discontent
Self (archive footage)
Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and 'Dr. Strangelove'
Self (archive footage)
The Peter Sellers Story - As He Filmed It
Himself
The Paranormal Peter Sellers
Self (Archive footage)
The Unknown Peter Sellers
Spike
Self
The Peter Sellers Story
Himself
The World of Hammer
Self (archive footage)
Funny Business
(archive footage)
Sellers' Best
Self (archive footage)
The Very Best of Peter Sellers
Muppet Treasures
Self
Koyaanisqatsi
Self (archive footage)
Trail of the Pink Panther
Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau (archive footage)
Eric Sykes: One of the Great Troupers
Self (archive material)
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu / Nayland Smith
Being There
Chance
The Prisoner of Zenda
Rudolf IV/Rudolf V/Sidney Frewin
Mickey's 50
Self
Rire et sourire : Le Splendid
Extrait du film « La Malédiction de la Panthère rose », 1978
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Chief Inspector Clouseau
To See Such Fun
The Pink Panther Strikes Again
Chief Inspector Clouseau
The Muppet Show
Self - Special Guest Star
Murder by Death
Sidney Wang
The Return of the Pink Panther
Inspector Clouseau
Julie: My Favourite Things
Various
A Salute to Sir Lew Grade
Self
The Great McGonagall
Queen Victoria
Flip Wilson... Of Course
Self
Soft Beds, Hard Battles
Général Latour / Major Robinson / Herr Schroeder / Adolf Hitler / The President / Prince Kyoto
The Optimists of Nine Elms
Sam
The Big Screen
Self
The Blockhouse
Rouquet
Ghost in the Noonday Sun
Dick Scratcher
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The March Hare
Sykes
Tommy Grando
Where Does It Hurt?
Dr. Albert T. Hopfnegal
The Last Goon Show of All
Self
Wilton's: The Handsomest Hall in Town
G.W. Ross
There's a Girl in My Soup
Robert Danvers
Hoffman
Mr. Hoffman
Simon Simon
Man with Two Cars
A Day at the Beach
Stallholder
Will the Real Mr Sellers.....?
Self
The Magic Christian
Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE
One Pair of Eyes - No, But Seriously
This Is Tom Jones
Self
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas!
Harold
The Party
Hrundi V. Bakshi
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Self
It Takes a Thief
Man in Harbor Records Office
Woman Times Seven
Jean
One Pair of Eyes
Casino Royale
Evelyn Tremble
The Bobo
Juan Bautista
Alice in Wonderland
King of Hearts
El Rey en Londres
ABC Stage 67
Self
After the Fox
Aldo Vanucci/Federico Fabrizi
The Wrong Box
Doctor Pratt
The Music of Lennon & McCartney
The Dean Martin Show
What's New Pussycat?
Dr. Fritz Fassbender
Carol for Another Christmas
Imperial Me
A Shot in the Dark
Jacques Clouseau
The World of Henry Orient
Henry Orient
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove
The Caretaker
The Pink Panther
Insp. Jacques Clouseau
The Telegoons
Heavens Above!
The Rev. John Smallwood
The Wrong Arm of the Law
Pearly Gates
The Dock Brief
Wilfred Morgenhall
Lolita
Clare Quilty
Waltz of the Toreadors
Gen. Leo Fitzjohn
The Road to Hong Kong
Indian Neurologist (uncredited)
Only Two Can Play
John Lewis
The Mike Douglas Show
Self (archive footage)
Tempo
Self
Mr. Topaze
Auguste Topaze
Two-Way Stretch
Dodger Lane
The Millionairess
Dr. Kabir
Never Let Go
Lionel Meadows
The Battle of the Sexes
Mr. Martin
The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film
I'm All Right Jack
Fred Kite / Sir John Kennaway
The Mouse That Roared
Grand Duchess Gloriana XII / Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy / Tully Bascombe
Whicker's World
Carlton-Browne of the F.O.
Prime Minister Amphibulos
Tom Thumb
Antony
Up the Creek
CPO Doherty
Insomnia is Good for You
The Naked Truth
"Wee" Sonny MacGregor
The Smallest Show on Earth
Percy Quill
Theatre Night
The Sultan
Dearth of a Salesman
Hector Dimwittie
The Man Who Never Was
Voice of Winston Churchill (uncredited)
The Ladykillers
Harry, alias 'Mr. Robinson'
John and Julie
Police Constable Diamond
Orders Are Orders
Pvt. Goffin
Our Girl Friday
Voice of Parrot
Beat the Devil
Billy Dannreuther (voice) (uncredited)
The Super Secret Service
Sir Walter Smood / Reuben J. Crouch
Down Among the Z Men
Major Bloodnok
Let's Go Crazy
Multiple Roles
Penny Points to Paradise
The Major / Arnold Fringe
The Slappiest Days of Our Lives
(archive footage)
A Burlesque on the Opera "Carmen"
Voice narrator
The Black Rose
Lu Chung (voice)