Known For
Acting
Born
Sep 08, 1925
Died
Jul 24, 1980
Place of Birth
Southsea, Hampshire, England, UK
Credits
136 titles
Peter Sellers
Biography
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."
Known For
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 Video: Rowlf's Rhapsodies with the Muppets
Self
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
Rire et sourire : Le Splendid
Extrait du film « La Malédiction de la Panthère rose », 1978
Mickey's 50
Self
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Chief Inspector Clouseau
Kingdom Of Gifts
The Slightly Larcenous Mayor
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
A Salute to Sir Lew Grade
Self
Julie: My Favourite Things
Various
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
Ghost in the Noonday Sun
Dick Scratcher
The Blockhouse
Rouquet
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The March Hare