Peter Sellers
Acting
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."
Born: September 8, 1925
Place of Birth: Southsea, Hampshire, England, UK
Known For
Filmography
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as Self
as Self (Archival Footage)
as Himself (Archive)
as Himself (archive footage)
as The Villain Antony (archive footage)
as Dr. Strangelove / Fred Kite (archive footage) (uncredited)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self (Archive footage)
as Himself
as (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as Chief Insp. Jacques Clouseau (archive footage)
as Self (archive material)
as Fu Manchu / Nayland Smith
as Chance
as Rudolf IV/Rudolf V/Sidney Frewin
as Extrait du film « La Malédiction de la Panthère rose », 1978
as Self
as Chief Inspector Clouseau
as Chief Inspector Clouseau
as Self - Special Guest Star
as Sidney Wang
as Inspector Clouseau
as Various
as Self
as Queen Victoria
as Self
as Général Latour / Major Robinson / Herr Schroeder / Adolf Hitler / The President / Prince Kyoto
as Self
as Rouquet
as Dick Scratcher
as The March Hare
as Tommy Grando
as Dr. Albert T. Hopfnegal
as Self
as Self
as G.W. Ross
as Robert Danvers
as Mr. Hoffman
as Man with Two Cars
as Salesman
as Sir Guy Grand KG, KC, CBE
as Self
as Harold
as Hrundi V. Bakshi
as Self
as Man in Harbor Records Office
as Jean
as Evelyn Tremble
as Juan Bautista
as King of Hearts
as Self
as Aldo Vanucci/Federico Fabrizi
as Doctor Pratt
as Dr. Fritz Fassbender
as Imperial Me
as Jacques Clouseau
as Henry Orient
as Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake / President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove
as Insp. Jacques Clouseau
as The Rev. John Smallwood
as Pearly Gates
as Wilfred Morgenhall
as Clare Quilty
as Gen. Leo Fitzjohn
as Indian Neurologist (uncredited)
as John Lewis
as Self (archive footage)
as Auguste Topaze
as Dodger Lane
as Dr. Kabir
as Lionel Meadows
as Mr. Martin
as Fred Kite / Sir John Kennaway
as Grand Duchess Gloriana XII / Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy / Tully Bascombe
as Prime Minister Amphibulos
as Antony
as CPO Doherty
as Sonny MacGregor
as Percy Quill
as The Sultan
as Hector Dimwittie
as Winston Churchill (voice)
as Assorted
as Harry, alias 'Mr. Robinson'
as Police Constable Diamond
as Pvt. Goffin
as Voice of Parrot
as Billy Dannreuther (voice) (uncredited)
as Sir Walter Smood / Reuben J. Crouch
as Major Bloodnok
as Multiple Roles
as The Major / Arnold Fringe
as (archive footage)
as Voice narrator
as Lu Chung (voice)