Peter Sellers was born in Southsea, Hampshire, in southern England, where by chance his parents were performing in a local vaudeville show, on September 8, 1925. His father was William Sellers, a pianist and musical director, and his mother was Agnes Marks, a character actress. Sellers was ethnically half-Jewish from his mother's side, but was not religious.
As a youth, Sellers attended Miss Whitney’s School of Dancing in Southsea and Madame Vacani’s Dancing Classes in London before enrolling in St Aloysius’ Boarding and Day School for Boys. Just after his 18th birthday, Sellers was drafted into the British Royal Air Force. He became an official RAF concert entertainer, and between 1943 and 1946, Sellers spent his free time performing comedy sketches and playing the drums for the other servicemen.
After returning home from the war, Sellers pursued a position with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). By 1948, he had taken part in a few moderately successful auditions, none of which had resulted in an invitation to join the BBC. Having grown impatient for stardom, Sellers chose to take matters into his own hands. The comic made a telephone call to Roy Speer, producer of the BBC radio program,
Show Time. Sellers posed as a popular radio star and recommended himself to Speer. The producer, impressed with Sellers’ “acting,” gave him a spot on the air. Following his initial appearances on
Show Time, Sellers became a sought-after radio personality.
On the long-running BBC radio show,
Crazy People (later called
The Goon Show), Sellers established himself as a master impressionist. The show’s zany collection of skits and Sellers’ outrageous characters have been recognized as the predecessors to Monty Python’s
Flying Circus.
By the time
The Goon Show was canceled in January 1960, Sellers had earned the exposure necessary to begin a career in film. After appearing in several British pictures, Sellers achieved success in the U.S. with
The Mouse That Roared (1959). In 1960, he received international attention for his role in the film
The Millionairess, in which he co-starred with Sophia Loren.
The incredibly versatile Sellers could slip in and out of characters with surprising speed. His genius was displayed through his depiction of multiple characters in Mouse as well as in several other films throughout his career.
Dr. Strangelove (1964), considered Sellers’ best film, earned him his first Oscar nomination in 1965. In 1963, Sellers introduced the world to his best-known character, Inspector Clouseau, The Pink Panther’s bumbling master of disguise. There were four sequels to this successful comedic film:
A Shot in the Dark (1964),
The Return of the Pink Panther (1974),
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and
Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978).
Sellers garnered his second Oscar nomination for the critically acclaimed film,
Being There (1979), in which he played the childlike Chance, a gardener mistaken for an economic guru. Sellers’ controlled performance was key to the success of this subtle comedy. The comedian’s film career ended just before his death in 1980, with
The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu.
After appearing in over 60 films as well as on numerous radio and television shows throughout his career, Sellers died of a heart attack on July 24, 1980. Displaying his unending sense of humor, the comic said good-bye with one last joke. At Sellers’ request, the song “In The Mood” was played at his funeral, a tune that he hated. According to biographer Roger Lewis, Sellers had told his son Michael that the song was “wonderfully inappropriate – hence, wonderfully appropriate – for solemn occasions.”
