WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers

Born: 8th September 1925

Died: 24th July 1980 (aged 54)

Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers) was born in Portsmouth and is best known to many as Inspector Clouseau but to a certain generation he is probably more fondly remembered as part of the comedy troupe that starred in The Goon Show, a BBC radio comedy show that ran between 1951 and 1960.

Both his parents were Variety entertainers so it seemed inevitable that Peter would follow in their footsteps. He was a drummer as well as a comedic entertainer for which he became known best for throughout his career. His film career started in the 1950s and he was often, because of his talent for mimicry,  seen onscreen as multiple characters in such films as The Mouse that Roared and  Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

In his personal life he married four times; although his first wife was only 5 years his junior all his subsequent marriages were significantly younger women and lasted a third of the length. He obviously had his ideal age as whatever his own age all his wives were in their very early 20s (his fourth wife, Lynne, was 23 when he married her at the age of 52 in 1977)

Obviously his top five box office contains three Clouseau films; Return of the Pink Panther (1st), Revenge of the Pink Panther (3rd) and The Pink Panther Strikes Again (4th). Clouseau is a bumbling French detective and although these are comedies it is played perfectly straight – the humour coming from the script and surrounding action and not from the actors.  Sellers made six Pink Panther films (yet appeared in seven The Trail of the Pink Panther was made after his death and made with clips/outakes from previous films). You have to forgive the ‘French’ accent it was obviously more appropriate back in the day to be culturally inappropriate but it shouldn’t distract you from what are still funny films.

So taking the Panther films out of this top five as I’ve already spoken about Clouseau his first film would be Casino RoyaleNB, a parody of Ian Fleming’s Bond story. Sellers plays Evelyn Tremble a baccarat expert and again, like his role as Clousaeu in the Pink Panther franchise, Peter Sellers plays the role as it should be played to get laughs, straight, only here he seems to be allowed to go off script a little with his accents and voices (this may be in the script but I wouldn’t know). Some films span the age of time but it is obvious that this is a 60s film with some of Sellers’ scenes use of Psychedelic colours and flashing lights and for me it doesn’t work anymore and the ending… OMG …what on earth is going on there! (you’d have to see it to know what I’m talking about). Murder by Death appears next on the list and another culturally inappropriate character, Sidney Wang, (I might be being a bit harsh here as Wang is ‘loosely’ based on Earl Derr Biggers’ Chinese policeman Charlie Chan who has, in every film incarnation, been played by a white man). Sellers has a tendency to overplay Wang – that could be the way he is supposed to play the role considering it is a homage to Charlie Chan – but he is very good with the mannerisms and his ‘Fortune Cookie’ sayings as Perrier calls them. Bringing a welcome relief from the comedy to the top five is Being There, Sellers’ penultimate film, a comedy drama that is all about innocence and misunderstanding. Sellers plays Chance, a simple gardener, who finds himself becoming a question of political intrigue – now first it was nice to see Sellers in a more serious role; secondly, although there is humour to his character, there were so many chances where he could have taken advantage and he doesn’t. Personally I found the whole film a delight to watch and made me want to seek out a few more serious roles of his. Fourth we have What’s New, Pussycat? Here Sellers’ plays Dr Fritz Fassbender, a psychoanalyst and according to his wife a ‘lascivious adulterer’. If I’m honest I’m not sure what accent Mr Sellers has in this film at first I thought it was German but it deviated. I’m not sure whether his character added to the film or if the accent distracted – the film is all about a lifelong philanderer who is trying to change his ways before marriage but still falls for every woman he meets, it’s not the sort of film that would be remade these days as I would be interested in how Dr Fassbender would be portrayed. And finally we have Sellers’s final ever movie The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu and I was expecting it to be worse than it actually is, mainly as this film was released in 1980 (months after Sellers’ death) I was expecting the depiction of Fu to be over the top, a little too much shall we say, but it is subtle. The underlying plot is actually quite good but the script in parts lets it down and with Sellers playing the two lead roles – Fu Manchu and retired detective Nayland Smith – I was expecting something more from the ending. As usual Sellers does an adequate job, maybe a little less quirky with Smith’s portrayal, but it’s probably not what the fans of Peter Sellers would want to see.

However much I have said that most of Sellers’ top five roles have bordered on the culturally inappropriate I have to admit that I love the role of Clouseau, there’s something about the films, both linguistically and physically, that I just find funny; the scenes between him and Burt Kwok are probably the best in the film. Some people may watch them with fresh eyes and see something different but you have to take into account the time they were made this seemed appropriate. Now I have seen the reboot with Steve Martin, made in 2006, and find that a little awkward but feel Martin’s portrayal a good homage to Sellers. I did note though that they have changed the role of his Chinese manservant, Cato, to the Frenchman Ponton, his assistant detective; not that this takes away any of the physical comedy from the original the situations are just different.

Peter Sellers suffered from depression, which took a toll on him both physically and mentally. He battled with alcohol and drugs. He suffered one heart attack in 1964 and another in 1977 both affected his work considerably. In 1980 he was due to meet fellow Goons Spike Miligan and Harry Secombe for dinner but collapsed from a fatal heart attack before their reunion. He was 54. He was survived by his fourth wife and three children – all three have dipped their toe in the world of entertainment but only Victoria made more than one venture. Peter’s son Michael died of a heart attack twenty six years to the month after his father; he was two years younger than his father was when he died.

 NB It took thirty nine years before Casino Royale was made as part of the official James Bond franchise.