One of the most famous comedy actors of his time, née Richard Henry Sellers, was born on September 8, 1925 in Southsey, Hampshire, in the family of vaudeville actors Bill and Agnes Sellers. His nickname Peter, which later became his pseudonym, received from his parents, who called him so by the name of his brother who died in childbirth. Since childhood, Sellers showed a talent for imitation and parody, in school years at the insistence of his parents he studied dance, played percussion instruments
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One of the most famous comedy actors of his time, née Richard Henry Sellers, was born on September 8, 1925 in Southsey, Hampshire, in the family of vaudeville actors Bill and Agnes Sellers. His nickname Peter, which later became his pseudonym, received from his parents, who called him so by the name of his brother who died in childbirth. Since childhood, Sellers showed a talent for imitation and parody, in school years at the insistence of his parents he studied dance, played percussion instruments in the local orchestra. When he was 18 years old, he joined a special acting unit in the British Air Force. After the war, he appeared in various London revues, worked for the BBC, and in 1951, together with actors Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentin, created the famous radio program “The Goon Show”, its absurd and surreal humor largely anticipated the appearance of such recognized classics of the genre as “Monty Python”. The show was broadcast on the BBC from 1951 to 1960 and enjoyed huge popularity - suffice it to say that among the fans of this program were people of such different social backgrounds as Prince Charles and future members of the legendary group "The Beatles". Together with his colleagues Milligan and Secombe, in the early 50s, Sellers made his film debut, starring in several films of the Goons acting group.
The actor played his first notable independent role in the classic detective comedy "Lady Killers" (1955) with the participation of Alec Guinness. An extraordinary talent for reincarnation, the ability to unrecognizably change not only the voice, but also the appearance, allowed Sellers since the late 50s and throughout the next decade to create a lot of bright, characteristic images in the films “The Naked Truth” (1957), “The Mouse that roared” (1959), “I’m fine, Jack” (1959, the award of the British Academy in the category “Best actor”), “Millionaires” (1960), “Game for two” (1962). The middle of the 60s was the heyday of the acting talent of Peter Sellers - he starred in the comedy "The World of Henry Orient" (1964) by George Roy Hill and the first Woody Allen film "What's New, Pussy?", first appeared in the role of Inspector Clouseau in the famous comedy detective Blake Edwards "Pink Panther" (1964), and after he played Quilty in the film Stanley Kubrick "Lolita" (1962), the director offered him three roles in his film "Doctor Strange" (1974), "You did not worry about the panther" (1974), and "You did not become so popular in this panther" (1974). Having in addition, good musical data, since 1958, Sellers has occasionally recorded in the studio throughout his life - many of his songs were pronounced parody in nature and paved the way for similar recordings already mentioned "Monty Python". Since the late 60s, the actor was haunted by a series of creative failures, such as the film Casino Royal (1967). Despite this, Sellers has always found the strength to restore his reputation not only as a talented, but also as an extremely hardworking artist, whether it is another film in the Pink Panther series or such undoubted successes as “Party” (1968) and “Optimists” (1973). Previously, he often played several roles in one film, sometimes he appeared in unexpected images of the March Rabbit - Alice in Wonderland (1972) or Queen Victoria - The Great McGonagall (1975). One of the last works of Sellers - the role of a gardener in the film Hall Ashby "Being there" (1979), became perhaps the best in the career of the actor and brought him not only an Oscar nomination, but also a Golden Globe award in the category "Best Comedy Actor". On July 24, 1980, Peter Sellers died suddenly in London of a heart attack; after his death, director Blake Edwards edited the film Pink Panther's Footprint (1982) from new material and remaining unused episodes. Sellers’ daughter from her second marriage to actress Britt Ickland, Victoria Sellers, followed in the footsteps of her parents, choosing an artistic career.