Mr. Strangelove : A Biography of Peter Sellers

Amazon.com Review How do you write the biography of a cipher? That's the daunting challenge veteran Hollywood biographer Ed Sikov tackles in exploring the life of one of the 20th century's most acclaimed comic actors. Peter Sellers' uncanny talents as a mimic would inform everything from English radio's Goon Show and the highly profitable--if increasingly broad--cycle of Inspector Clouseau Pink Panther films to his brilliant turn as Chauncey Gardiner in Being There , a role that had all too many discomforting parallels to Sellers' own cryptic personality. Sikov reveals that the man long hailed as comedy's greatest chameleon was in fact a tragic, troubled personal vacuum, the only child of a literal stage mother who indulged his every whim, yet left him a distinct void for a soul. Sikov interviews many of the relatives, intimates, and survivors of Sellers that filled his alternately strange and spectacular life, while thoroughly chronicling every professional triumph and more than a few missteps. Sikov's straightforward reporting, seasoned by his own dry wit, details the parts that made up the man, but the sum remains an ever compelling enigma. As Lolita and Dr. Strangelove director Stanley Kubrick, no slouch in the personal riddle sweepstakes himself, once said of Sellers: "There is no such person." --Jerry McCulley From Publishers Weekly Sellers was undoubtedly one of the 20th century's funniest people. From his first star-making turns in Lolita and Dr. Strangelove (in which he played three different characters), to the bumbling but strangely dignified Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther movies, Sellers never failed to send audiences rolling in the aisles. But as Sikov shows in this hip, unblinking biography, there was a downside to his genius. Sellers abused drugs, beat his wives and neglected his children. On set, he was a nightmare prima donna, insisting on special treatment and embroiling himself in ridiculous feuds with costars and directors. Moreover, his compulsive need to do impressions verged at times on multiple personality disorder (his first wife said, "It's like being married to the United Nations"). Sikov shows that no one, not even his friends, really knew Sellers. The actor was, in Sikov's estimation, a comic tabula rasa on which he could inscribe any character or personality. This mutability gave Sellers his first break, as he bluffed his way onto radio by impersonating a BBC star on the telephone. He later became the star of the hugely influential radio program The Goon Show, whose eccentric, Dadaist humor predated Monty Python by a decade. An avid party-goer (jet-setting friends included Roman Polanski and the Beatles), Sellers enjoyed a go-go lifestyle finally that caught up with him in 1980, when he suffered a massive heart attack. Sikov, whose previous work includes a Billy Wilder biography, treats Sellers with just the right mix of awe, irritation and sympathy, giving readers a clear-headed, respectful tribute to a disturbed genius. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Biography & Autobiography; Entertainment & Performing Arts; Actors Peter Sellers is a Hugely Popular Figure--with both a cult and a mainstream following for such dark masterpieces as "Dr. Strangelove" and "Lolita, " as well as his rollicking farces including the wildly popular Pink Panther films. Amazing Celebrity Anecdotes--Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer, Sophia Loren, Maggie Smith, Goldie Hawn, Shelley Winters, Ringo Starr, Elke Sommer, Dudley Moore, John Cleese, and many more luminaries add accounts of their diverse accounts with Sellers. There is No More Fascinating Celebrity Figure For a Serious Bio--As Blake Edwards once described him, "Peter was a mercurial clown who could get you laughing one minute and cut your heart out with a bloody axe the next." When the director of "Casino Royale" informed Orson Welles that Sellers refused to film any more scenes with him, Welles was so overjoyed that he kissed the director square on the face. The first American biography of one of film's greatest comedians, Mr. Strangelove is the story of a screamingly funny, desperately unhappy soul--a man who thought he was empty. Sellers, who could mimic anyone and don any mask at will, was privately convinced that his personality had no core--that there was no personal substance under the put-on characters he so readily and hilariously assumed. "The Goon Show" made him famous; "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas" and "What's New, Pussycat?" turned him into a 60s flower-power icon that still resonates today. And yet Sellers, whose blistering improvisations could ruin takes by sending the casts and crews of his films into peals of uncontrollable laughter while the camera was running--remained confused and lonely, difficult to work with, volatile one minute andhopelessly lethargic the next. In this exhaustively researched book based on tons of interviews, Dudley Moore, John Cleese, Christopher Plummer, Goldie Hawn, Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren and many others recount colorful stories of working with this comic genius. From his adolescence in Catholic school (Sellers was Jewish), through his joining up with the Royal Air force, and his catapulting to fame due at least in part to one of the most fiercely driven stage mothers in the history of performing arts, Mr. Strangelove traces the development of Seller's unique humor. Perhaps most valuable to his rabid fans are the in-depth behind-the-scenes accounts of his work with Stanley Kubrick, Blake Edwards, and Billy Wilder, among others. And endlessly fascinating are the women Sellers chose to fall in love with, marry and divorce. No film comedian has had more influence over today's comic stars than Peter Sellers, the man who broke all the rules of comedy. Thanks to him, those rules have never been reassembled. Written by Ed Sikov, respected film historian and highly praised author of On Sunset Boulevard, this is a riveting look at Peter Sellers's work and his mysterious inner life, a portrait that will engross his endlessly renewing legions of fans. The first American biography of one of film’s greatest comedians, MR. STRANGELOVE is the story of a screamingly funny, desperately unhappy soul—a man who thought he was empty. Sellers, who could mimic anyone and don any mask at will, was privately convinced that his personality had no core—that there was no personal substance under the put-on characters he so readily and hilariously assumed. “The Goon Show” made him famous; “I Love You, Alice B. Toklas” and “What’s New, Pussycat?” turned him into a 60s flower-power icon that still resonates today. And yet Sellers, whose blistering improvisations could ruin takes by sending the casts and crews of his films into peals of uncontrollable laughter while the camera was running—remained confused and lonely, difficult to work with, volatile one minute and hopelessly lethargic the next.In this exhaustively researched book based on tons of interviews, Dudley Moore, John Cleese, Christopher Plummer, Goldie Hawn, Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren and many others recount colorful stories of working with this comic genius. From his adolescence in Catholic school (Sellers was Jewish), through his joining up with the Royal Air force, and his catapulting to fame due at least in part to one of the most fiercely driven stage mothers in the history of performing arts, MR. STRANGELOVE traces the development of Seller’s unique humor. Perhaps most valuable to his rabid fans are the in-depth behind-the-scenes accounts of his work with Stanley Kubrick, Blake Edwards, and Billy Wilder, among others. And endlessly fascinating are the women Sellers chose to fall in love with, marry and divorce.No film comedian has had more influence over today’s comic stars than Peter Sellers, the man who broke all the rules of comedy. Thanks to him, those rules have never been reassembled. Written by Ed Sikov, respected film historian and highly praised author of ON SUNSET BOULEVARD, this is a riveting look at Peter Sellers’s work and his mysterious inner life, a portrait that will engross his endlessly renewing legions of fans.

now In Paperback: An Authoritative Biography And A Compulsive Page-turner. (michael Palin, New York Times Book Review)

peter Sellers' Explosive Talent Made Him A Beloved Figure In World Cinema And Continues To Attract New Audiences. With His Darkly Comic Performances In dr. Strangelove And lolita And His Outrageously Funny Appearances As Inspector Clouseau In The pink Panther Films, He Became One Of The Most Popular Movie Stars Of His Time.

in This Lively And Exhaustively Researched Biography, Ed Sikov Offers Unique Insight Into Sellers' Comedic Style. Beginning With Sellers' Lonely Childhood Dominated By A Mother Who Wouldn't Let Go, Through His Service In The Royal Air Force, And His Success On Bbc Radio's the Goon Show, Sikov Goes On To Detail The Actor's Relationships With His Family, Costars, Directors, And Admirers-a Portrait That Is As Comic And Tragic As Peter Sellers Himself.

ed Sikov Is The Author Of on Sunset Boulevard: The Life And Times Of Billy Wilder, screwball, laughing Hysterically, And study Guide For American Cinema. He Earned A Doctorate In Film Studies At Columbia University And Has Taught Film Courses At Haverford And Colorado Colleges. He Lives In New York City.

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thoroughly Enjoyable And Torturously Sympathetic Biography.

Peter Sellers's explosive talent made him a beloved figure in world cinema and continues to attract new audiences. With his darkly comic performances in Dr. Strangelove and Lolita and his outrageously funny appearances as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films, he became one of the most popular movie stars of his time. Sellers himself identified most personally with the character he played in Being There -- an utterly empty man on whom others projected what they wanted, or needed, to see. In this lively and exhaustively researched biography, Ed Sikov offers unique insight into Sellers's comedy style. Beginning with Sellers' lonely childhood with a mother who wouldn't let go of him, through his service in the Royal Air Force and his success on BBC Radio's The Goon Show , Sikov goes on to detail his relationships with co-stars such as Alec Guinness, Sophia Loren, and Shirley MacLaine; his work with such directors as Stanley Kubrick, Billy Wilder, and Blake Edwards; his four failed marriages; his ridiculously short engagement to Liza Minnelli; and all the other peculiarities of this eccentric man's unpredictable life. The most insightful biography ever written of this endlessly fascinating star, Mr. Strangelove is as comic and tragic as Peter Sellers was himself. Sheds light on the origins of Sellers' comedic style of acting, describing his lonely childhood, his service with the RAF, his relationships with costars and directors, his four failed marriages, and other aspects of his troubled and eccentric life In 1924, a low-end music hall performer called Peg Sellers gave birth to a baby boy.