Sellers, Peter

Sellers, Peter (1925-1980), British comic actor renowned for his outstanding impersonations. Born Richard Henry Sellers in Southsea, Hampshire, he found his feet as a stand-up comedian while serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF). After leaving the RAF, he worked in radio—notably on the Goon Show—television, and music halls, making his film debut in a short, Let's Go Crazy (1951). His first feature, Penny Points to Paradise (1951), found few admirers, but he began to make his mark as a character actor in some superior comedies, including The Ladykillers (1955), an Ealing Comedy, and The Smallest Show on Earth (1957). His stubborn union leader in I'm All Right Jack (1959) was highly regarded.

Sellers's abilities were also confirmed in the Hollywood-backed The Mouse that Roared (1959) and in Dr Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) by Stanley Kubrick, playing triple roles in both. His bumbling French detective, Inspector Clouseau, in The Pink Panther (1963) made him a major box-office name and created a character he would play in many sequels, such as The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). Sellers's last performance of note, as a slow-witted gardener regarded as a genius, was in Being There (1979). Geoffrey Rush played Sellers in the film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004).