Britt Ekland got candid about her marriage to British comic legend Peter Sellers in a new BBC documentary. A Shot in the Dark: Directed by Blake Edwards. [261] Spike Milligan later considered that Sellers's heart condition had lasted for over 15 years and had "made life difficult for him and had a debilitating effect on his personality. The man you play begins to exist. Definitely something to talk about with Ms. Sommer when I got to spend an afternoon with her at her home in 2003, after being introduced to her by a mutual and beloved friend, casting director Marvin Paige (1927-2013). [61] He accepted a larger part in the 1955 Alexander Mackendrick-directed Ealing comedy The Ladykillers in which he starred opposite his idol Alec Guinness, in addition to Herbert Lom and Cecil Parker. Click to enlarge. [60], Sellers pursued a film career and took a number of small roles such as a police officer in John and Julie (1955). A further agent's part was then written for Terence Cooper, to cover Sellers's departure. His parents were Yorkshire-born William "Bill" Sellers and Agnes Doreen "Peg" (ne Marks). He died from a heart attack, aged 54, in 1980. Maybe they're around somewhere. Sellers was initially hesitant about taking on these divergent characters, but Kubrick prevailed. [258] After two days in careand against the advice of his doctorshe travelled to the Cannes Film Festival, where Being There was in competition. [79][80] Produced by George Martin and released on Parlophone,[81] the album reached number three in the UK Albums Chart;[82] The same year, Sellers made his first film with John and Roy Boulting in Carlton-Browne of the F.O., a comedy in which he played a supporting role for the film's lead, Terry-Thomas. Goodbye, Your Father. His behaviour was regarded as unprofessional and childish, and he frequently threw tantrums, often threatening to abandon projects. [245] The film earned Sellers a Best Actor award at the 51st National Board of Review Awards;[246] the London Critics Circle Film Awards Special Achievement Award, the Best Actor award at the 45th New York Film Critics Circle Awards;[247] and the Best Actor Musical or Comedy award at the 37th Golden Globe Awards. [242][243] During filming, to remain in character, Sellers refused most interview requests and kept his distance from the other actors. When Kermit the Frog told Sellers he could relax and be himself, Sellers replied: But that, you see, my dear Kermit, would be altogether impossible. A noted actress, how wealthy is Elke Sommer? "[15] According to Milligan, Sellers held a guilt complex about being Jewish and recalls that Sellers was once reduced to tears when he presented him with a candlestick from a synagogue for Christmas, believing the gesture to be an anti-Jewish slur. [58] In 1954, Sellers was cast opposite Sid James, Tony Hancock, Raymond Huntley, Donald Pleasence and Eric Sykes in the British Lion Film Corporation comedy production, Orders Are Orders. [78], Sellers released his first studio album in 1958 called The Best of Sellers; a collection of comic songs and sketches, among them Balham - Gateway to the South, where Sellers plays a variety of comic characters. [218] In 1974, Sellers again claimed to have communicated with the long-dead music hall comic Dan Leno, who advised him to return to the role of Clouseau. This continued all night and he took my radio and smashed it. [62] The Ladykillers was a success in both the UK and the US,[63] and the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. [153], "I feel extremely vulnerable, and I need help a lot. [185] During his next film, The Bobo, which again co-starred Ekland, the couple's marital problems worsened. Speer called Sellers a "cheeky young sod" for his efforts, but gave him an audition. In fact, Ekland said when she re-read her diaries, she saw the repeated use of the Swedish word for fight. And she vividly remembered one incident that occurred in Rome after they were harassed by paparazzi. Sommer's married Wolf Walther in 1993. advertisement He died from a heart attack, aged 54, in 1980. [25] Sellers became a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), which provided entertainment for British forces and factory workers during the war. He became entranced with Minnelli and the couple became engaged three days later, despite Minnelli's current betrothal to Desi Arnaz, Jr., and Sellers still being married. he went mad. [55] For Sellers, the BBC considers it had the effect of launching his career "on the road to stardom". [288], Academics Maria Pramaggiore and Tom Wallis remarked that Sellers fits the mould of a technical actor because he displays a mastery of physical characterisation, such as accent or physical trait. [243] Sellers described his experience of working on the film as "so humbling, so powerful", and co-star Shirley MacLaine found Sellers "a dream" to work with. Both were variety entertainers; Peg was in the Ray Sisters troupe. [25] Sellers also performed comedy routines at these concerts, including impersonations of George Formby, with Sellers accompanying his own singing on ukulele. The divorce was finalised on 18 December 1968, and Sellers's friend Spike Milligan sent Ekland a congratulatory telegram. [43] Sellers played four main charactersMajor Bloodnok, Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, Bluebottle and Henry Crunand seventeen minor ones. In March 1976 Sellers began dating actress Lynne Frederick, whom he married on 18 February 1977. In 1949, Sellers started to date Anne Howe,[45][c] an Australian actress who lived in London. [188] He was deeply affected by her death and remorseful at not having returned to London to see her. The first Goon Show[43] was broadcast on 28 May 1951. Elke Sommer, Peter Fonda. "[251] His other daughter Sarah told Sellers her thoughts about the incident and he sent her a telegram that read "After what happened this morning with Victoria, I shall be happy if I never hear from you again. ", Towards the end of filming, in early February 1964, Sellers met Britt Ekland, a Swedish actress who had arrived in London to film Guns at Batasi. Wife number three, whom he married less than two years after his divorce from Britt Ekland, was the 23-year-old model Miranda Quarry. [310] During an interview in 2002, Robin Williams told Michael Parkinson that Sellers was an important influence, especially his multi-character roles in Dr. Strangelove, stating, "It doesn't get better than that." Director Sidney Gilliat Writers Bryan Forbes (screenplay) Kingsley Amis (novel "That Uncertain Feeling") Stars Peter Sellers Mai Zetterling Virginia Maskell One of the less successful film . [160] Wilder was unsympathetic about the heart attacks, saying that "you have to have a heart before you can have an attack". [152] Sultanik agreed, commenting that Sellers's "exceptional vocal and physical technique" was under-used during his career in the US. Edwards says of the actor's mental state at the time of The Pink Panther Strikes Again, "If you went to an asylum and you described the first inmate you saw, that's what Peter had become. "[94] Sellers and Loren developed a close relationship during filming, culminating in Sellers declaring his love for her in front of his wife. Starring Peter Sellers, Elke Sommer, George Sanders Genres Comedy, Suspense Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started. Entertainments National Service Association, Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, San Sebastin International Film Festival Award for Best Actor, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Peter Sellers on stage, radio, screen and record, San Sebastin International Film Festival, "Behind Inspector Clouseau; The funny, often elusive Peter Sellers and his wives", "Forgotten film of Goons restored by BFI", "The 29th Academy Awards (1957) Nominees and Winners", Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Movie Review Up the Creek Up the Creek' at 55th", "Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film, The (1960)", "The 32nd Academy Awards (1960) Nominees and Winners", British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)", "The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1965)", "The 37th Academy Awards (1965) Nominees and Winners", "Tortured love letter Peter Sellers wrote to Britt Ekland weeks after whirlwind marriage", "Marley Is Dead, Killed in a Nuclear War", "A Day at the Beach" was worth digging up", "The 22nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1976)", "The 23rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (1977)", National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, "The 37th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1980)", "The 52nd Academy Awards (1980) Nominees and Winners", "Peter Sellers 'changed his will on the day he died', legal papers show", "Profile: Movie on HBO examines the life of Peter Sellers", "John Cleese on The Goon Show, His Earliest Comedy Influence", "Firezine #4: Under the Influence of the Goons", "I owe film fame to dad's Scouse sense of humour", "Will Ferrell interview: Megamind, Anchorman and playing a villain", "Eddie Murphy: I'll retire from films at 50", "The 5 Greatest Comedies of All-Time, According To Chris Rock", "Robin Williams, Parkinson interview 2002", "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers: The monster who made us laugh", Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor, National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Sellers&oldid=1140062486, Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners, Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, English people of Portuguese-Jewish descent, Royal Air Force personnel of World War II, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, TCMDb name template using numeric ID from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Won Tehran Film Festival Award for Best Actor, This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 06:44. The four comedians dubbed him KOGVOS (Keeper of Goons and Voice of Sanity)[b] Grafton later edited some of the first Goon Shows.[44]. Daniels noticed his efforts and gave him practical instructions. Sellers's wife at the time, Anne, afterwards commented, "I don't know to this day whether he had an affair with her. During filming, Sellers's relationship with Edwards became strained; the two would often stop speaking to each other during filming, communicating only by the passing of notes. [314] The Belfast Telegraph notes how the film captured Sellers's "life of drugs, drink, fast cars and lots and lots of beautiful women". [134] The director asked Sellers to play three roles: US President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake of the RAF. "[227] With declining physical health, Sellers could at times be unbearable on set. He was prone to laziness, but his natural talents shielded him from criticism by his teachers. The scene, once again, was a glamorous hotel. [101] The film was based on the Marcel Pagnol play Topaze. [186] Ekland later stated that the marriage was "an atrocious sham" at this stage. The pair tied the knot in 1964. $10.00 + $4.99 shipping. Elke Sommer was born as Elke Baronesse von Schletz on 5 November 1940, in Berlin, Germany, to Renata and Baron Peter von Schletz, a Lutheran minister. [40], By the end of 1948, the BBC Third Programme began to broadcast the comedy series Third Division, which starred, among others, Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine and Sellers. and I'm All Right Jack, Sellers starred in The Mouse That Roared, a film in which Jean Seberg also appeared, and was directed by Jack Arnold. It won the award for best fiction short in the latter festival, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject (Live Action). The critic Irv Slifkin remarked that the film was a reflection of the cynicism of Peter Sellers, describing the film as a "proto-Pythonesque adaption of Terry Southern's semi-free-form short novel", and "one of the strangest films to be shown at a gala premiere for Britain's royal family". [100], In 1961 Sellers made his directorial debut with Mr. Topaze, in which he also starred. [68] Later in 1957 Sellers portrayed a television star with a talent for disguises in Mario Zampi's offbeat black comedy The Naked Truth, opposite Terry-Thomas, Peggy Mount, Shirley Eaton and Dennis Price. [215][216] When he was invited to appear on Michael Parkinson's eponymous chat show in 1974, he withdrew the day before, explaining to Parkinson that "I just can't walk on as myself". [116], Sellers's behaviour towards his family worsened in 1962; according to his son Michael, Sellers asked him and his sister Sarah "who we love more, our mother or him. 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