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Peter Sellers is celebrated for his unforgettable portrayal of the clumsy Inspector Clouseau. In honor of what would have been his 93rd birthday, here are 10 intriguing tidbits about the legendary actor.
1. HIS INITIAL FORAY INTO ENTERTAINMENT WAS AS A DRUMMER.
At just 16, Sellers traveled across the U.K. performing with various jazz bands. As opportunities dwindled, he diversified his talents, creating business cards that foreshadowed his future as a master of mimicry. The cards read: Peter Sellers, Drums and Impressions.
2. HE RELEASED TWO COMEDY ALBUMS PRIOR TO HIS FILM SUCCESS.
Long before his cinematic fame, Peter Sellers produced two comedy albums under EMI Parlophone, with George Martin as the producer—the same George Martin who later collaborated with The Beatles.
3. HE COLLABORATED WITH SOPHIA LOREN ON A MUSICAL PROJECT.
In 1960, Sellers joined forces with Italian actress and screen icon Sophia Loren to create an album titled Peter & Sophia. Their collaboration spawned the novelty track “Goodness Gracious Me,” which climbed to number four on the U.K. pop charts.
4. SELLERS PROVIDED THE VOICE FOR BOGART IN BEAT THE DEVIL.
While filming John Huston’s Beat The Devil (1953), Humphrey Bogart, the lead actor, suffered a severe car accident that resulted in the loss of several teeth. Unable to deliver some lines, Sellers was brought in to dub Bogart’s voice. This substitution remains unnoticed in the film to this day.
5. SELLERS HAD NUMEROUS TIES TO THE BEATLES THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE.
Beyond his close friendships with George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Sellers achieved another pop chart success in 1965 with a humorous rendition of “A Hard Day’s Night,” delivered in the style of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Additionally, during the production of The Beatles’ White Album, Ringo shared a tape of preliminary mixes with Peter. This tape, auctioned after Sellers’ passing, became one of the most coveted Beatles bootlegs, often referred to as “The Peter Sellers Sessions.”
6. SELLERS CLAIMED TO HAVE SPOKEN TO GOD, WHO OFFERED HIM MISGUIDED ADVICE.
After struggling with a challenging scene in one of the Pink Panther films, Sellers called director Blake Edwards late at night, declaring, “I just spoke to God! He told me how to handle the scene.” The next day, Sellers attempted the divinely inspired approach on set, but it was a complete failure. Edwards quipped, “Next time you talk to God, tell him to keep out of show business!”
7. SELLERS PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN SECURING DISTRIBUTION FOR THE PRODUCERS.
When Mel Brooks struggled to find a distributor for his debut film, Sellers intervened. He persuaded prominent producers to view the movie and placed full-page advertisements in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, proclaiming, “This is one of the finest comedies made in recent years.” His advocacy for The Producers generated the industry buzz that propelled it to success. Ironically, a year earlier, Brooks had approached Sellers for a lead role, but Sellers was reportedly too preoccupied shopping at Bloomingdale’s to pay attention.
8. SELLERS HAD NUMEROUS SUPERSTITIONS, PARTICULARLY ABOUT COLORS.
The color green gave Sellers “odd vibes” and unsettled him. He avoided wearing it and refused to work with anyone dressed in green. Purple was even more troubling. While filming After The Fox, director Vittorio De Sica became furious when a script assistant arrived in purple attire. “It’s the color of death!” De Sica told Sellers, a statement that haunted him for the rest of his life.
In his later years, Sellers' hatred for purple led to such intense outbursts that his publicists would inspect his hotel rooms for the color and switch rooms if any trace of purple was found.
9. CHANCE THE GARDENER WAS INSPIRED BY STAN LAUREL.
For his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Chance The Gardener in Being There, Sellers modeled the character’s speech patterns and rhythm after his comedic hero: Stan Laurel.
10. HE EXPERIENCED 15 HEART ATTACKS.
Peter Sellers passed away in 1980 due to a severe heart attack. However, this was not his first—it was his fifteenth. He had one in 1977 and, in 1964, while filming Billy Wilder’s Kiss Me, Stupid, Sellers endured a sequence of 13 heart attacks within a few days. At one point, he was declared dead for a minute and a half.
This article was originally published in 2011.
