Richard Henry Sellers (photo ©Allan Warren) – this was his birth name – was born on September 8, 1925, in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth, England.

Peter Sellers’ parents were variety actors and he was involved in their activity practically since his birth. Despite his father’s doubts about his skills as an entertainer, he learned not only to act but also became an excellent dancer and drummer, so much so that in the course of his life was part of some jazz bands.

During World War II, for a time Peter Sellers offered entertainment to British soldiers and in September 1943 joined the RAF. Confined to ground services because of poor eyesight, he kept on providing entertainment to his fellow soldiers, sometimes with imitations of their superiors.

After the war ended, Peter Sellers started working as an actor, first on stage and after an audition at the BBC, also on radio and television. At that time, he met Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, and Michael Bentine, who became his partners in the radio program “The Goon Show”, which aired from 1951 to 1960. The program became so successful in time that it also became a strong influence on many others produced in the course of time.

In 1951 Peter Sellers married Anne Howe, with whom he had two children, Michael in 1954 and Sarah in 1957.

During the ’50s, Peter Sellers started working in cinema productions in the UK but also in the USA. His first successful role was in the movie “The Ladykillers” (1955). In “The Smallest Show on Earth” (1957) he showed his skills with disguises because at age 32 he played a character of 68 years. The biggest success of those years was “I’m All Right Jack” (1959).

In 1960, Peter Sellers starred in “The Millionairess” along with Sophia Loren, but the close relationship that rose with his colleague was one of the causes of the end of his marriage with Anne Howe. The movie also inspired the song “Goodness Gracious Me”, sung by Sellers and Loren, which was a great success in the UK.

In 1961, Peter Sellers made his debut as a director with the movie “Mr. Topaze”, of which he also played the protagonist. In 1962 he had a part in “Lolita”, where he worked for the first time with Stanley Kubrick, who had been impressed by the actor’s ability to play very different characters.

In 1963 Peter Sellers began his relationship with director Blake Edwards with the Pink Panther series in which Peter Sellers played the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. The two of them also worked together in the movie “The Party” (1968).

In 1964 came one of the masterpieces of Peter Sellers, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”, the other result of his collaboration with Stanley Kubrick. In this movie, the actor played three different characters, often improvising, something very unusual in a Kubrick’s movie.

In 1964 Peter Sellers married Britt Ekland. The marriage lasted only four years but the two of them had a daughter, Victoria.

In later years, Peter Sellers starred in other movies of different genres, including “Casino Royale” (1967), part of the James Bond series. Soon after he received a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his career’s achievements.

In 1970 Peter Sellers married Miranda Quarry, another marriage that lasted only four years.

Despite his many successes, Peter Sellers often had problems with depression and in the they started weighing on his work and his personal life. In 1977 he got married for the last time, with Lynne Frederick.

Peter Sellers was considered extraordinary as a comedian but tried in different ones in dramas such as “Being There” (1979). His last movie, however, was still a comedy, “The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu” (1980).

On July 22, 1980, while he was in London to meet his old partners from “The Goon Show”, Peter Sellers had a heart attack. Taken to a city hospital, he died shortly after midnight on July 24. The last movies in the Pink Panther series were released posthumously, recovering discarded scenes from the previous movies.

Peter Sellers was an extraordinary comedian, for some people even the greatest of all time. Thanks to his disguising skills in some movies he played different characters. Nevertheless, he was repeatedly appreciated in dramatic roles as well. All of that wasn’t enough for him so his private life was very complicated and he suffered severe insecurities that caused his serious depressions. A tragic destiny for an actor who gave us so much joy.