Status Updates From The Life and Death of Peter...

Pt 5: The Afterlife of Peter Sellers - Chapter 15: The Evil That Men Do
Discusses his ambition and his ambivalent relationship with America - both hating it and yet wanting the money and fame offered by Hollywood.
Disastrous marriage to Miranda Quarry, 3rd of four wives - Anne Howe, Britt Ekland, Miranda Quarry, Lynne Frederick. Flirting with royals and crushes: Sophia Loren, Nanette Newman, Princess Margaret.

Pt 5: The Afterlife of Peter Sellers - Chapter 14: Love and Death. As I come to the end of this book (the final chapter is a long one in a very long book) we also come to the end of Peter Sellers' life. Having long had heart problems and heart attacks, he died, leaving his last wife to try to control his funeral. Britt Eckland, whom I now have a lot more respect for, acted with more dignity than he deserved.

Pt 5: The Afterlife of Peter Sellers - Chapter 13: The Crack-Up. There are, it has to be said, a lot of assumptions in this biography about Sellers' mental state and it is hard to know how much is true. However, as he nears the end of his life, Sellers seems to be losing control. He is more unreliable than ever, making mistakes and disagreeing with everyone. No woman matches Peg.

Pt 4: His Marvellous Years Chapter 12: The Spirit of Romance. As suggested, this chapter is about Sellers' troubled romantic relationships. He divorced his wife, Anne, after ten years and two children. He had an obsession with Sophia Loren (which was not reciprocated) and played the victim when they divorced. He then married Britt Eckland, with whom he had a daughter, Miranda Quarry and Lynne Frederick.

Pt 4: His Marvellous Years: Chapter 11: Bubble Bubble. The bubble appears to be fame, as Sellers turns from the chubby Goon to the slimmed-down superstar, with an ego to match. More disturbing was Sellers' reported inability to lose his character when returning home to his wife and children, often resulting in violent outbursts. On set, nobody seemed able to control his ridiculous demands or behaviour.

Chapter 10: Chipperfield Circus sees Sellers' life becoming more and more out of control. The chapter concludes with the culmination of him dropping out of a possible company with Mankowitz, literally informing him just before the projects were about to start. His life has become one of chaos and volatility and he seemed unable to pull himself back and control his behaviour.

Pt 3: Hope and Glory ends with Chapter 9: A League of Gentlemen, much of which is about class. Sellers gets signed up by the Boulting Brothers and stars as Fred Kite in the breakthrough, 'I'm All Right, Jack'. However, he was insecure, aware of his lack of education and out of his depth at dinner parties. Constantly restless, by the end of this chapter, he would leave suburbia and 'never again live in a street.'

Part Three: Chapter 8: No, Not Ealing. Ealing Studios is sold, moving Sellers from more cosy, UK-based film productions to international stardom. There are lots about his relationships with UK stars though, from Terry Thomas to Peggy Mount. Also, his increasingly bad behaviour - from trying to hold up filming, to getting people sacked. Refusing to work if green or purple are used in sets, and his love of gadgets.

Part 3: Hope and Glory starts with Chapter 7: Early Photoplays. Sellers wanted to emulate Alec Guinness, yet hoped he would fail. Guinness wrote, 'Poor, rich, exceptionally brilliant Peter Sellers never seemed to get himself sorted out in spite of the fact that, apart from upset marriages, there didn't seem to be much confusion in his life.' Guinness had a hard early life and an understandable lack of sympathy.

I have now finished Part Two: Radio Days. I think it is fair to say that although Peter Sellers was immensely successful on BBC radio in the 1950's, he wanted more. He always, it seems, wanted more. More success, more money, more fame, more adulation. He is looking beyond radio now, having done some TV, but really keen to be in films. Enjoying this immensely.

Chapter 5 focuses on Sellers success on the radio in the 1950's. Of course, the BBC controlled British radio at the time, so you feel Sellers' resentment and ambition. He was spreading himself thin during this period, and there are memos from the BBC about his being on too many shows and also running off to summer seasons or other variety shows. He is eager to move into 'real' acting - cinema and theatre.

Chapter 4 looks at the explosion of The Goons, beloved BBC radio show. Their novelty records were produced by George Martin, which impressed The Beatles no end when they met him. As well as The Fabs, other famous fans included Prince Charles, Elton John and members of Monty Python. Roger Lewis relates how much of the show was linked to the members' experiences in WWII.

Post-war, Sellers has struggled to find work. Eventually managing to make his way onto BBC radio, we end Part One with his meeting Spike Milligan. The quote is, 'He had a power inside himself, kicking and fighting to be let loose - intimated in the long ago by the drums - an iconoclastic streak; and he'd recently met the only man on the planet who could help him make any use of it - Spike Milligan.'

This is a massive biography of Peter Sellers, at 1178 pages. Lewis is always immensely readable. Having read about Sellers' transient childhood, with his mother, Peg, working in the theatre and having a somewhat unhealthy relationship with her son, he is now at war and enjoying it greatly. It is interesting to consider how ENSA brought many post-war British stars to prominence. Fascinating so far.