Mr Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers

by EdSikov (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $3.25

  Peter Sellers had many characters - from the Goons to Being There's Chaunce the Gardener via Inspector Clouseau - and his anarchic comedy still influences comics like Mike Myers. Yet Sellers, who could mimic anyone and don any mask, was convinced that he was empty; that there was no personal substance beneath the characters he so readily assumed. Ed Sikov has spoken to many of those who knew and worked with Sellers, including Sophia Loren, Maggie Smith, Goldie Hawn, Dudley Moore, John Cleese and Roman Polanski. In this in-depth life, he reveals how Sellers used his creative craziness to stave off the darker and more debilitating madness that plagued him, his public face hiding a sometimes tormented private life with four marriages (and three divorces), countless affairs, and drug and alcohol abuse.

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $3.25

  Peter Sellers was a genius, whose unique mastery created enduring comic characters. But behind the man that could make the world laugh was a tragic sadness. Employing his creations as masks to hide behind, Sellers was convinced his own life was meaningless and empty. Acclaimed ( On Sunset Boulevard - the story of Billy Wilder) biographer Ed Sikov has spoken to many who knew and worked with Sellers, including Sophia Loren, Goldie Hawn, and Roman Polanski. Sikov reveals how Sellers was a casualty of his own insecurities and used his public persona to mask his tormented private life, littered with four marriages (and three divorces), countless affairs, and drug and alcohol abuse. This is the authoritative and touching story of a majestic comedian, showing the very private face of a man whose world was lived through the public arena. 'An authoritative biography and a compulsive page turner.' - Michael Palin, New York Times . 'Sikov's book is often melancholy, but always informative, and entertaining...They don't really make 'em like that any more - you can't get the wood you know' - Simon Louvish, Guardian .