Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers

The first American biography of one of film’s greatest comedians, MR. STRANGELOVE is the story of a screamingly funny, desperately unhappy soul—a man who thought he was empty. Sellers, who could mimic anyone and don any mask at will, was privately convinced that his personality had no core—that there was no personal substance under the put-on characters he so readily and hilariously assumed. “The Goon Show” made him famous; “I Love You, Alice B. Toklas” and “What’s New, Pussycat?” turned him into a 60s flower-power icon that still resonates today. And yet Sellers, whose blistering improvisations could ruin takes by sending the casts and crews of his films into peals of uncontrollable laughter while the camera was running—remained confused and lonely, difficult to work with, volatile one minute and hopelessly lethargic the next.In this exhaustively researched book based on tons of interviews, Dudley Moore, John Cleese, Christopher Plummer, Goldie Hawn, Shirley MacLaine, Sophia Loren and many others recount colorful stories of working with this comic genius. From his adolescence in Catholic school (Sellers was Jewish), through his joining up with the Royal Air force, and his catapulting to fame due at least in part to one of the most fiercely driven stage mothers in the history of performing arts, MR. STRANGELOVE traces the development of Seller’s unique humor. Perhaps most valuable to his rabid fans are the in-depth behind-the-scenes accounts of his work with Stanley Kubrick, Blake Edwards, and Billy Wilder, among others. And endlessly fascinating are the women Sellers chose to fall in love with, marry and divorce.No film comedian has had more influence over today’s comic stars than Peter Sellers, the man who broke all the rules of comedy. Thanks to him, those rules have never been reassembled. Written by Ed Sikov, respected film historian and highly praised author of ON SUNSET BOULEVARD, this is a riveting look at Peter Sellers’s work and his mysterious inner life, a portrait that will engross his endlessly renewing legions of fans.

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