Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers - Softcover

Sikov, Ed

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786885815 ISBN 13: 9780786885817

Publisher: Hachette Books, 2003

Synopsis

Now in paperback: "An authoritative biography and a compulsive page-turner." (Michael Palin, New York Times Book Review)

Peter Sellers' explosive talent made him a beloved figure in world cinema and continues to attract new audiences. With his darkly comic performances in Dr. Strangelove and Lolita and his outrageously funny appearances as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films, he became one of the most popular movie stars of his time.

In this lively and exhaustively researched biography, Ed Sikov offers unique insight into Sellers' comedic style. Beginning with Sellers' lonely childhood dominated by a mother who wouldn't let go, through his service in the Royal Air Force, and his success on BBC Radio's The Goon Show, Sikov goes on to detail the actor's relationships with his family, costars, directors, and admirers--a portrait that is as comic and tragic as Peter Sellers himself.

About this title

Review:

How do you write the biography of a cipher? That's the daunting challenge veteran Hollywood biographer Ed Sikov tackles in exploring the life of one of the 20th century's most acclaimed comic actors. Peter Sellers's uncanny talents as a mimic informed everything from English radio's Goon Show and the highly profitable--if increasingly broad--cycle of Inspector Clouseau Pink Panther films to his brilliant turn as Chauncey Gardiner in Being There, a role that had all too many discomforting parallels to Sellers' own cryptic personality. Sikov reveals that the man long hailed as comedy's greatest chameleon was in fact a tragic, troubled personal vacuum, the only child of a literal stage mother who indulged his every whim, yet left him a distinct void for a soul. Sikov interviews many of the relatives, intimates, and survivors of Sellers that filled his alternately strange and spectacular life, while thoroughly chronicling every professional triumph and more than a few missteps. Sikov's straightforward reporting, seasoned by his dry wit, details the parts that made up the man, but the sum remains a compelling enigma. As Lolita and Dr. Strangelove director Stanley Kubrick, a riddle himself, once said of Sellers: "There is no such person." --Jerry McCulley

About the Author:

Ed Sikov is the author of On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder, Screwball, Laughing Hysterically, and Study Guide for American Cinema. He earned a doctorate in film studies at Columbia University and has taught film courses at Haverford and Colorado colleges. He lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0786885815
• ISBN 13: 9780786885817
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448