The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.
The professional and personal life of actor and comedian Peter Sellers was a turbulent one. His early movie fame was based primarily on his comic characterizations, often of bumbling and foreign-accented persons, characters which he embodied. As his movie fame rose, he began to lose his own personal identity to his movie characters, leading to self-doubt of himself as a person and a constant need for reassurance and acceptance of his work. This self-doubt manifested itself in fits of anger and what was deemed as arrogance by many. In turn, his personal relationships began to deteriorate as his characterizations were continually used to mask his problems. His first wife, Anne Howe, left/divorced him and his relationships with his parents and children became increasingly distant. His relationship with his second wife, Swedish actress Britt Ekland, was based on this mask. In his later life, he tried to rediscover himself and his career with what would become his penultimate film role, that of Chance in Being There (1979).—Huggo
A biographical film about Peter Sellers' turbulent rise from popular BBC radio performer to one of the world's most gifted comedic actors. Propelled by an overly possessive mother, Sellers struggled to reconcile his relationship with women, his celebrity status and his many selves.—Jwelch5742
Based on the biography of the same name. The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is the story of the comic actor, who would later immortalize bumbling Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther series. From his beginnings in show business as a variety performer to his ultimate success as a movie star, Peter Sellers was a man of many faces. But it was also that moniker that caught up with his personal life, when Sellers was a man without an identity and only a library of oddball characters to make up for his personality. Focusing on his rising success and his family life, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is the story of a man whose personal life clashed with stardom, while he was an individual completely immersed in the characters he portrayed.—mystic80
The film opens with Peter Sellers (Geofffrey Rush) walking up to a director's chair, an unseen live audience applauds as Peter directs their gaze toward the movie of his life.
In 1950s London, Peter Sellers is a household name as a regular voice-over performer on the BBC radio program 'The Goon Show' but is failing to branch out into film, he returns home to his family after a failed audition but is urged by his controlling mother Peg (Miriam Margolyes) to "bite the hand that feeds you", a now inspired Peter utilizes his talent for impersonation to disguise himself as the elderly war veteran character he was auditioning for. Once the casting agent (Alison Steadman) has divulged that he's perfect for the role, Peter reveals himself and is reluctantly given the part.
Peter wins a British Academy Award for 'I'm All Right Jack', Peg and Peter's father, Bill (Peter Vaughan), watch their son's acceptance speech but dismissed by Peg, a dejected Bill walks away leading to the first transformation of the film; Peter is now playing his father, and with a heavy Yorkshire accent breaks the fourth wall to tell us about Peter's childhood.
Before the shooting of 'The Millionairess' has begun, Peter is already besotted with his co-star Sophia Loren (Sonia Aquino) while his marriage to wife Anne (Emily Watson) is becoming strained and his children are subjected to their father's rages and subsequent extravagant gifts as compensation. When Sophia mentions that Peter is too far away in the countryside to take her home he takes this as a cue to buy a house in the heart of London. To subdue some of the guilt Peter feels about his feelings for Sophia, he hires a decorator, Ted Levy (Peter Gevisser), and insists that his wife and Ted should have drinks together - Peter leaves them and goes to have dinner alone with Sophia, who is surprised that Peter's wife is not joining them and slowly realizes that this is a date. She rejects Peter's advances and tells him to go home to his family, Peter does so and announces his love for Sophia Loren to Anne and their two children.
Seeing Carlo Ponti (Joseph Long) has come to visit his wife Sophia on set, Peter distracts himself with Sophia's stand-in and the two have sex in Peter's Rolls-Royce, meanwhile a weary Anne surrenders to quietly spending the night with Ted but once Peter returns home and realizes his wife has left he wreaks havoc in the house. Anne comes home the morning after to find Peter on the balcony threatening to jump if she leaves, the two argue and Anne walks out, we then see Peter's second transformation, this time in drag as Anne who is dubbing the breakup to make it look as though they had reconciled.
Peter returns home to Peg's care to recuperate after the divorce and begins to see Maurice Woodruff (Stephen Fry), a clairvoyant to the stars, hoping to gain some direction; Woodruff's influence leads him to the Pink Panther series.
On the flight to Italy, Peter sees a pack of Captain Webb matches, this inspires the physical appearance of Inspector Clouseau. In 1963, filming of 'The Pink Panther' begins and his portrayal is a huge success, Peter however is disappointed with the final product and blames director Blake Edwards (John Lithgow).
Peter returns to England to find his father in a hospital on life support, which Peg had been keeping from him. After Bill has stated how proud he is of his son, he passes away. Peter is heart-broken and cannot forgive Peg for not calling him, their close bond is irreversibly severed and Peter leaves.
At The Dorchester Hotel, Peter is taking a woman back to his room, but is interrupted by Stanley Kubrick (Stanley Tucci) who has come to persuade Peter to be in his new film 'Dr. Strangelove'. Peg comes to visit Peter on-set but Peter decides to stay in character as the titular scientist to avoid confronting reality. Peg is unsettled and eventually leaves, feeling as though she hadn't truly seen her son.
While Stanley and Peter are discussing the fourth character he is due to play, Peter grows aggravated about his workload, insisting he won't play the American bomber pilot. After he storms off, we watch the third change; Peter becomes Stanley, who turns to look at us with the Kubrick stare and tells us that Peter Sellers wasn't a person, that he was simply a vessel, "but even an empty vessel can become too full". Peter's way out of playing Major Kong is by showing up to set with crutches and pretending he had injured himself getting out of a taxi.
Meanwhile, Maurice Woodruff is taking a bribe to convince Peter into doing another Pink Panther film. He informs Peter that a very special partnership involves the initials B.E. meaning Blake Edwards. Peter instead pursues his new neighbor, Swedish actress and model Britt Ekland (Charlize Theron) - he asks her to be his date to the cinema where they see Dr. Strangelove for the premier in January 1964. They wed just 10 days after meeting.
While on their honeymoon in Hollywood, Peter inhales amyl nitrites during sex with Britt, causing him to have a series of eight heart attacks. He is rushed to the hospital and Peg watches the breaking news of Peter's critical condition from her home in England being broadcast on "both channels". During the resuscitation, a dream sequence takes place in Peter's consciousness with his many characters surrounding him before he notices that he has a ticking bomb attached to his chest. When he wakes up, he believes himself to now be invincible.
In 1966, Peter's next film is Casino Royale, a James Bond spoof, but with his new lease on life he wants to play it straight, much to the dismay of everyone involved. He abandons the film after no one takes him seriously.
Britt informs Peter that she has fallen pregnant but is met with an unimpressed Peter who doesn't want more children, however Britt insists on keeping the baby. Once the baby is born, Peter and Britt's relationship becomes strained and they fight as the newborn interrupts scenes of 'After The Fox'.
In costume as the blue matador for The Bobo, Peter receives a call from Peg where she tells Peter that she's in hospital and that she needs to see him, however Peter pretends to be called away and hangs up. The fourth narrative change is Peter becoming Peg, who defends Peter's behavior, just as the real Peg always did. As Peg, he climbs into a coffin before reverting back to himself. Peter is distraught at Peg's funeral and Britt tries to comfort him, but he instead cries on his first wife Anne's shoulder.
When they get home Peter antagonizes Britt while she is trying to comfort him, a physical fight ensues and Britt smashes a picture of Peg over Peter's head. She leaves for good, taking their daughter with her, and Peter is alone with his thoughts, thus triggering a psychedelic sequence which swiftly takes Peter through the 1970's.
In 1974, during one of their sessions, Maurice Woodruff listens to Peter talk about his obsession with 'Being There', a book Peter loves so much that he wants it to be his next film, but Maurice uses the spirit of Peg to persuade Peter to instead do 'The Pink Panther Strikes Again' and a superstitious Peter relents.
In 1976, at the screening for the completed film, a drunken Peter gives a speech which becomes more and more uninhibited until he abruptly leaves. Watching his home movies alone, Peter gets a voice-mail on his answering machine from his now adult son Michael who wishes him well with his new pacemaker. Once the recording ends Peter looks to the table beside him and opens the script for 'Revenge of the Pink Panther'. In costume as the "old salty Swedish sea dog" Peter collapses in his trailer while an unaware Blake bangs at his door, the fifth and final transformation is Peter into Blake Edwards who tells us what it's like to work with the "difficult" but "mesmerizing" Peter Sellers.
The only project Peter never gives up on was 'Being There', scenes of Peter carefully constructing the main character in his home are interspersed with him destroying his own memorabilia, including some of his own home movies. Peter is exasperated that he can't find the look of Chance, but meditates on the memory of his lowly father, this allows Peter to not rely on a comical accent or costume, but to instead channel his still and simple father.
In 1979, Peter quietly re-watches scenes from 'Being There', proud of something he made. A tired and visibly prematurely aging Peter walks through the Swiss snow to meet with Blake Edwards, who has the script for a new movie titled 'The Romance of the Pink Panther', instead of entering Peter hesitates and watches through the window, eventually turning to stand motionless under a streetlight, Blake comes out, confused to find Peter standing perfectly still, they don't share a word and Blake kisses Peter on the cheek, eventually leaving him alone. Facts about the final years of Sellers' life are shown over the motionless Peter in the snow.
The film finishes with the same version of Peter that we saw at the start, the movie about his life has now ended, he sits in the director's chair and shrugs, he stands up and walks through the film's set pieces, surrounded by bustling crew, to his trailer and smiles to the camera; "You can't come in here".
