A personal tribute to the great Peter Sellers, courtesy of another fan posting on You Tube.
Although considered neurotic, a stand-out egotist in a very egotisical profession, and highly temperamental, Peter Sellers left a great legacy of work in radio (with The Goon Show" of the 1950's) and of course the movies. Although manys the biographer (including his own son) and some very vitriolic scribes who had their payback and broadsides at the late Mr. Sellers, he will be remembered by most film-goers not as a mediocre father or a demanding star, but as a great performer. Such is the power of a superb artist.
Ironically, this bit of fluff from "The Muppet Show" does get to a core insecurity of Sellers--playing and inhabiting all these characters in his career had somehow left him, he said often in interviews, feeling as if he had no personality of his own. If it were really true, and who really knows someone else's psyche, I think it must be true that Peter Sellers was often happiest "being" someone else.
Like many great comedians Sellers seems to have been somewhat bi-polar. The themes covered in his films capitalism, communism, christianity, class prejudice and nuclear war...the big issues of our day are I suppose a form of gallows humour that reveal a troubled spirit just below the surface of the satire. Great song btw, one of my favourite Beatles tracks.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite songs,too, highlighting an amazing body of work.
ReplyDeleteI want those horns :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your summation.He seemed mostcomfortable when he was someone else. From what I have read he seemed very unhappy when he was not in front of the camera. He could not be himself. What a pity. He was truly a gifted actor and comedian
ReplyDeleteYes, that is what seems to be the consensus opinion on Sellers--a rather unhappy man. A shame given his gifts to make others happy. And like many gifted people. gone too soon.
ReplyDeleteThey would be great to wear if one ever won a trip to Norway.
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