Mr. Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers

by Ed Sikov

  The Mouse That Roared (1959). Peter Sellers (Tully Bascombe, Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, and the Prime Minister, Count Mountjoy), Jean Seberg (Helen Kokintz), William Hartnell (Will), David Kossoff (Professor Kokintz), Austin Willis (U.S. Secretary of Defense), Leo McKern (Benter), and Jacques Cey (ticket collector). Director: Jack Arnold; screenwriters: Roger MacDougall and Stanley Mann, based on the novel by Leonard Wibberley; director of photography: John Wilcox; producer: Walter Shenson. Highroad/Columbia Pictures, 83 minutes.

  I’m All Right, Jack (1959). Ian Carmichael (Stanley Windrush), Terry-Thomas (Major Hitchcock), Peter Sellers (Fred Kite, Sir John Kennaway), Richard Attenborough (Sidney De Vere Cox), Margaret Rutherford (Aunt Dolly), Dennis Price (Bertram Tracepurcel), Irene Handl (Mrs. Kite), Miles Malleson (Windrush, Sr.), Liz Fraser (Cynthia Kite), Marne Maitland (Mr. Mohammed), John Le Mesurier (Waters), Raymond Huntley (Magistrate), Victor Maddern (Knowles), Kenneth Griffith (Dai), David Lodge (card player), and Malcolm Muggeridge (himself). Director: John Boulting; screenwriters: John Boulting, Frank Harvey, and Alan Hackney, based on a novel by Alan Hackney; director of photography: Mutz Greenbaum; producer: Roy Boulting. British Lion, 101 minutes.

  The Battle of the Sexes (1959). Peter Sellers (Mr. Martin), Robert Morley (Robert MacPherson), Constance Cummings (Angela Barrows), Jameson Clark (Andrew Darling), Ernest Thesiger (Old MacPherson), Donald Pleasence (Irwin Hoffman), and Moultrie Kelsall (Graham). Director: Charles Chrichton; screenwriter: Monja Danischewsky, based on “The Catbird Seat” by James Thurber; director of photography: Freddie Francis; producer: Monja Danischewsky. Bryanston / Continental / British Lion, 84 minutes.

  Never Let Go (1960). Richard Todd (John Cummings), Peter Sellers (Lionel Meadows), Elizabeth Sellars (Ann Cummings), Adam Faith (Tommy Towers), Carol White (Jackie), Noel Willman (Inspector Thomas), and David Lodge (Cliff). Director: John Guillermin; screenwriter: Alun Falconer, from a story by John Guillermin and Peter de Sarigny; director of photography: Christopher Challis; producer: Peter de Sarigny. Independent Artists/Rank, 90 minutes.

  Two-Way Stretch (1960). Peter Sellers (Dodger Lane), David Lodge (Jelly Knight), Bernard Cribbins (Lennie Price), Wilfrid Hyde-White (Soapy Stevens), Maurice Denham (the governor), Lionel Jeffries (Crout), Irene Handl (Mrs. Price), Liz Fraser (Ethel), Beryl Reid (Miss Pringle), Mario Fabrizi (Jones). Director: Robert Day; screenwriters: John Warren and Len Heath, with additional dialogue by Alan Hackney; director of photography: Geoffrey Faithfull; producer: M. Smedley Aston. British Lion, 84 minutes.

  The Millionairess (1960). Sophia Loren (Epifania), Peter Sellers (Dr. Kabir), Alastair Sim (Sagamore), Vittorio De Sica (Joe), Dennis Price (Adrian), Gary Raymond (Alastair), Alfie Bass (fish curer), Miriam Karlin (Mrs. Joe), and Graham Stark (butler). Director: Anthony Asquith; screenwriter: Wolf Mankowitz, based on Riccardo Aragno’s adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s play; director of photography: Jack Hildyard; producers: Dimitri de Grunwald and Pierre Rouve. Twentieth Century-Fox, 90 minutes.

  Mr. Topaze (1961). Peter Sellers (Auguste Topaze), Herbert Lom (Castel Benac), Nadia Gray (Suzy), Leo McKern (Muche), Marita Hunt (baroness), John Neville (Roger), Billie Whitelaw (Ernestine), and Michael Sellers (Gaston). Director: Peter Sellers; screenwriter: Pierre Rouve, based on the play Topaze by Marcel Pagnol; director of photography: John Wilcox; producers: Dimitri de Grunwald and Pierre Rouve. Twentieth Century-Fox, 97 minutes. Released in the U.S. as I Like Money.

  Only Two Can Play (1962). Peter Sellers (John Lewis), Mai Zetterling (Elizabeth Gruffydd Williams), Virginia Maskell (Jean), Kenneth Griffith (Jenkins), Richard Attenborough (Probert), Raymond Huntley (Vernon Gruffydd Williams), Maudie Edwards (Mrs. Davies), John Le Mesurier (Salter), and Graham Stark (Hyman). Director: Sidney Gilliat; screenwriter: Bryan Forbes, based on Kingsley Amis’s novel That Uncertain Feeling; director of photography: John Wilcox; producer: Leslie Gilliat. British Lion/Vale/Kingsley/Columbia, 106 minutes.

  The Road to Hong Kong (1962). Bing Crosby (Harry Turner), Bob Hope (Chester Babcock), Joan Collins (Diane), Robert Morley (spy leader), Dorothy Lamour (herself), and Peter Sellers (Indian neurologist, uncredited). Director: Norman Panama; screenwriters: Norman Panama and Melvin Frank; director of photography: Jack Hildyard; producer: Melvin Frank. Melnor Films/United Artists, 92 minutes.

  Lolita (1962). James Mason (Humbert Humbert), Shelley Winters (Charlotte Haze), Peter Sellers (Claire Quilty), Sue Lyon (Lolita), Gary Cockrell (Richard Schiller), Jerry Stovin (John Farlow), Diana Decker (Jean Farlow), and Marianne Stone (Vivian Darkbloom). Director: Stanley Kubrick; screenwriters: Vladimir Nabokov, based on his novel, and James B. Harris (uncredited); director of photography: Oswald Morris; producer: James B. Harris. Seven Arts/MGM, 152 minutes.

  Waltz of the Toreadors (1962). Peter Sellers (Gen. Leo Fitzjohn), Dany Robin (Ghislaine), Margaret Leighton (Emily Fitzjohn), John Fraser (Lt. Robert Finch), Cyril Cusack (Dr. Grogan), Prunella Scales (Estella Fitzjohn), Denise Coffey (Sidonia), Raymond Huntley (Ackroyd), John Le Mesurier (Rev. Grimsley). Director: John Guillermin; screenwriter: Wolf Mankowitz, based on the play by Jean Anouilh; director of photography: John Wilcox; producer: Peter de Sarigny. Rank Organization, 104 minutes. Released in the U.K. as The Amorous General.

  The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962). Peter Sellers (Pearly Gates), Lionel Jeffries (Inspector Parker), Bernard Cribbins (Nervous O’Toole), Davy Kaye (Trainer King), Nanette Newman (Valerie), Bill Kerr (Jack Coombes), Ed Devereaux (Bluey May), Reg Lye (Reg Denton), John Le Mesurier (assistant commissioner), Graham Stark (Sid Cooper), Michael Caine (uncredited), and Mario Fabrizi (uncredited). Director: Cliff Owen; screenwriters: Len Heath and John Warren, with additional dialogue by John Antrobus, Ray Galton, and Alan Simpson, from a story by Ivor Jay and William Whistance Smith; director of photography: Ernest Steward; producers: Aubrey Baring, Cecil F. Ford, E. M. Smedley-Aston, and Robert Velaise. Romulus/British Lion/Continental, 94 minutes.

  The Dock Brief (1962). Peter Sellers (Wilfred Morgenhall), Richard Attenborough (Herbert Fowle), Beryl Reid (Doris Fowle), David Lodge (Frank Bateson), Frank Pettingell (Tuppy Morgan), Audrey Nicholson (young Morgenhall’s girlfriend), Tristram Jellinek (Mr. Perkins), Eric Woodburn (Judge Banter). Director: James Hill; screenwriter: Pierre Rouve, based on the play by John Mortimer; cinematography: Edward Scaife; producer: Dimitri De Grunwald. MGM, 78 minutes. Released in the U.S. as Trial and Error.

  Heavens Above! (1963). Peter Sellers (The Rev. John Smallwood), Cecil Parker (Archdeacon Aspinall), Isabel Jeans (Lady Despard), Ian Carmichael (the other Smallwood), Bernard Miles (Simpson), Brock Peters (Matthew Robinson), Eric Sykes (Harry Smith), Irene Handl (Rene Smith), Kenneth Griffith (Rev. Owen Smith), and Geoffrey Hibbert (council official). Directors: John Boulting and Roy Boulting; screenwriters: John Boulting and Frank Harvey; cinematography: Mutz Greenbaum; producers: John Boulting and Roy Boulting. Charter Films, 105 minutes.

  The Pink Panther (1964). David Niven (Sir Charles Litton), Peter Sellers (Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Robert Wagner (George Litton), Capucine (Simone Clouseau), Brenda De Banzie (Angela Dunning), Colin Gordon (Tucker), John Le Mesurier (defense attorney), James Lanphier (Saloud), Guy Thomajan (Artoff), Michael Trubshawe (novelist), Riccardo Billi (Greek shipowner), Meri Wells (Hollywood starlet), Martin Miller (photographer), Fran Jeffries (Greek “cousin”), and Claudia Cardinale (Princess Darla). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards; director of photography: Philip Lathrop; producer: Martin Jurow. Mirisch Company/United Artists, 113 minutes.

  Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Peter Sellers (Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, Dr. Strangelove), George C. Scott (Gen. “Buck” Turgidson), Sterling Hayden (Gen. Jack D. Ripper), Keenan Wynn (Col. “Bat” Guano), Slim Pickens (Maj. T. J. “King” Kong), Peter Bull (Ambassador Alexi de Sadesky), Tracy Reed (Miss Scott), James Earl Jones (Lt. Lothar Zogg), Jack Creley (Mr. Staines), Frank Berry (Lt. H. R. Dietrich). Director: Stanley Kubrick; screenwrite
rs: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George, based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George; director of photography: Gilbert Taylor; producer: Stanley Kubrick. Hawk Films/Columbia, 90 minutes.

  A Shot in the Dark (1964). Peter Sellers (Inspector Jacques Clouseau), Elke Sommer (Maria Gambrelli), George Sanders (Benjamin Ballon), Herbert Lom (Charles Dreyfus), Tracy Reed (Dominique Ballon), Graham Stark (Hercule Lajoy), Moira Redmond (Simone), Vanda Godsell (Madame LaFarge), Maurice Kaufmann (Pierre), Ann Lynn (Dudu), David Lodge (Georges), André Maranne (Franois), Martin Benson (Maurice), Burt Kwouk (Kato), Reginald Beckwith (camp receptionist), Douglas Wilmer (Henri LaFarge), and Bryan Forbes (Turk). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Blake Edwards and William Peter Blatty, based on the stage play by Harry Kurnitz from the play by Marcel Achard; director of photography: Christopher Challis; producer: Blake Edwards. Mirisch Company/United Artists, 102 minutes.

  The World of Henry Orient (1964). Peter Sellers (Henry Orient), Paula Prentiss (Stella), Angela Lansbury (Isabel Boyd), Tom Bosley (Frank Boyd), Phyllis Thaxter (Mrs. Avis Gilbert), Bibi Osterwald (Boothy Booth), Merrie Spaeth (Gil Gilbert), Tippy Walker (Val Boyd), John Fiedler (Sidney), Al Lewis (store owner), Peter Duchin (Joe Byrd). Director: George Roy Hill; screenwriter: Nora Johnson and Nunnally Johnson, based on the novel by Nora Johnson; directors of photography: Boris Kaufman and Arthur J. Ornitz; producer: Jerome Hellman. Pan Arts/United Artists, 106 minutes.

  Carol for Another Christmas (1964). Sterling Hayden (Grudge), Peter Fonda (Morley), Ben Gazzara (Fred), Richard Harris (ghost of Christmas present), Steve Lawrence (ghost of Christmas past), Eva Marie Saint (Wave), and Peter Sellers (King of the Individualists), with Britt Ekland and Robert Shaw. Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz; screenplay, Rod Serling, based on the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; director of photography: Arthur Ornitz; producer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Xerox Corporation/Telsun Foundation, Inc., for the United Nations/American Broadcasting Co. Aired on December 28, 1964.

  What’s New, Pussycat? (1965) Peter Sellers (Dr. Fritz Fassbender), Peter O’Toole (Michael James), Romy Schneider (Carole), Capucine (Renée), Paula Prentiss (Liz), Woody Allen (Victor), Ursula Andress (Rita), and Edra Gale (Anna Fassbender). Director: Clive Donner; screenwriter: Woody Allen; director of photography: Jean Badal; producer: Charles K. Feldman. Famous Artists/United Artists, 108 minutes.

  After the Fox (1966). Peter Sellers (Aldo Vanucci), Britt Ekland (Gina), Lidia Brazzi (Teresa Vanucci), Paolo Stoppa (Pollo), Tino Buazzelli (Siepe), Mac Ronay (Carlo), Victor Mature (Tony Powell), Martin Balsam (Harry), and Akim Tamiroff (Okra). Director: Vittorio De Sica; screenwriter: Neil Simon; director of photography: Leonida Barboni; producer: John Bryan. Delegate Productions/Nancy Enterprises/Compagnia Cinematografica Montoro/United Artists, 102 minutes.

  The Wrong Box (1966). John Mills (Masterman Finsbury), Ralph Richardson (Joseph Finsbury), Michael Caine (Michael Finsbury), Peter Cook (Morris Finsbury), Dudley Moore (John Finsbury), Nanette Newman (Julia Finsbury), and Peter Sellers (Dr. Pratt). Director: Bryan Forbes; screenwriters: Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, based on the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne; director of photography: Gerry Turpin; producer: Bryan Forbes. Columbia Pictures, 105 minutes.

  Casino Royale (1967). Peter Sellers (Evelyn Tremble), Ursula Andress (Vesper), David Niven (James Bond), Orson Welles (Le Chiffre), Joanna Pettet (Mata Bond), Daliah Lavi (the Detainer), Woody Allen (Jimmy Bond), Deborah Kerr (Mimi), William Holden (Ransome), Charles Boyer (Legrand), John Huston (McTarry), Jean-Paul Belmondo (Legionnaire), Jacqueline Bisset (Miss Goodthighs), and George Raft (himself). Directors: John Huston, Kenneth Hughes, Val Guest, Robert Parrish, and Joseph McGrath; screenwriters: Wolf Mankowitz, John Law, and Michael Sayers; directors of photography: Jack Hildyard, John Wilcox, and Nicholas Roeg; producers: Charles K. Feldman and Jerry Bresler. Famous Artists/Columbia Pictures, 131 minutes.

  Alice in Wonderland (1967). Anne-Marie Mallik (Alice), Wilfrid Brambell (White Rabbit), Alan Bennett (Mouse), Michael Redgrave (Caterpillar), Leo McKern (Duchess), Peter Cook (Mad Hatter), Peter Sellers (King of Hearts), Alison Leggett (Queen of Hearts), Peter Eyre (Knave of Hearts), John Gielgud (Mock Turtle), and Malcolm Muggeridge (Gryphon). Director: Jonathan Miller; screenwriter: Jonathan Miller, based on the novel by Lewis Carroll; director of photography: Dick Bush; producer: Jonathan Miller. BBC-TV, 80 minutes.

  Woman Times Seven (1967). Shirley MacLaine (Paulette, Maria Teresa, Linda, Edith, Eve Minou, Marie, Jeanne), Peter Sellers (Jean), Alan Arkin (Fred), Lex Barker (Rik), Rossano Brazzi (Giorgio), Michael Caine (handsome stranger), Vittorio Gassman (Cenci), and Robert Morley (Dr. Xavier). Director: Vittorio De Sica; screenwriters: Peter Baldwin and Cesare Zavattini; director of photography: Christian Matras; producer: Arthur Cohn. Embassy Pictures, 100 minutes.

  The Bobo (1967). Peter Sellers (Juan Bautista), Britt Ekland (Olimpia), Rossano Brazzi (Carlos Matabosch), Adolfo Celi (Carbonell), Hattie Jacques (Trinity), Ferdy Mayne (Flores), and Kenneth Griffith (Pepe). Director: Robert Parrish; screenwriter: David R. Schwartz, based on his play The Bobo and the novel Olimpia by Burt Cole; director of photography: Gerry Turpin; producers: Elliott Kastner and Jerry Gershwin. Warner Bros., 103 minutes.

  The Party (1968). Peter Sellers (Hrundi V. Bakshi), Claudine Longet (Michele Monet), Marge Champion (Rosalind Dunphy), Stephen Liss (Geoffrey Clutterbuck), Gavin McLeod (C. S. Divot), Fay McKenzie (Alice Clutterbuck), Denny Miller (“Wyoming Bill” Kelso), and Steve Franken (Levinson the waiter). Director: Blake Edwards; screenwriters: Blake Edwards, Tom Waldman, and Frank Waldman; director of photography: Lucien Ballard; producer: Blake Edwards. Mirisch Corporation/United Artists, 99 minutes.

  I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968). Peter Sellers (Harold Fine), Jo Van Fleet (Mrs. Fine), Leigh Taylor-Young (Nancy), Joyce Van Patten (Joyce), Salem Ludwig (Mr. Fine), David Arkin (Herbie Fine), Herb Edelman (Murray), Grady Sutton (funeral director), and Louis Gottlieb (guru). Director: Hy Averback; screenwriters: Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker; director of photography: Philip Lathrop; producer: Charles Maguire. Warner Bros., 92 minutes.

  The Magic Christian (1969). Peter Sellers (Sir Guy Grand), Ringo Starr (Youngman Grand), Isabel Jeans (Dame Agnes Grand), Caroline Blakiston (the Hon. Esther Grand), Wilfrid Hyde-White (ship’s captain), Richard Attenborough (Oxford coach), Leonard Frey (Laurence Faggot), Laurence Harvey (Hamlet), Christopher Lee (ship’s vampire), Spike Milligan (traffic warden), Roman Polanski (solitary drinker), Raquel Welch (Priestess of the Whip), and John Cleese (Sotheby’s director), with David Lodge and Graham Stark. Director: Joseph McGrath; screenwriters: Terry Southern and Joseph McGrath, from the novel by Terry Southern, with additional material by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Peter Sellers; director of photography: Geoffrey Unsworth; producer: Denis O’Dell. Grand Films, Ltd./Commonwealth United, 101 minutes.

  Hoffman (1970). Peter Sellers (Benjamin Hoffman), Sinéad Cusack (Janet Smith), Jeremy Bulloch (Tom Mitchell), Ruth Dunning (Mrs. Mitchell), and David Lodge (foreman). Director: Alvin Rakoff; screenwriter: Ernest Gébler, based on his novel; director of photography: Gerry Turpin; producer: Ben Arbeid. Longstone/Associated British Films, 113 minutes.

  Simon, Simon (1970). Graham Stark, John Junkin, Peter Sellers, Julia Foster, Norman Rossington, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Audrey Nicholson, Kenneth Earle, Tommy Godfrey, Tony Blackburn, Michael Caine, David Hemmings, Bob Monkhouse, Eric Morecambe, Peter Murray, Bernie Winters, and Ernie Wise. Director: Graham Stark; screenwriter: Graham Stark; directors of photography: Harvey Harrison and Derek Vanlint; producer: Graham Stark. Hemdale, 30 minutes.

  A Day at the Beach (1970). Mark Burns (Bernie), Beatrice Edney (Winnie), Peter Sellers (trinket shop owner), Graham Stark (Pipi), Fiona Lewis (Melissa), Maurice Roeves (poet), Jack Macgowran (beach attendant), Joanna Dunham (poet’s wife), Eva Dahlbeck (café owner), Tom Heathcote (man from Ghana), Bertil Lauring (Louis), and Jorgen Kiil (Carl). Director: Simon Hessera; screenwriter: Roman Polanski, based on a novel by Heere Heeresma, transl
ated by James Brockway; director of photography: Gil Taylor; producer: Gene Gutowski. Paramount Pictures, 90 minutes.

  There’s a Girl in My Soup (1970). Peter Sellers (Robert Danvers), Goldie Hawn (Marion), Tony Britton (Andrew), Francoise Pascal (Paola), Nicky Henson (Jimmy), John Comer (John), Diana Dors (John’s wife), and Nicola Pagett (bride). Director: Roy Boulting; screenwriter: Terence Frisby, based on his stage play, with additional dialogue by Peter Kortner; director of photography: Harry Waxman; producers: M. J. Frankovich and John Boulting. Columbia Pictures, 96 minutes.

  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1972). Fiona Fullerton (Alice), Peter Sellers (the March Hare), Michael Crawford (the White Rabbit), Ralph Richardson (the Caterpillar), Flora Robson (the Queen of Hearts), Robert Helpmann (the Mad Hatter), Dudley Moore (Dormouse), Spike Milligan (Gryphon), Peter Bull (the Duchess), and Michael Jayston (Lewis Carroll). Director: William Sterling; screenwriter: William Sterling, based on the novel by Lewis Carroll; director of photography: Geoffrey Unsworth; producer: Derek Horne. Wham! USA/JEF Films, 97 minutes.

  Where Does It Hurt? (1972). Peter Sellers (Albert T. Hopfnagel), Jo Ann Pflug (Alice Gilligan), Rick Lenz (Lester Hammond), Harold Gould (Dr. Zerny), Eve Bruce (Lamarr), Pat Morita (Mr. Nishimoto), and Kathleen Freeman (Mrs. Manzini). Director: Rod Amateau; screenwriters: Rod Amateau and Budd Robinson, based on their novel The Operator; director of photography: Brick Marquard; producers: Bill Schwartz and Rod Amateau. Hemdale, 84 minutes.

  The Blockhouse (1973). Peter Sellers (Rouquet), Charles Aznavour (Visconti), Nicholas Jones (Kromer), Jeremy Kemp (Grabinski), Leon Lissek (Kozhek), Alfred Lynch (Larshen), Pier Oscarsson (Lund), Peter Vaughan (Aufret). Director: Clive Rees; screenwriters: John Gould and Clive Rees, based on the novel by Jean Paul Clebert; producers: Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Antony Rufus Isaacs; director of photography: Keith Goddard. Audley Films, Galactacus, and Hemdale Film Corporation, 88 minutes.