by Ed Sikov
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———. “Timeline.” Mean 1, 5 (September–November 1999): 34–52.
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———. Polanski: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981.
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———. “A Serious Look at Laughter.” Films and Filming (March 1960): 7, 35.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Biographers put their hope and trust in hundreds of friends and strangers, some of whom become friends, and who collectively turn the author’s wishful thoughts into a book.
It was an honor to interview such generous and articulate people as Rod Amateau, Ian Carmichael, Hilda Parkin Durante, Peter Eyre, Kenneth Geist, Max Geldray, Gail Gerber, Kenneth Griffith, John Guillermin, the late Sir Alec Guinness, Gene Gutowski, the late John P. Hamilton, Anthony Harvey, Burt Kwouk, David Lodge, Herbert Lom, Salem Ludwig, Malcolm McDowell, Joseph McGrath, Dr. Jonathan Miller, Hans Moellinger, Angela Morley, Kathleen Parrish, the late Robert Parrish, Siân Phillips, Larry Pizer, Roman Polanski
, Alvin Rakoff, Clive Rees, the late Walter Shenson, and Dame Maggie Smith. For reasons that will be obvious to anyone who has followed the course of Peter Sellers’s reputation after his death, his immediate family declined to speak to me about him; I think I understand why, and I hope I have not hurt them further.
I drew quotations from Peter Sellers, Anne Levy, Michael Sellers, Victoria Sellers, Britt Ekland, and others from a variety of sources, most significantly Alexander Walker’s invaluable Peter Sellers; Michael Sellers’s equally worthy P.S. I Love You; Graham Stark’s informative and funny memoir, Remembering Peter Sellers; Peter Evans’s fine (and unduly criticized) The Mask Behind the Mask: A Life of Peter Sellers, and Britt Ekland’s engrossing autobiography, True Britt. I drew additional quotations from Peter Sellers and his friends and colleagues from three fine documentaries: John Scheinfeld and David Leaf’s The Unknown Peter Sellers; the three-part The Peter Sellers Story, which was produced by Arena and aired on BBC2; and Sellers’ Best?: An Introduction to the Channel Four Season of Peter Sellers’ Films, which aired on Channel Four. And I owe every person named in this book’s admittedly lengthy bibliography my deepest gratitude.
Assistance, contacts, advice, factual corrections, interview transcriptions, and absolute kindness came my way from Mary Alexander, Nigel Algar, Lance Aston, David Boxwell, Darla Bruno and her fabulous fan website, Ron Caldwell, Aaron Clauset, Alice Crary, Paul Cullum and Mean magazine, Bruce Finlayson, Phil Geldray; Donna Gianarelli, Phoebe McReynolds, and the faculty of the Colorado College English Department; Barry Goralnick, Adele Greene, Sally Harrison, Walter and Dianne Harrison; Gary Hill, Janice Roland, and the staff of Falco Ink; Costas Karakatsanis, Marshall Kean, Rick Kot, Charles Kreloff, Dick Ray, Tom Rhoads, Ira Robbins, George Robinson, Pierre Salinger, Linda Sarro and the faculty and staff of Haverford College; Draper Shreeve, Sandra Skuse, Joe Smith, Ted Sorensen, Nile Southern, Peter Steinberg, Thom Taylor, Thomas S. Wilson, Bill and Sandy Woncheck, and Jim Yoakum and the Graham Chapman Archives.
Greg Meyer is the best, most thorough, and most responsible research assistant any writer could have, let alone an egocentric and anxious biographer like me. I owe him more gratitude than I could possibly afford. Adam Orman, Michael Kaniecki, and John Freed provided equally reliable research assistance as well, but it’s easier for me to thank them because they worked fewer hours.