I was nine nearly ten. I'd loved the Pink Panther films and I'd just discovered the Goons via my friend's record collection. I remember the drama of his collapse and the coverage on the news and in the papers. I saw the headline "Sellers loses his battle for life" on the front page of the Edinburgh Evening News and I was devastated. We all were. I remember watching the many tribute shows with my parents. We were all in mourning. Thanks for this.
Quite strange how he says he was born in Yorkshire when actually his birthplace is Southsea - at the opposite end of England! He must have been very ill with his talk of "at my time of life" - he had only just turned 54! Thanks for finding and sharing this.
He was a flawed genius and I mean that as a compliment. Easily the most talented comic character actor of my lifetime, but privately many said he was a completely different persona. I remember his final interview at the 1980 Cannes film festival where he joked that catching a cold could even kill him, 2 months later he was dead. He was in Ireland to film 4 adverts for Barclays in late April early May 1980, but took ill after riding a bicycle in the third advert (he never completed the fourth) and was rushed to hospital. He was kept in hospital for observation and against doctors advice, he discharged himself and headed to Cannes for a Lorimar Pictures event about Being There. Both he and his then wife Lynne Frederick played down the seriousness of his health problems and although they were now privately apart at this stage, she would still join him at public events in an attempt to dispell the rumours and support Peter. After Cannes, Peter retreated to his cabin in Gstaad Switzerland to work on the screenplay for what was proposed to be his final Pink Panther movie, while Lynne flew back across the Atlantic to Los Angeles. He flew to London in July 1980 with his redrafted "Romance of the Pink Panther" script as United Artists weren't happy with the original and demanded changes were made. He was due to fly on to Los Angeles to present the updated screenplay to United Artist executives, but wanted to spend a few days in London first. He was also apparently set to undergo an angiogram in Los Angeles, to see if his heart was fit enough for surgery. On his first day in London he paid a visit to where his mother's ashes were scattered (he'd never visited them before) and made plans to meet up with his fellow Goon friends the following evening. The next morning he had breakfast and signed some papers to initialise divorce proceedings from Lynne. He then had his favourite lunch (which was Dover Sole) at the Dorchester and went back to his suite feeling tired. He gave his PA a list of tasks for the afternoon and asked her to sort out which suit he should wear for his Goons reunion. He then pleaded with her to not to leave him alone as he was feeling faint and asked for some water.. She turned to fetch him a glass of water and then heard an almighty crash. When she turned round, Peter had fallen off his chair and was slumped on the floor, his face turning purple and lips blue. He fell into an immediate coma, never regained consciousness and despite the best efforts of everyone, he was gone to the world. For anyone who's a Peter Sellers fan, you can find the actual screenplay he drafted for his final Panther movie online. Filming was due to commence in early 1981 and the story was to be about the theft of the diamond by a fashion designer and his model wife, who Clouseau falls madly in love with. Pamela Stephenson was to play the lead female role and Sellers love interest in the film.
Yes, a true genius who gave us so much joy in his performances either in an early Goon show or hit Hollywood movie. His private life was another thing entirely, as far as we know.
Fascinating man
I was nine nearly ten. I'd loved the Pink Panther films and I'd just discovered the Goons via my friend's record collection. I remember the drama of his collapse and the coverage on the news and in the papers. I saw the headline "Sellers loses his battle for life" on the front page of the Edinburgh Evening News and I was devastated. We all were. I remember watching the many tribute shows with my parents. We were all in mourning.
Thanks for this.
Quite strange how he says he was born in Yorkshire when actually his birthplace is Southsea - at the opposite end of England! He must have been very ill with his talk of "at my time of life" - he had only just turned 54!
Thanks for finding and sharing this.
This is gold. Thanks for posting 😊
He was a flawed genius and I mean that as a compliment. Easily the most talented comic character actor of my lifetime, but privately many said he was a completely different persona.
I remember his final interview at the 1980 Cannes film festival where he joked that catching a cold could even kill him, 2 months later he was dead.
He was in Ireland to film 4 adverts for Barclays in late April early May 1980, but took ill after riding a bicycle in the third advert (he never completed the fourth) and was rushed to hospital. He was kept in hospital for observation and against doctors advice, he discharged himself and headed to Cannes for a Lorimar Pictures event about Being There. Both he and his then wife Lynne Frederick played down the seriousness of his health problems and although they were now privately apart at this stage, she would still join him at public events in an attempt to dispell the rumours and support Peter. After Cannes, Peter retreated to his cabin in Gstaad Switzerland to work on the screenplay for what was proposed to be his final Pink Panther movie, while Lynne flew back across the Atlantic to Los Angeles.
He flew to London in July 1980 with his redrafted "Romance of the Pink Panther" script as United Artists weren't happy with the original and demanded changes were made. He was due to fly on to Los Angeles to present the updated screenplay to United Artist executives, but wanted to spend a few days in London first. He was also apparently set to undergo an angiogram in Los Angeles, to see if his heart was fit enough for surgery.
On his first day in London he paid a visit to where his mother's ashes were scattered (he'd never visited them before) and made plans to meet up with his fellow Goon friends the following evening. The next morning he had breakfast and signed some papers to initialise divorce proceedings from Lynne. He then had his favourite lunch (which was Dover Sole) at the Dorchester and went back to his suite feeling tired. He gave his PA a list of tasks for the afternoon and asked her to sort out which suit he should wear for his Goons reunion. He then pleaded with her to not to leave him alone as he was feeling faint and asked for some water.. She turned to fetch him a glass of water and then heard an almighty crash. When she turned round, Peter had fallen off his chair and was slumped on the floor, his face turning purple and lips blue. He fell into an immediate coma, never regained consciousness and despite the best efforts of everyone, he was gone to the world.
For anyone who's a Peter Sellers fan, you can find the actual screenplay he drafted for his final Panther movie online. Filming was due to commence in early 1981 and the story was to be about the theft of the diamond by a fashion designer and his model wife, who Clouseau falls madly in love with. Pamela Stephenson was to play the lead female role and Sellers love interest in the film.
been gone 44 years to the day one of the best actors ever.
Yes, a true genius who gave us so much joy in his performances either in an early Goon show or hit Hollywood movie. His private life was another thing entirely, as far as we know.
Saw a Whicker's world episode where he joked about heart attacks! Los Angeles 1980 ironic that he died soon after from just that.
Not surprised he went quite when they asked him if he was successful in Hollywood he must have known that the film Fu Manchu was not going well