by Madeline Fisher & Dimitris Verionis,
originally publlished in the
Peter Sellers Appreciation Society newsletter
lntroduction (by Madeline Fisher)
A few months ago, it was announced that Roger Lewis’ book “The Life and Death Of Peter Sellers” is going to be made into a film. Peter Sellers (1925-1980) was one of Britain’s biggest comedy actors, with a range that included films, radio, recordings and television. Sellers’ career, which lasted almost 4 decades, had many ups and downs, many tremendous successes and considerable flops. His life, interesting and controversial as it was, was always intriguing for writers and biographers.
In 1994, Roger Lewis published his own book about Sellers. He depicted Sellers as an unbalanced, cruel, evil man whose life was destructive for those around him and even Sellers himself. But was Sellers the man described in Lewis’ book? Where does reality stop and artistic liberty begin? Apart from the book’s inaccuracies and exaggerations, critics have pointed out that Lewis seems to be writing down more about himself viewing Sellers, rather than how Sellers really was.
The camera has started rolling for “The Life And Death of Peter Sellers”. Many great actors such as Geoffrey Rush (playing Sellers), Emily Watson, Stanely Tucci, Charlize Theron are taking part. But despite the actors’ talents, how optimistic can one be about this film presenting the real Peter Sellers, with no input from Sellers best friends or his family? Maxine Ventham and Dimitris Verionis have many doubts about the final result, and draw attention to the book’s many mistakes.
As Roger Lewis’s biography, “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” is being made into a TV movie, we wanted to highlight the many inaccuracies in the book and point out that if the film is anything like the book, it will be a wonderful work of fiction.
Our credentials? Maxine Ventham did the interviews for Virgin’s “Peter Sellers. A Celebration”, and the additional material for “Sellers on Sellers” by Michael Sellers and Gary Morecambe. Her latest book, “Spike Milligan, his Part in our Lives” was written with the help of Spike and Shelagh Milligan. She founded the International Peter Sellers Appreciation Society, of which Dimitris Verionis is now Chairman. He organised a Sellers retrospective in Athens in 2000. He is compiling his own book on Sellers. When Roger Lewis asked to join the Society, the Honorary Members, PSAS decided not to accept him because it was felt he had treated Sellers unfairly in his book. We have interviewed more than 30 people about Peter Sellers and we have reluctantly come to the same conclusion. Many of the interviewees have become our friends and we are blessed with knowing and having known David Lodge, Joe McGrath, Clive Rees, Graham Stark, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Burt Kwouk, Anne Levy and Sarah Sellers among others.
We are not simply about worshipping Sellers and neither is the Society. Ed Sikov, whose recent biography contained a large amount of criticism of the star is a member of the Society and a friend of Maxine and Dimitris because we felt he had been fair in his approach. We know that Sellers was not perfect, we wouldn’t like him if he were. We know that he could behave badly, seem irrational, lose his temper and be difficult to live with. He was a demanding perfectionist and in the last years of his life a very ill man. We know all this and accept it as part of being human.
However, Lewis takes these failings and leads them to assumptions of lunacy and evil. Sellers’ best friends deny the truth of Lewis’s book, so do many of his work colleagues. We want to put forward a more balanced view and point out some of the many errors before the film comes out, so that people can hear this in mind. For too long now, the other side of Sellers – the good side – has been neglected. Only Graham Stark’s book, “Remembering Peter Sellers” has come close to trying to understand the man. It’s a wonderful book, based on his diaries, with no assumptions or psycho-analysis.
In an effort to balance the scales by placing a few weights on the ‘good’ side, we have gone through Lewis’s book and pointed out some of the errors. This is nothing personal against Mr Lewis, it is, however, entirely personal in our admiration for Peter Sellers and our desire to see fairness done to him. Here are just some of the inaccuracies We have found, which we can prove to be false.
POINTS ANSWERED
1 “In this book I want to see him as he really was …” He only succeeds in seeing the negative sides and invents explanations, always to Sellers detriment. In fact, critics have aptly claimed that we learn more about Lewis than Sellers, as he shows scepticism over any positive recollections and interprets quotes in negative way. Sellers closest friends deny that the books succeeds in Lewis’s aim – some of them are: David Lodge, Graham Stark, Anne Levy and Joe McGrath. In the more than 30 interviews that we have held, a completely different Sellers appears – altogether warmer and more ‘human’ than in Lewis’s book.
2. Was Sellers mad? Lewis is convinced Sellers was mad – and uses any excuse to justify this even though he is not a psychiatrist. He uses phrases like ‘schizophrenic paranoia’, ‘lunatic’ etc. Actually, his friends and family deny that he was mad and others who worked with him, such as Sinaed Cusack, Jeremy Bulloch. Denny Miller, John Clive and Francoise Pascal (to name but a few) found him a very kind and genial. Although we may not be able to account for all of Sellers’ behaviour, we can rationalise it as well as exaggerating it. We all have moments of what can be viewed as insanity and if our lives are analysed we too might be considered mad. Besides, if we take Sellers reactions to people and situations and turn them into actions, they can wrongly be interpreted as irrational. As Sellers friends and family. including David Lodge, Graham Stark, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Kenneth Griffith, Joe McGrath, Denis Norden, Dennis Selinger, Anne Levy, and Michael Sellers, do not think him a lunatic, we go with that majority. Burt Kwouk sums it up well,”He was no more f***ing mad than I am.”
Joe McGrath ;- “Peter wasn’t lunatic and mad, no! You could say Spike Milligan was lunatic and mad and Harry Secombe was lunatic and mad, they were very serious, eccentric professional men. No, no. anything but mad.”
3. Others health undermined by Sellers. There is no real evidence to support Lewis’s claim that Sellers killed Charles Feldman (“What’s New Pussycat“ & “Casino Royale”) or contributed to Richard Quine’s suicide. Film-making is a stressful business, from the promotion, direction to the casting and production. A film consists of many aspects and many people, to put a death and a suicide down to one star is hardly fair or rational. We don’t deny that Sellers behaviour may have hurt these men (or that these men and others in the business hurt Sellers) but a suicide has more than one reason, there must have been other causes. Maxine’s father committed suicide and there was a long build-up and many reasons for it.
Joe McGrath. who directed Peter in ‘Casino Royale’ and others:- “No, I couldn’t say that Peter killed Feldman, (laughs) no! The last time I saw Feldman after ‘Casino Royale’, in L.A., he was very ill. I think it was cancer, he smoked a lot, I think that basically had more to do with it. When Peter did ‘What’s New Pussycat’, which was Feldman’s as well, Charles Feldman was one of the first to re-employ Peter after he had his major heart attacks. Feldman personally insured Peter in order that he could start working again, he had to put up $1,000 of his own money. So, I don’t think you can say Peter killed Feldman. Charles Feldman liked Peter’s talent so much and he wanted to work with him on each occasion. Why would he insure the person that could kill him?. This claim of Lewis’s is just plain cruel, especially as it is not balanced out with those whose health Sellers helped, like David Lodge’s mother.
When he heard of her cancer, he arranged for the very best of care for her. She adored him and benefited from her son’s friendship with him. As for causing Blake Edwards’ breakdown, Burt Kwouk doesn’t remember it that way. He was witness to their off-screen arguments and says that they each gave as good as they got and that the artistic differences often improved scenes.
4. Hypersensitive but brutal to others. We agree Sellers was hypersensitive, it often goes with insecurity and perfectionism. Likewise, geniuses who are focused entirely on their work can seem brutal when they don’t mean to be so. A balanced view from -Clive Rees (Director of “The Blockhouse”) – “Peter was very sensitive and sometimes he was very insensitive but once he was told about something, he would understand it. I don’t think he was an unfeeling man, but I think he was a man who could behave in a very unfeeling way. He was so preoccupied with what he was doing. Peter wasn’t a bad person, he could just be difficult because he was supposed to be insecure. And it’s hard to be a star when everybody’s frightened by you and how you might behave. And it was very important with peter, not to be frightened. You had to tell him the truth. He was tight or he wasn’t right, he could see through it, he was very honest.”
Sinaed Cusack, who starred opposite Sellers in “Hoffman”, has memories of Sellers that are entirely positive and full of affection. Her description of him is like a different person to the one Lewis describes ;-“I had been warned by everyone in the business, when they heard I was doing the film, they said about Peter, “he’s difficult,” I heard a lot about that. But he was wonderful on every conceivable level to me. He was helpful, he was generous, he was funny, I adored him and he adored me. I should have been intimidated and frightened but it was the reverse; every day was a joy.” “I remember he was a passionate, passionate photographer and he was always photographing me. One day, I was walking between my caravan and the studio and Bert (Peter’s driver) drove up and Peter was in the ear beside him and the car had barely stopped when Peter was out of the car and waving a newspaper over his head. He said, “Sinead, Sinead, come here, come here!” And I ran over and he said, “Look! Look!” He opened the Evening Standard and there on page two was this full page photograph of me, which they had paid him £25 for. It was the first time he had ever been paid for a photograph and, I promise you, he was more excited about that than anything else! He was SO pleased and they had asked him for a quote. Again Peter’s generosity, he hadn’t even known me three months, but he said, “She will be one of the greatest actresses of her generation.” That was the quote. Very few actors would do that for another actor but, you know, he was very special.”
Jeremy Bulloch;- “I was very nervous when I met Peter but he was very kind and was wonderful to work with. The whole twelve weeks working with peter are happy memories.”
Kenneth Griffith ; “We were the best of friends. With the great artist he was, you can’t expect to find the behaviour of a good bank clerk, you know. So, I understand him as far as anyone could. Apart from the one occasion of our disagreement in “The Bobo”, he was always kind and helped my career because he always wanted me to be with it. Sometimes I could, sometimes I couldn’t. So I think of him with warm affection. I promise you, I’m grateful to him, I think he was a sort of genius and I miss him.”
5. Regarded family as ‘discardable’. Nonsense, Sellers liked to keep in touch with his family. If Sarah didn’t return his calls he would become very upset with her. He always stayed close to Anne and the children, seeing them regularly. Why would he bother if he was able to discard them? In his book, “P.S. I Love You”, Michael sellers recalls that he and Sellers had become closer then ever during the last year of his life.
6. ‘Dispossessed’ his children. Spike Milligan stated many times that Sellers intended to change his will back in favour of the children but died before he could do so. He used his will as a sort of weapon, as a means to make himself feel better if he was hurt by the children’s actions. Lots of people do this. Milligan, who adored his children, is having his will contested right now by those children, who feel they weren’t left enough by their father. Lewis wonders why Sellers called his children up onto the stage after “The Last Goon Show of All” and claims he decided to play ‘Happy Families’. Sellers often had his children on film sets or as on-screen participants. .
7 “Sellers was heartless”. That’s not true! His friends will testify that he had a huge heart for those he loved and who remained friends with him. His generosity to Max Geldray, Spike Milligan, David Lodge, Graham Stark, Kenneth Griffith etc etc was a real demonstration of this. Sinead Cusack remembers a man who was all heart to her – good heart. He also talked a suicide down from a bridge. A man with no heart would have driven on.
Joe McGrath ;- “Oh no, he had to have a heart – he had a pacemaker (Laughs). Peter could be ruthless in terms of work but he was a very kind person in his friendships. Peter was not the person with hundreds of friends, he only had a few friends to whom he was always kind. He never discarded his friends.”
Spike Milligan;- “He was a very kind, generous man. Interestingly, he never spoke about money, that’s interesting, isn’t it? But he was very generous to his friends and a very kind man. I miss him very much.”
Kenneth Griffith;- “I admired him, he was a great actor. I was deeply grateful that he thought well of me and helped me in my career. If I met him now, I’d probably say, “I love you, Peter.”
8. “Sellers was angry at being mortal”. Aren’t we all? Sellers had more reason than most to feel anger – his heart attacks in 1964 when he died at the age of 39 and was brought back to life, gave him a real sense of impending mortality. When his heart trouble returned in the mid-70s, he knew what was in store for him (deterioration and an early death) even if he didn’t choose to admit it to himself. Most people who are likely to die young feel anger and the injustice of it, as do their loved ones.
9. Hated growing old and dyed his hair. Most people don’t enjoy growing old, the fact is Sellers never had the chance to grow old because he died at 54. Any interviews and photos of him, where he hasn’t got his hair dyed for a film, show he had grey hair. From the very earliest signs in 1969 to the end in 1980 when it is very nearly white. “The Last Goon Show of All” was broadcast in 1972 with Sellers and his grey hair!
10. Clouseau became less animated than the cartoon credits. The later films have more physical comedy than the earlier ones, which in itself generates criticism. Whether that comedy is funny or not, there is a lot of leaping around, falling down and fighting. If Sellers performance seems less animated it might be put down to his deteriorating health and should be given more sympathy. Burt Kwouk recalls that Sellers was just as animated for the later films as for the earlier ones.
Joe McGrath;- “In my opinion, his invention of Clouseau is as great as Chaplin’s Little Tramp.”
11. People who met him in the 70s found him ‘maudlin or hysterical. His friends found him neither. None of the interviewees we have met describe him as these in the 70s or at any other time.
Joe McGrath :-“I think everybody was maudlin or hysterical in the 70s!!”
12. Lewis mentions in his book that Bill Sellers should be played by Anthony Hopkins Is he? Lewis should be so lucky!
13. Sang “Sometimes” on Parkinson. No! He never sang that song on television at all to the best of our knowledge and certainly not on ‘Parkinson’.
14. More slim, less funny. That wipes out all his films after 1964, including “What’s New Pussycat”, “There’s A Girl in my Soup”, “Return of the Pink Panther”, “Murder By Death”, “The Party” and “The Magic Christian”.
15. He never forgave the world for not making him irresistible to women. For a man who was ‘resistable’ he didn’t do too badly. Even Sellers must have acknowledged that his record was impressive – Anne Levy, Britt Ekland, Liza Minnelli, Tessa Dahl …
16. “and note how he talks of women …” In all our interviews with over 30 people, only Herbert Lom has said that Sellers referred to women as ‘birds’ but this is the one Lewis uses. Sellers loved women, sometimes a little too much, including his mother. He thought Anne was wonderful until the day he died. If a man has women troubles, he tends to be derogatory in his remarks. People like Kenneth Griffith and Spike Milligan remember him as a very romantic man.
Sinead Cusack;— “He was always giving me treats. He was a wonderful romantic and a funny, great man, incredibly sharp and bright. He was a great loss in a lot of people’s lives and a great loss in my life still.
Joe McGrath;- “All his life, he was very, very fond of Anne. I never heard Peter talk badly about women.”
17. Lodge would prefer not to “vex Sellers ghost”. Actually, David Lodge speaks warmly of Sellers because that’s how he remembers him. This is identical to his other friends, including Graham Stark, Kenneth Griffith, Joe McGrath, Max Geldray, Spike Milligan, Denis Norden Dennis Selinger, Sinead Cusack, Harry Secombe, Burt Kwouk and Anne Levy. They all acknowledge Sellers sometimes behaved badly but they all love him for his good points.
18. Revenged his divorce from Anne on his children. He saw his children regularly and took them on holiday, bought them gifts and tried to be a good father, if he failed it was because of his own inadequacies and nothing to do with his divorce. His insecurity made the first few years after the divorce difficult for the children but afterwards Sellers and Anne Levy became friends again so where is the need for revenge? Anne herself says they got along very well after the divorce. Joe McGrath asks a typically apt question in response, “How does Lewis know that? He wasn’t there, you know!”
19. Betrayed Sanjit Ray Sellers didn’t make a film with him – big deal. The same thing happened to Denis Norden, Sellers said he’d make a film and then didn’t but Norden Wasn’t upset and accepted it as all part of life.
20. Clouseau became ‘third role variety artiste’. The Pink Panther films were among the most popular and highest earners for the 1970s – ALL of them. Pretty good for a FIRST role artiste. If this remark is true how come other actors have never been able to achieve Sellers’ success with the role?
21. Milligan and Edwards were his targets regarding credit. Actually, as Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan said, the establishment was his target. If he fell out with his friends, that was part of anyone’s life. Spike had enormous affection for Sellers until the end and referred to him as “a dear boy”. He always spoke of his kindness and generosity, especially in helping Spike’s career when Sellers was already a big name on radio. One of the prominent things in our interviews with Spike was how important it was to him that Sellers praised his work and always did his best to bring it to life. This meant a tremendous amount to Spike who often felt his work was not appreciated by the BBC and other artists.
Sinead Cusack;- “I talk about his generosity; he would do things. In my billing, it was ‘Peter Sellers in ‘Hoffman’ ‘ and ‘Introducing Sinead Cusack’. Halfway through the film, Peter said, “I want her billed on the same line as I am because she’s giving equally and because I think she’s wonderful.” And so the billing was changed and it became, ‘Peter Sellers – Sinead Cusack in ‘Hoffman’ ‘. It was a HUGE step up for a young actress. And for Peter to do that was such an act of generosity.
22. The general mood of the book. This book (and presumably film) reek of hatred towards the subject, Sellers is described as ‘mad’ and a ‘lunatic’, his behaviour is criticised and explained in extremely negative ways. Our interviews have regularly brought up unhappiness with Lewis’s treatment of Sellers. David Lodge, who only spoke briefly with Lewis on the phone and yet was one Sellers closest friends and knew him before anyone else is very discontent with the book and considers it biased and unfair, so does Graham Stark, another of Sellers very best friends, who knew him well for 35 years. Stark was not even interviewed for the book. Anne Levy has also criticised the book. It is wrong to disregard the views of Lodge and Stark because they were so close to Sellers — that is precisely the reason why their views are so vital. They really knew the man and stayed close to him for decades. They wouldn’t have done so had he been a monster. Lewis’s film does NOT have any input from the children, Anne Levy or from these two best friends. Without them, it cannot be accurate!
23. Calls the change of clothes in “The Optimists” and “The Blockhouse” unprofessional. In fact, Clive Rees, who directed “The Blockhouse”, told us that when he told Sellers that the change didn’t work, Sellers abandoned the idea without any fuss. Sellers understood that his idea wasn’t working and called Clive Rees saying, “You didn’t like it, did you?” When Rees told him that he didn’t, Sellers dropped it immediately. Yet, if the idea HAD worked, we would all be talking of another ‘inspired moment’. Antony Simmons has told us that Sellers was great during the filming and there was never any sort of problem with him.
24. Overly superstitious. Many people are very superstitious, including the highest in the land. Sellers wasn’t alone in not allowing purple in the room, the Queen is the same. Her gardener at Balmoral has stated that Her Majesty will not have purple flowers in the room. It seems that superstitious people like Sellers are in good company.
25. Yoga was “clown art”. In fact, George Harrison was very impressed by Sellers spiritual progress, which included Yoga, and only wished he’d continued it longer. If Sellers stood on his head for a laugh, there’s no harm in that; comedy was his business, Yoga was his private life. Nicholas Jones, who knew Sellers during the 70s, remembers “going round to his house and meeting Sellers and his Yogie [sic] friends.” Because of that meeting Jones has practised Yoga ever since – you don’t convert people by doing something as ‘a clown art’.
26 Sellers’ bad behaviour towards other actors and directors. Although Lewis writes much about Sellers’ tantrums and bad behaviour towards his leading ladies, there are many actors who have expressed wonderful experiences of working with him. Some of them are, Goldie Hawn, Sinead Cusack, Denny Miller, Kenneth Griffith, John Clive, Joe MacGrath, Shirley MacLaine, Ian Carmichael and Spike Milligan. It is commonly known that Sellers was a difficult, demanding perfectionist but he is remember, in many cases, with affection.
Joe McGrath, who directed Sellers on many occasions;- “I had no problem at all, no, not at all. I did a lot of television and films with Peter and he was wonderful. I was looking through some photographs the other day and I found a very, very funny photo of Peter and Spike that I had taken during the shooting of “The Great McGonagall” (1975). It reminded me of how funny and a pleasure Peter was when he was on a set enjoying himself.”
27. Sellers schemed to have Bentine removed from the Goon Show. Lewis writes. “Sellers campaign against Bentine was so successful that Bentine’s 41 programmes have been melted down.” David Lodge, who knew all four Goons at the time and up until their death calls the idea preposterous that Sellers had the recordings melted down, “he didn’t have the power to do that. Any disputed were between Mike (Bentine) and Spike, not Peter.”
Joe McGrath, who worked with the Goons and Michael Bentine on his own;- “The truth about that is that Bentine wanted to get rid of Spike. Eventually he told Harry Secombe and Peter, “Let’s get rid of Spike, we can’t depend on him, he’s not like us, he doesn’t have the same sense of humour we have.” So, Harry and Peter went together to Spike and said, “We thought we should let you know that Michael wants to get rid of you.” The three of them held a meeting and decided it would be better if Bentine left. That’s the truth.“ The early Goon Shows with Bentine were recorded live onto disc and that’s why they were erased. Many of Sellers early recordings were also wiped, it was common practise then. All four Goons remained life-long friends.
28. Sellers didn’t want to have anything to do with Stan Laurel after meeting him in LA. Where is the evidence for this? According to David Lodge, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and others, Sellers visited Laurel several times and always idolised him. Both David Lodge and Joe McGrath agree that Sellers based his performance in “Being There”, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, largely on Stan Laurel.
29. Lewis claims that Sellers used people up. He writes. ‘Anne helped him to close the gap between music hall jesting and being a comic actor. Britt was a fashion accessory. Miranda his entry into the ruling class and as far as Lynne – he fed off her youth and ambition.” Anne would not have looked twice at a Music Hall jester, she says that until she saw how wonderful he was on stage, she did not find him attractive. Lewis does not take into account any loving feeling the couples shared. In fact, Sellers already had his entry to the ruling classes in the form of Princess Margaret long before he met Miranda Quarry.
30. Sellers bad behaviour on ‘Hoffman’. Sinead Cusack, his co-star on the film ;- “We were incredibly happy when we were doing ‘Hoffman’, he loved the work, he loved the director, he was very fond of me, I think he loved me and it was a great time.”
Jeremy Bulloch ;- “It was an absolute delight to do the film and we got on terribly well. You know, you went on the set each day and each day was a delight.” Alvin Rakoff, the director ;- “I’d say the atmosphere of shooting the picture was very good. The whole days of shooting were wonderful. Throughout most of the time actually making the picture he was in extremely good spirits and was very likeable.
31. “Lewis (page 255) “One of the reasons he fell out with Billy Wilder, on the set of ‘Kiss Me Stupid’ was that the director like a lot of takes. In a strange sort of way he was not enough of an actor to keep reduplicating a performance – the life went out of what he did if he rehearsed, over-prepared. went over things.” Sellers could and did do many takes on films. Terry-Thomas was notorious for needing umpteen takes to get it right and Sellers worked with him more than once. Ian Carmichael, who worked with them both in “I’m All Right Jack” was witness to this, “There was no trouble about re-takes and working with Terry as far as I saw.” Many actors dislike re-takes, including Anthony Hopkins, who tries to stipulate that he will not do more than two or three takes. No one denies he is a fine actor.
32. I began this book believing that he was the perfect actor – his adaptability, his sensitivity, his observation. Now deeper into the project, bearing witness to him. I think that perhaps he wasn’t an actor at all in the usual sense, because there was no technique or method. He simply had to become the people he played. and to accomplish this he needed to be emotionally and physically fluid: unhinged you might say. mad. The very plausibility of his performances ought to give us pause. (….) If you asked him to do a scene again. He’d throw a tantrum and push off home. Perhaps he was afraid that, through repetition, he’d collapse and deteriorate like a crumbling, melting, sci-fi monster. He’d lose the trick of it.” This goes against what Sir Peter Hall, who directed Sellers in ‘Brouhaha’, has said, “In many ways, Peter was as good an actor as Olivier or Alec Guinness.” It also goes against the Method school of acting, to which Rod Steiger and Dustin Hoffman belong. They became the parts they played and it did not diminish their talent or their stature.
33. Sellers couldn’t take criticism. Clive Rees :- “Peter was a known giggler and we had to stop that. We had to because I’m doing a scene and suddenly Peter said, ‘I can’t go on, I can’t do any more,’ and he began to walk out. And I said, ‘Why? Was it me’? Tell me, I need to know.’ He couldn’t tell me and Jeremy Kemp said to me, ‘It’s Peter Sellers who’s cracking jokes.’ Jeremy went up to Peter and told him to shut up, told him that he was making it too difficult for everyone. And that was that, he never did it again.” Sellers later worked with Jeremy Kemp again in the late 1970s.
34. Sellers was to blame for the fiasco of “Casino Royale. Joe McGrath_ who directed Sellers in ‘Casino Royale :- ‘A lot of it was Sellers and his personal problems with Britt at the time but the real problem was Charles Feldman, who produced it. His attitude was like he wasn’t a producer but an agent. What he liked was to get people together and a good cast and try to get them organised to do the film. But the actual organisation and the actual running of the film was very, very bad and then Peter got frustrated.”
35. (Page 660) “Sellers didn’t write letters to friends – he issued publicity statements”. Both Dimitris and Maxine have been shown some of the letters that Sellers wrote to his friends and they are just letters – no more no less. Rather typical affectionate letters that friends write each other.
36. “A Day at the Beach” – Lewis Writes. “All looked set for an amusing scene when Sellers decided to sulk.” Mark Bums, lead actor on “A Day at the Beach”:-It wasn’t a good film, I think the director is to blame, he had never directed a film before in his life. The thing that really struck me about Peter was that he arrived, he filmed the next day and was totally, completely prepared, I mean he was word-perfect. After he’d rehearsed his scene he stayed on set, behind the counter, While they set it all up, he stayed there practising and playing around with all the props, moving this and putting that there, lifting something up and looking at it. The scene with Peter and Graham Stark is fantastic in the film. Peter had spent SO much time and trouble to get it absolutely the way he wanted it. When you think, it’s only a three minute scene but he’d practised and practised and rehearsed and tried things out and worked things out. Terribly impressive and of course it’s wonderful little cameo, brilliant cameo performance.” This also answers Lewis’s claim that Sellers couldn’t practice or rehearse.
37. Lewis writes on page 310. “After he’d dumped Anne (she left HIM – Maxine). Michael and Sarah. he decided to enjoy the mad streak. He dieted. He popped a lot of pills, to get this gaunt Don Juan look. He drank. He did an enormous amount of fucking. at which he was not at all good. Later. there was a hefty use of cocaine – because somebody. I think Keith Moon, had told him it would improve his potency enabling him to wave his willy and retain an erection all night.” What is there to say to someone who writes seriously like this?
38. In a note. describing his reaction to a letter from Tessa Dahl’s father, which stated. ‘My daughter Tessa knew Sellers a bit. Peter should be allowed to rest in peace’. Lewis states that he scrawled. ‘Holy Christ. What sanctimonious balls’ on the envelope and mailed it back. It seems Sellers is not the only one who cannot take rejection well and behaves badly. We understand Lewis’s next book is to be about Christ
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