Talk:Peter Sellers
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The article Monty Casino was nominated for deletion. The debate was closed on 15 August 2007 with a consensus to merge the content into Peter Sellers. If the merger is not completed promptly, Monty Casino might be re-nominated for deletion.
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- talk page archive
[edit] The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (film)
This is regularly cited as a great movie, but I can think of few more tacky ones. I love Geoffrey Rush, but this was not one of his better efforts. I was constantly aware that I was watching Rush, not Sellers. Besides, the title is misleading as the film contained virtually nothing about his death. It is somewhere near last on my personal list of movies from this decade. JackofOz 14:08, 26 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Sellers/Van Fleet
What exactly was the big faux pas that Van Fleet made towards Sellers, and what did Sellers do? I've been searching all over the place for some kind of answer for that question.
[edit] Richard Henry vs. Peter
I've dug up some sources explaining where the Peter came from. Seems he had an older brother named Peter, who was still-born. When the actor came along, he was named Richard Henry, but at some stage his parents started calling him Peter in memory of his older dead sibling, and the name stuck. (see this and this).
However this and this say he was born "Peter Richard Henry Sellers". The latter source particularly is not known for getting these kinds of details wrong.
For now, I'm going with the majority. But if anybody can verify this, eg. with a published birth certificate showing exactly what his legal name was, that would be great.
Since the world knew him as Peter, I'm putting that name in the lead, and referring to his legal name in the body of the article. JackofOz 02:07, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Sellers as "King Kong"
This article sites an injury as the cause for his being replaced in the role of bomber pilot in Dr. Strangelove. However, I have heard from several sources, notably this one that he was recast because he couldn't master the southern drawl the role required. Of course TCM has been wrong before and I haven't read his biography but if someone has reliable information the article should be amended.
- I recall a booklet included with the DVD of Strangelove stating that it was an injury. Next time I get a hold of the DVD, I will check.--SirNuke 19:50, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
- I've heard that Kubrick pulled him from the role for not mastering the southern drawl, but covered it up by attributing the pull to an injury. I don't have a citation, though. Havardj Jack 20:21, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Clare Quilty
I replaced "doppelganger" with "nemesis" in the description of Quilty's character, and then I read the article on Lolita and found "doppelganger" used again. I still believe "nemesis" is a better description of the relationship of Quilty to Humbert. Comments? Paul 21:18, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
They are, of course, each other's mutual nemesis. It is this mutuality and blending of characteristics that makes "doopelganger" appropriate. 193.164.126.35 18:48, 29 March 2006 (UTC) Graeme
- But the fact that they look nothing alike makes "doppelganger" inappropriate. ThatGuamGuy 13:27, 10 April 2007 (UTC)sean
[edit] Sellers' Filmography
I find the filmography here a little perplexing. Several of the films listed are ones I have never heard of associated with Sellers. Also unlisted in Allmovie.com or IMDB. The films I take issue with are:
Cold Comfort 1957 Dearth of a Salesman 1957 Climb Up the Wall 1960 Light of Day 1963 Birds Bees and Storks 1964 Simon Simon 1970
Most of these films don't even seem to exist. Can they be TV episodes or sketches Sellers did somewhere? Can anyone explain?
213.104.160.33 20:42, 21 February 2006 (UTC) Graeme
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- Google turned up this page by an AOL user that mentions three short films shown at the 2002 Cardiff Screen Festival:
- "Insomnia is good for you, Dearth of a Salesman, and Cold Comfort. Containing the same cast, all three films haven't been screened in the UK in over forty years." Paul 02:56, 23 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Jewish
He is Jewish, you should add that to the article.--80.230.16.39 14:39, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
- It's already there! The opening paragraph of the Biography section tells us his mother was Jewish and that would make him Jewish too wouldn't it? I think there would need to be some evidence that he was a practising Jew (I have never heard that he was) to justify saying anything stronger than that.
[edit] Biography
"His portrayal (or caricature) of Asian characters though, here and elsewhere, has caused some controversy in recent years."
Where's here? Why?
I imagine that "here" refers to the role he played in The Millionairess. This role and others like that in The Party passed without comment in their day. It is now considered unacceptable for white European actors to portray black and Asian characters, however "controversy" is putting it a little stongly.
For what is worth, during a visit to Bombay in 1981 I noticed a giant billboard advertising The Party. My Indian host told me this was a favourite film and had been running for years. 193.164.126.35 18:44, 29 March 2006 (UTC) Graeme
At least one of the Peter Sellers biographies I've read indicates that his portrayal of characters of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds was commonly respected by members of those groups, consider to be comedic while respectful. If there's any controversy, I'd think it'd be more about people of one race or culture portraying one in another, not Peter Sellers in particular. Aetern Null 10:26, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Muppets!
Can someone replace the lead photo with a better one please? I've got nothing against the Muppets, but its a very poor picture to introduce an article that's supposed to be about Sellers. JW 22:58, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Wanda Jackson?
From the Marriages section:
- Actress Anne Howe (1951–1961). This marriage ended after she claimed he was having affairs with Wanda Jackson and Sophia Loren.
Wanda Jackson the rockabilly singer? Really? Perodicticus 13:43, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] What is the use of this sentence?
From the article:
"Late in life, Sellers became a source of tedium for continuously visiting his aunt in the small civil parish, Clayton, West Yorkshire."
Besides having no citation to support it, the point of including such a sentence makes no sense and seems more likely to be an act of vandalism. I'll remove it, in the next few days, unless the writer can state reasons to do otherwise. W.C. 13:01, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Can you see any citations of this page? Cls14 22:46, 16 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Biography
It strikes me this section is too unstructured. I would think that "Marriages" and "Premature death" should be subsections of Biography (compare eqivalent article of Spike Milligan, for example). Given the volume of his output, his radio & film career details may also need to be more clearly laid out rather than presented as one continuous passage of prose. (Perhaps they should be listed under a separate section entitled "Career" or "Radio and film appearances" or something similar?)
More on his radio career is also needed, incidentally - The Goon Show really was a seminal programme of its time and Sellers was instrumental in its' style and success with his versatile vocal performances and quick wit. - HTUK 02:32, 30 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Citations needed
Really! What an awful article! A lot of it reads like a cheap nasty scandal-rag! It needs some of those prying long-distance paparazzi photos to set it off to perfection!
None of the sentences that describe Sellers as "cruel", as hitting people or having affairs cite their sources. An encyclopedia can't make claims like "for instance....(he was angry when his wife brought a child onto the set). Who says so? How do we know what horrible thing he told his child about the mother? Is the claim relevant to an encyclopedic article? Is the child that is mentioned now an adult who is likely to be cross about being quoted in this way? --Amandajm 16:35, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, you're right. It really makes all those unverified rumors sound like the truth. I would remove all of it, unless there are sources for it. By the way, the child, Michael Sellers, died this year at the age of 52. - Yannick Ouwehand 18:12, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
- There are two hardcopy biographies "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" as well as "Mr Strangelove" (the latter by Ed Sikov) who give ample evidence to the claim that Sellers showed sometimes cruel and violent behaviours towards his wives and children. His son, Michael Sellers, published his experiences with his father (in "PS I love you"), which likewise does not seem to paint him in favourable colours. I have read Mr Strangelove and will try to include this as a reference--those with additional sources are encouraged to chip in. Malljaja 17:43, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Peter Sellers - A Celebration
This is a book by Adrian Rigelsford: given the information contained here [1] it might be better if wiki didn't direct people to it as a reliable source. Terrypin 12:58, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Monty Casino ad campaign
I agree that it should be merged in with the Peter Sellers article. But it needs a good bit of clarification, ie. when did barclay's approach peter sellers, when were the adds shot, and more. Jlmerrell 03:20, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
- Ah, okay, that may be so, but the bigger problem is that right at the top of the page is a big notice that says an AfD on August 15 found that the content of Monty Casino needs to be merged into Peter Sellers. There isn't really a choice about it. GlassCobra (talk • contribs) 05:50, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Mandrake
I'm adding a link to Mandrake to correspond to the link to Merkin. Pittsburgh Poet 23:32, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
- Unfortunately, you did not create a corresponding link. If you had clicked on the show preview button and then clicked on the link that you made you would see that it goes to a disambiguation page. Thus, a meaningless link has been created. You will need to find out, from a verifiable source, which definition of mandrake was being sent up by Kubrick and then create the link properly so that it goes to that page. MarnetteD | Talk 23:42, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Commented You Tube link
Clip is presumably of BBC footage, but the uploader appears not to be one of the official BBC profiles on You Tube. Comments? Sfan00 IMG (talk) 15:00, 18 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] 15 August 2007 - AFD merger - Monty Casino
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Monty Casino closed to merge Monty Casino into Peter Sellers.
- Comment if this is merged, a DAB page should exist at Monty Casino or Monte Casino. 132.205.44.5 (talk) 02:06, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Muppets and reticence
I added mention of Peter Sellers' interview on the Muppet Show to the section on his professional and personal difficulties. More about the interview is in the section on his films, following from mention of Being There. How about merging these mentions in the first section, or making a new section about his reticence and that movie? That is such an important theme in the Peter Sellers story! --Una Smith (talk) 15:38, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
