Peter Sellers

 
Quote: [on Sophia Loren] I was never in love with any woman as deeply as I was with Sophia.

---

Often credited as the greatest comedian of all time, Peter Sellers was born Richard Henry Sellers to a well-off acting family. His parents worked in an acting company run by his grandmother. His parents' first child had died at birth, so Sellers was spoiled during his early years.

He enlisted in the Royal Air Force and served during World War II. After the war he met Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine, who would become his future workmates. After the war, he set up a review in London, which was a combination of music (he played the drums) and impressions. Then, all of a sudden, he burst into prominence as the voices of numerous favourites on the BBC radio program "The Goon Show" , and then making his debut in films in Penny Points to Paradise and Down Among the Z Men, before making it big as one of the criminals in The Ladykillers.

Sellers struggled with depression and mental insecurities throughout his life. An enigmatic figure, he often claimed to have no identity outside the roles that he played. His behavior on and off the set and stage became more erratic and compulsive, and he continued to frequently clash with his directors and co-stars, especially in the mid-1970s when his physical and mental health, together with his continuing alcohol and drug problems, were at their worst.