‘Being There’

Peter Sellers was born 90 years ago today. In a coincidence that Sellers must have relished, one of his partners in “The Goon Show,” Harry Secombe, shared the September 8 birthday with him. Sir Harry was born 94 years ago today.

Here is a piece I wrote last year about Peter Sellers and some of his otherwordly influences. Wherever you are, happy birthday, Peter Sellers, and thanks.

The Gad About Town

Contemporary accounts make it sound like watching the man perform on stage was like watching a man possessed: Fascinating and frightening, but a genius. He became world-famous and theaters billed him as the “Funniest Man on Earth.”

A later performer became an international superstar and said many times of himself, to interviewer after interviewer, “If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am.” Watching him was like watching a man possessed by the accents and mannerisms of any character. He also said, “There used to be a me, but I had it surgically removed.” His questioner in this particular case was Kermit the Frog.

View original post 1,135 more words

3 comments

  1. Martha Kennedy · September 8, 2015

    Thank you — Peter Sellers was amazing. Recently I’ve been watching movies that came out in my teen years that I didn’t see like “I Love You Alice B. Toklas” — but one movie from that time I did see during that time was “Dr. Strangelove.” I saw it in the base theater at Offutt Air Force Base/Strategic Air Command Headquarters. That’s one of those memories that will always tickle me. When I had a nervous breakdown in the early 90s, I tried watching funny movies to help alleviate the depression; well, I knew things were bad when I couldn’t begin to understand “The Pink Panther.” I was relegated to zombie movies… Odd irony, there. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

Please comment here. Thank you, Mark.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.