Tears of a clown
The amazing career and complicated love life of the late Peter Sellers…
Peter Sellers was one of Britain’s greatest comedians and was famous worldwide during the 1960s and 1970s thanks to his role as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films.
But behind his comic persona, Peter had a complex personal life, with multiple marriages, affairs, alcohol and drug problems, and rumours of erratic behaviour.
‘Being with Peter was like riding on a roller coaster,’ says Peter’s second wife, Britt Ekland, who features in this documentary marking the 40th anniversary of the comic’s death. ‘I was young and he swept me off my feet.’
Peter was born to vaudeville entertainers and spent his childhood with them on the variety-show circuit, before serving in World War Two. He then joined BBC Radio’s The Goon Show and rose to global
fame with films such as The Ladykillers and Dr Strangelove.
But Peter suffered with depression, had insecurities and was a womaniser. As well as marrying Britt, then just 21, only 11 days after they met, he had affairs, one reportedly with Princess Margaret.
Painful legacy
When he died of a heart attack in 1980, aged just 54, he left most of his £5.5 million fortune to his fourth wife, Lynne Frederick. His children Sarah and Michael, from his first marriage to actor
Anne Howe, and Victoria, his daughter with Britt, inherited just £800 each.
‘We were left a paltry amount. We never contested it because under British law you can only contest a will if you’re left nothing,’ says Victoria in this one-off. ‘Dad’s will didn’t just hurt me, it hurt the whole family.’