Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

  • 2004
  • TV-MA
  • 2h 2m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
15K
YOUR RATING
Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Watson in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
Home Video Trailer from HBO Home Video
Play trailer1:01
1 Video
99+ Photos
BiographyComedyDramaRomance

The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.The feature adaptation of Roger Lewis' book about the actor best remembered as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies.

  • Director
    • Stephen Hopkins
  • Writers
    • Roger Lewis
    • Christopher Markus
    • Stephen McFeely
  • Stars
    • Geoffrey Rush
    • Charlize Theron
    • Emily Watson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    15K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Stephen Hopkins
    • Writers
      • Roger Lewis
      • Christopher Markus
      • Stephen McFeely
    • Stars
      • Geoffrey Rush
      • Charlize Theron
      • Emily Watson
    • 142User reviews
    • 64Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 9 Primetime Emmys
      • 31 wins & 35 nominations total

    Videos1

    The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
    Trailer 1:01
    The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

    Photos109

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 101
    View Poster

    Top cast62

    Edit
    Geoffrey Rush
    Geoffrey Rush
    • Peter Sellers
    Charlize Theron
    Charlize Theron
    • Britt Ekland
    Emily Watson
    Emily Watson
    • Anne Sellers
    John Lithgow
    John Lithgow
    • Blake Edwards
    Miriam Margolyes
    Miriam Margolyes
    • Peg Sellers
    Peter Vaughan
    Peter Vaughan
    • Bill Sellers
    Sonia Aquino
    Sonia Aquino
    • Sophia Loren
    Stanley Tucci
    Stanley Tucci
    • Stanley Kubrick
    Stephen Fry
    Stephen Fry
    • Maurice Woodruff
    Henry Goodman
    Henry Goodman
    • Dennis Selinger
    Alison Steadman
    Alison Steadman
    • Casting Agent
    Peter Gevisser
    Peter Gevisser
    • Ted Levy
    David Robb
    David Robb
    • Dr. Lyle Wexler
    Edward Tudor-Pole
    Edward Tudor-Pole
    • Spike Milligan
    • (as Edward Tudor Pole)
    Steve Pemberton
    Steve Pemberton
    • Harry Secombe
    Nigel Havers
    Nigel Havers
    • David Niven
    Mackenzie Crook
    Mackenzie Crook
    • Car Salesman
    George Cicco
    • Michael Sellers, 3 Yrs.
    • Director
      • Stephen Hopkins
    • Writers
      • Roger Lewis
      • Christopher Markus
      • Stephen McFeely
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Road to Guantanamo
    7.4
    The Road to Guantanamo
    Head in the Clouds
    6.5
    Head in the Clouds
    Private Parts
    6.9
    Private Parts
    Burn
    6.1
    Burn
    Interview
    6.8
    Interview
    8.7
    The Life and Death of Peter Sellers: Deleted Scenes
    Beyond the Sea
    6.7
    Beyond the Sea
    North Country
    7.3
    North Country
    The Impostors
    6.5
    The Impostors
    Ripley's Game
    6.6
    Ripley's Game
    Dior J'adore
    7.0
    Dior J'adore
    The Assassination of Richard Nixon
    6.9
    The Assassination of Richard Nixon

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Peter Sellers did not give a pony to his son Michael as shown in the film. He gave it to his younger daughter by Britt Ekland several years later. The change was made in order to compress events for dramatic purposes. According to the screenwriter, the horse disappeared after a couple of weeks, and when his daughter wanted to know where it was, he replied that he had given it to Princess Margaret.
    • Goofs
      A cinema marquee advertises Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1974) despite the fact that this film was shelved until after Sellers' death and never received a theatrical release. Similarly, The Blockhouse (1973) didn't have a U.K. theatrical release but is shown playing on a London marquee.
    • Quotes

      [At Peter's wedding to the Swedish starlet Britt Ekland]

      Peg Sellers: You've only known that bleedin' Nazi for 3 weeks.

      Peter Sellers: Peg, I couldn't be happier.

      Peg Sellers: Why are you making the same mistake all over again?

      Peter Sellers: Because, my love, they won't let me marry you.

    • Crazy credits
      The frame freezes and the end credits start. After some informations about the last part of life of Peter Sellers have scrolled up the screen, the credits stop and the camera suddenly pulls back, revealing Geoffrey Rush watching the end titles sitting in front of a monitor on a studio set. He turns toward the camera, waves, gets up, leaves the set and walks to a trailer. The camera tries to follow him inside, but he turns and says "You can't come in here". The door closes, and the camera zooms in on the sign with the name "Peter Sellers". The film again fades to black and we see the rest of the end credits.
    • Alternate versions
      The BBC broadcast a version with some scenes rearranged, some scenes shortened and a few other edits:
      • The montage of Peter Sellers' earlier films is cut together with the scene where he moves into a big new house with Anne and the children. Also the song 'I Haven't Told Her, She Hasn't Told Me' sung by Peter is played instead of Frank Sinatra's 'Fly Me to the Moon'.
      • The first Maurice Woodruff scene and the car showroom scene are moved ahead to after Peter's father's death scene, swapping places with the scene where he phones Harry Secombe asking if he wants to come over for a beer. The car showroom scene also replaces the Shirley Bassey song 'Big Spender' with incidental music composed for the film.
      • The first Maurice Woodruff scene begins with a shot of Peter smoking a cigarette in the waiting room before cutting to a shot of Woodruff's book, which is where this scene begins in the original version.
      • The Harry Secombe phone call scene is shortened, cutting out the bit where Peter tells his son to go to his room.
      • A shot of Peter as Dr. Strangelove saying "Boom" is added after the Dr. Strangelove filming scenes.
      • Peter and Britt Ekland's wedding reception scene is shortened slightly, the shots of the children on the carousel are cut out.
      • The scene where Peter drives Britt to the hospital to give birth is shortened, cutting out footage of the car going past a church, pulling out in front of another car and Peter telling Britt to keep breathing.
      • The very brief scene of Peter seeing a plastic surgeon followed by shots of him in a makeup chair and taking pills is cut out.
      • The scene where Maurice Woodruff tries to get Peter to do another Pink Panther film is shortened, the bit where he channels Peter's mother and tells him to do the film is cut out. Also a different take is used when Maurice gets out the film script, instead of saying "Are you absolutely sure about that?", he says "Are you sure about that?".
      • The scene of Peter in his trailer dressed as the old salty sea dog is moved back to in between the scenes of him agreeing to make The Pink Panther Strikes Again and the film's premiere, making it look as if this character is part of that film when actually he appears in Revenge of the Pink Panther. In the original version this scene takes place later on, after a shot of Peter picking up a Revenge of the Pink Panther script. Whereas this version changes this shot to show a Being There script.
      • The scene of Peter in character as Blake Edwards is shortened. The line at the end of the scene "What did he do after me? The only thing he never gave up on" is cut out.
      • The montage of Peter doing character preparation for Being There and burning his old movie stuff is arranged differently. The overlaid shots of him doing The Goon Show and playing Strangelove, Clouseau are removed, although a shot of him burning a photo of President Merkin Muffley and a shot of the Being There novel in his pocket are added.
      • In the first shot of Blake Edwards waiting for Peter at the restaurant, instead of starting with a close up of the script for The Romance of the Pink Panther and cutting just before a waiter pours water into a glass, it starts with the water pouring into the glass, using a different part of this same take.
      • At the ending, when after the closing text it zooms out to show Peter watching it on a monitor and getting up to go to his trailer after which the end credits roll, this version inserts after the text another shot of Peter standing in the snow, then the cast list rolls before the zoom out to Peter watching it on a monitor. Also in this version The Kinks' song 'A Well Respected Man' starts playing as Peter gets up to go to his trailer, in the original version incidental music is played here instead and 'A Well Respected Man' doesn't start playing until the credits roll.
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Episode #1.9 (2004)
    • Soundtracks
      What's New Pussycat
      Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David
      Performed by Tom Jones
      Courtesy of The Decca Music Group Ltd.
      Licensed by kind permission from the Universal Film & TV Licensing Division

    User reviews142

    Review
    Review
    Featured review

    Rush is brilliant but it's a tough movie.

    I'm a sap when it comes to movie watching so the peeling away of the character of Peter Sellers made the film a hard watch for me. That in no way implies anything derogatory about this wonderful film, just that Seller's life as depicted on the screen made me uncomfortable watching it as it unfolded before me.

    Intellectually I can understand the forces driving Sellers but I find it difficult when these forces begin to devour the personality behind them as happened to Sellers throughout the film. You're left with those timeless questions about the price of greatness and with this movie you're left with even more than the viewer might be expected to deal with.

    It was not pretty watching the Greek tragedy that was the life of Peter Sellers and now, having seen the movie only several hours ago, I have great respect for Rush and the director for having crafted such a brilliant film. I can't imagine another actor who could have brought Sellers to life so accurately. The film was far from straight forward-it pulsed and entwined itself around Seller's life such that the viewer was challenged constantly to involve themselves with the characters rather than being a dumb waiter between screen and viewer.

    A tough, excellent film not to be missed.
    • diane-34
    • Aug 28, 2004
    • Permalink

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ18

    • How long is The Life and Death of Peter Sellers?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 1, 2004 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Emmy Award
      • Wikipedia
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Життя і смерть Пітера Селлерса
    • Filming locations
      • 33 Portland Place, Marylebone, London, England, UK(Peter Sellers' London flat)
    • Production companies
      • HBO Films
      • BBC Film
      • The De Mann Entertainment Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,789,336
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 2 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Geoffrey Rush, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Watson in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
    Top Gap
    What is the Japanese language plot outline for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2024 by IMDb.com, Inc.