Post by Clouseau on Jul 16, 2007 5:18:10 GMT
for my birthday, my mother-in-law was kind enough to indulge my apparent fanaticism after my wife was kind enough to pass along my wish list, and although i have a tendency to read multiple books at a time, i have finally worked my way through this one, so i now happily present my review for Peter Sellers: A Life in Character... 
Paperback
March 2004
192 pages
Peter Sellers: A Life in Character, by Adrian Rigelsford, is what i would call a coffee table biography of Peter Sellers... that is to say that the shape and thickness of the book suggest that it would fit in well in that setting, and although the text is fairly informative, the real attraction is the book's collection of photographs, which span nearly all stages of his life and career...
one other endearing feature of the book is that several sections have been written or contributed to by people who knew and worked with Sellers... for instance, the forward was written by Spike Milligan, and each chapter closes with a page or two of quotation from someone close to Sellers, whether it be Graham Stark or Burt Kwouk or Eric Sykes or whomever... combined with the anecdotes that fill each chapter, the overall feeling of the book is a very positive impression of Sellers, both on and off the set...
below follows a list of chapter titles with my brief description:
the next time you come to my house to visit, don't be surprised when this one is right there on my coffee table...
Paperback
March 2004
192 pages
Peter Sellers: A Life in Character, by Adrian Rigelsford, is what i would call a coffee table biography of Peter Sellers... that is to say that the shape and thickness of the book suggest that it would fit in well in that setting, and although the text is fairly informative, the real attraction is the book's collection of photographs, which span nearly all stages of his life and career...
one other endearing feature of the book is that several sections have been written or contributed to by people who knew and worked with Sellers... for instance, the forward was written by Spike Milligan, and each chapter closes with a page or two of quotation from someone close to Sellers, whether it be Graham Stark or Burt Kwouk or Eric Sykes or whomever... combined with the anecdotes that fill each chapter, the overall feeling of the book is a very positive impression of Sellers, both on and off the set...
below follows a list of chapter titles with my brief description:
- 1. Inspector Clouseau and the Ideal Gnome Exhibition - this introductory chapter is full of anecdotes about Sellers' personality... there are lots of bits about practical jokes he liked to play and about funny happenings on the sets of some of his films...
- 2. The Roar of the Greasepaint - here the book goes back to the beginning and tells the story of Sellers' childhood and adolescence... we get an overview of everything from his birth and first stage appearance up through his stint in the military and his attempts at a musical career...
- 3. Beautiful Mind Plays - this is the tail of the rise from mediocrity to Sellers' initial brush with stardom: from early theater and stand-up work through teaming up with the other Goons and landing on radio and TV...
- 4. Bluebottle Goes to Hollywood - as the title suggests, this chapter begins with Sellers getting his first breaks in the film industry, and it follows him from The Ladykillers through the Boulting Bros' productions on through Dr. Strangelove and the first Pink Panther films, and ends with some odd stories about Sellers' behavior...
- 5. Clouseau Makes a Comeback - before you can make a comeback, you have to have a low point to come back from, so this chapter begins by telling of the downward spiral Sellers' career took (along with his health) in the late '60s and early '70s... there are more tales of practical jokes and odd tidbits about various films, Sellers' mother dies, and then finally we get to The Return of the Pink Panther, and everything seems to brighten up considerably until Sellers dies...
- The Chronology Bit - the closing section of the book is not in regular prose like the rest of the book, but is instead an attempt to catalog as many of the films, theater productions, radio shows, TV shows, etc. that Sellers appeared in as possible... by the author's own admission the lists are incomplete, but it is still quite a list!
the next time you come to my house to visit, don't be surprised when this one is right there on my coffee table...
