Sellers was "born in a trunk" in Portsmouth, England, the son of British music hall performers, and hoped to become a professional musician. The onset of World War II put a stop to his plans.

Like many Brits, Sellers broke into showbusiness after entertaining fellow servicemen during the war. His gift for mimicry landed him his first big break. Pretending to be two different well-known actors of the day, Sellers called BBC Radio producer Dennis Main Wilson to recommend a fresh new talent-Peter Sellers. Impressed by the young hopeful's cheekiness, Main Wilson hired him.

In 1951, Peter Sellers appeared in "The Goon Show" on BBC Radio. "The Goons," as it became known, was a series of experimental sketches featuring bizarre characters with silly names. A forerunner of the off-the-wall humor later made popular by "Monty Python's Flying Circus," "The Goons" was an immediate hit, running for nine years, and is considered an all-time comedy classic.

Sellers' first significant movie role gave him the opportunity to work with his idol, Alec Guinness, another master of disguise, in the 1955 crime caper "The Ladykillers." 1959 was a banner year for Sellers, who starred in two very popular comedies: "I'm All Right, Jack" and "The Mouse That Roared." Then legendary director Stanley Kubrick cast him as the sleazy Clare Quilty in his controversial 1962 movie "Lolita." Sellers so impressed Kubrick that he hired him to play three different roles in his next project, "Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love The Bomb," a hilarious black comedy and savage indictment of Cold War politics.

Sellers' versatility landed him the part of the clumsy, inept French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau in Blake Edwards' slapstick comedy "The Pink Panther," a character with whom the actor will forever be identified.

By 1965, Peter Sellers was a genuine Hollywood movie star, but his film projects varied wildly in quality. Although he kept himself in the public eye with "Pink Panther" sequels, Sellers' next great role did not come until "Being There" in 1979, a movie he struggled to get made for years. He gave a sublime performance as the childlike, slow-witted Chance the gardener who, through a series of misunderstandings, becomes a highly regarded presidential advisor. An elegant and thought-provoking fable about celebrity, "Being There" won Sellers a Golden Globe award, and an Academy Award nomination.

Sadly, it turned out to be his penultimate film. A workaholic, Sellers had long ignored a doctor's warning to cut back on his schedule to avoid a recurrence of the heart trouble that had plagued him since the early 1960s. In July 1980, he died in a London hospital after being stricken with a massive heart attack.

Sellers once told a reporter, "I haven't a clue who Peter Sellers is...To me, I am a complete stranger." While he may have lacked a sense of his own identity, Sellers was able to infuse an astounding range of characters with real personalities and individual quirks. It is a tribute to his enduring talent that his artistry and appeal have not dimmed with time.

-- Jane Garcia