{"id":2542,"date":"2023-12-02T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/der-bussard.de\/en\/?p=2542"},"modified":"2023-12-02T13:13:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T12:13:25","slug":"peter-sellers-the-eternal-comedian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/der-bussard.de\/en\/2023\/12\/02\/peter-sellers-the-eternal-comedian\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Sellers: The eternal comedian"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
When he was two years old, he is said to have already appeared on stage at the King’s Theatre in Southsea, Portsmouth: He accompanied his parents, both vaudeville artists, during an interlude on stage. \u00a0 It was foreseeable that Peter Sellers would one day become an entertainer: He was practically born into the profession through his parents’ work. He attended various schools around his home town, which prepared him for working on stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On his 18th birthday, Peter Sellers was drafted into the Royal Air Force: The RAF not only needed pilots and other military personnel during the Second World War, but also entertainers to boost the morale of the armed forces. During the Second World War, Peter Sellers became an official entertainer for the British armed forces \u2013 there is no doubt that Peter Sellers gained countless experiences during this time, which provided the basis for his later work on stage and in front of the camera. Peter Sellers received particular recognition from the soldiers at this time for his impersonations of various officers \u2013 although it is doubtful whether Sellers made many friends among the officers. Even then, however, the art of imitation was one of Peter Sellers’ specialties.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost every BBC listener knew the name Peter Sellers in the early 1950s.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Cunning leads to success<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
After the Second World War, Peter Sellers reportedly applied to the BBC several times \u2013 but initially without success. Sellers soon realized that he would not be able to get a position at the BBC in the “traditional” way: Peter Sellers had a creative intellect and now took matters into his own hands. Legend has it that he called Roy Speer, the producer of the Show Time radio program at the time, and pretended to be a famous radio star who wanted to recommend that a certain Peter Sellers be given a place on his program. Roy Speer did not recognize the deception and gratefully accepted the recommendation \u2013 until Peter Sellers revealed himself in the course of the conversation…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Roy Speer must have been very impressed by Peter Sellers’ cunning: he gave the young Sellers the opportunity to go on air live on the Show Time program. His live broadcast as part of the Show Time program was to form the basis of his fame in the UK for his further career. Almost every BBC listener knew the name Peter Sellers in the early 1950s \u2013 and that was only because he had the cunning to pretend to be a sought-after radio star to the producer of the radio program… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Goon Show <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Together with the two comedians Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe, whom Sellers had met while working for the BBC, Sellers created the Goon Show<\/em>: Initially, the program was broadcast \u2013 against the wishes of the main actors \u2013 under the name Crazy People<\/em>, but the name was later changed to Goon Show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the time, the Goon Show<\/em> was considered one of the most influential comedy radio shows ever: a total of ten seasons of the radio series were produced between 1951 and 1960, and Peter Sellers remained on the show until the end. In the beginning, just under 370,000 people are said to have listened to the Goon Show<\/em> \u2013 over the years, this figure is said to have risen to up to seven million listeners. For Peter Sellers, the Goon Show was nothing other than his gateway to fame: thanks to his work for the BBC, almost every radio listener knew his voice at the time. Now Peter Sellers could think about how he could showcase his unique comedic talent away from the radio…\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the sixties, numerous film projects awaited Sellers, immortalizing him as a comedian.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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