A new and authoritative biography of the great Peter Sellers, one of cinema's greatest comedians.The world loved Sellers' characters - from the Goons to Being There's Chaunce the Gardener via the immortal Inspector Clouseau - and his anarchic comedy still packs a considerable cultural punch, influencing today's comics like Mike Myers. Yet Sellers, who could mimic anyone and don any mask at will, was convinced that he was empty; that there was no personal substance beneath the characters he so readily assumed. Acclaimed biographer Ed Sikov has spoken to many of those who knew and worked with Sellers, including Sophia Loren, Maggie Smith, Goldie Hawn, Dudley Moore, John Cleese and Roman Polanski. In this balanced, in-depth life he reveals how Sellers used his creative craziness to stave off the darker and more debilitating madness that plagued him, his public face hiding a sometimes tormented private life with four marriages (and three divorces), countless affairs, and drug and alcohol abuse. Although he could be difficult, Sellers is remembered with great affection by many of those who worked with him and this compassionate account is a fitting tribute to a man whose talent has earned him a lasting place in cinema history.