Peter Sellers: The Comic Genius Who Had No Self

On The Muppet Show, Kermit told his guest to just relax and be himself. The most famous comedic actor on the planet replied, deadpan, that this would be impossible: there was no him, no self at all. He wasn't doing a bit. He meant it.This episode explores the ultimate paradox of Peter Sellers, a man who could flawlessly mimic anyone yet was a complete void off screen. We trace how a fractured childhood produced a chameleon with total control over his characters and none over the man playing them, laying the foundation for generations of comedians.Being named after a stillborn brother and raised a Jewish boy in a Catholic school by warring parentsHis drummer's sense of rhythm and the secret tape recordings he used to let characters take overThe dignity that made Inspector Clouseau timeless and his three roles in Kubrick's Dr. StrangeloveThe eight heart attacks in three hours and the paranoia, jealousy, and cruelty that wrecked his familyHis final triumph in Being There, a role mirroring his own emptiness, and the spiteful jokes he scripted from beyond the grave