Dave Lanning was a regular writer for TV Times, less a columnist and more of a roving reporter / interviewer. That gave him access to some of the legends of the showbiz world including, in January 1965, the great Peter Sellers.
This was a particular coup given that in April 1964, Sellers had been dead for five minutes following a heart attack. In typical Sellers fashion, he opened with, “I want to get away from being dead!”
The interview was part of the promotion of a programme called ‘Cinema’ that was going to look at a career that had made him one of the biggest stars on the planet, not that he was entirely thrilled with it.
“Being a star means simply one thing to me. It means I have a choice of material This is the part of the business I like best. Not the cold £. s. d. That’s where the knives flash.”
There’s plenty more from Peter Sellers here – as well as all the ITV listings for the week, a nostalgia-fest in itself.
