Flashbulbs lit up the red carpet outside Loews Tower East as celebs flocked to the premiere of HBO’s The Life & Death of Peter Sellers (winner of this year’s Golden Globe Award in the category of Mini-Series or TV Movie). Based on a book by Roger Lewis, the flick stars Geoffrey Rush (who won a Golden Globe in the category of Actor in a Mini-Series or TV Movie) as the legendary Peter Sellers, the charismatic, eccentric British comedian who first engaged London audiences in 1957 with BBC radio’s The Goon Show. Sellers later won fame as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther films, and won Oscar nominations for his multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), and for Being There (1979).

Despite Sellers’ comic public persona, the film depicts the zany funnyman as anything but in his private life, abusing his wives, throwing tantrums, and overly influenced by his possessive mother, Peg (portrayed by Miriam Margolyes). It also presents the contrast between Sellers’ ability to seamlessly mimic the personalities of others and his inability to form a distinctive personality of his own. His personal conflicts are highlighted (i.e., his unrequited love for Sophia Loren, his co-star in The Millionairess). The film ends with his premature death, shortly after a heart attack at 54.

The cast includes John Lithgow (as director Blake Edwards), Charlize Theron (as second wife Britt Ekland), Stephen Fry (as psychic Maurice Woodruff), Stanley Tucci (as director Stanley Kubrick), and Emily Watson (as first wife Anne).

Mixing at the swank after-party, held at The Four Seasons: HBO’s Colin Callender and Richard Plepler, Julia Stiles, Georgette Mosbacher, Director Stephen Hopkins, and Steve Schirripa. A sad yet fascinating portrait of a talented star who left so many “tickled pink!”