Sellers' son blast new biopic

The son of Peter Sellers has criticised a film about his father, urging fans to stay away.

Speaking at the Cannes film festival, Michael Sellers said: "The film is based on 800 pages of unintelligible rubbish."

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers is based on a 1994 biography by Roger Lewis which asserted that the ex-Goon's comic genius was driven by madness.

But 50-year-old Michael told The Times: "This guy did not understand my father and his comedy. He said it was insanity but he clearly didn't understand the humour of the Goons. He was just not up to the task of writing a biography about him."

Geoffrey Rush plays Sellers in the forthcoming film, which also features appearances by Stephen Fry and Emily Watson.

Lewis said he interviewed 500 people for the book to get a rounded picture of Sellers' personality.

Published: 15 May 2003