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100 years later, just how Jewish was Peter Sellers?

JL;DR SUMMARY Peter Sellers, the iconic English comedian born in 1925, had a complicated relationship with his Jewish identity. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityJewish RepresentationHollywoodComedyIsrael SupportFilmsPeter SellersCollaborationsInspector ClouseauThe Pink Panther

Places mentioned

London, England, United Kingdom
"Sellers had impressed the Dutch Jewish impresario Vivian Van Damm, who hired him in 1948 to headline at his Windmill Theatre in London, where he provided comic relief between nude displays."
Haifa, Haifa District, Israel
"A few years earlier, Sellers had visited Israel, and in a missive from Haifa to the English Jewish actress Miriam Karlin, he included a mock heroic ode to the Jewish state in the style of William McGonagall, a Scottish poet celebrated a century after his era for writing extremely clumsy verse."
Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"The ode begins, Oh beautiful Tel Aviv, situated in Israel/ To sing its praise, I must not fail and is signed Sellers McGonagall Poet and Rabbi."

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Cairo Item ID 60929
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-09-08 05:30:51 UTC
Curated 2025-09-08 08:31:02 UTC