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Dear Mr Simos,
I thank you for your reply and interest in my fortunate contacts with Peter Sellers in the film, Waltz of the Toreadors.
I was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1935 and had a bit part in the film "On the Beach".
In 1961, I was employed in the film Cleopatra, in Rome.
In the years 1962 - 67, while I was studying in London, I was lucky to get a call from the Film Artists association, where I was registered as a Film Artist: I was given jobs in over 40 miscellaneous movies. But the ones I remember the best and that gave me longer periods of time on the movie sets were: "This Sporting Life", with Richard Harris, who became a good friend of mine and "Half a Sixpence" with Tommy Steele, "The Password is Courage" with Dirk Bogarde, "We Joined the Navy" with Kenneth More and Lloyd Nolan, "The Victors" with Albert Finney, George Peppard, Romy Schneider, James Mitchum, etc ..
Being a member of the Film Artists Association in London and being more or less Mr Sellers height and colouring, etc., gave me the opportunity for many jobs as stand in for Peter especially in the film "The Waltz of the Toreador". I worked for several months off and on with Mr Sellers and stood in for him while he studied his lines. He invited me and others to his dressing room and invited us to food and cokes and good talk. I found him to be a very nice person and really quite funny. He was humble and always wanted to please. As he and I worked together while experts measured out distances and fixed the lighting he sometimes asked me if I was getting fed up with all the bloody heat and boredom. On several occasions he invited me at the end of the day to watch the "rushes" - the filming of the day, with the director and other actors.
On the night of the Opening, the Film Artists Association asked me to be Mr Sellers double and act the part of Mr Sellers the night this film was to be presented to the public at the Odeon Theatre in Leicester Square, London.
I rented out an evening suit from Moss Bros in Soho and was picked up by the studio´s black Rolls Royce and taken through the crowds to the Odeon entrance where I had to leave the car and wave to the crowds. There were several hundred people standing behind the barricades to the entrance who all waved back and shouted to me.
I was met at the entrance by the manager of the cinema and shown to a lounge room upstairs in the theatre. Fifteen minutes later, I was joined by another young chap dressed in the same attire who told me he had just been driven up to the theatre in a Rolls Royce and met also by the manager. By the time half an hour had gone by, there were five of us in the room all dressed the same and with the same tale.
Just before the film was due to begin, a fire broke out across the square from the cinema so the firemen closed off the entrances to the square and we learned that Peter Sellers, who was also to have made his entrance the same way to confuse - even more - his fans who were cramming the footpaths outside, was forced to leave the Rolls in Piccadilly Circus and walk up to the Odeon and push his way through the crowds (unnoticed) as everyone´s attention was on the fire across the square.
At intermission, we all got together with Mr Sellers and laughed about the joke of us confusing the crowd and him not being able to get through the crowd.
The photos Mr Sellers gave to me several days later were taken in the foyer of the theatre with the manager - In one of the stills, he had just asked me what we should call ourselves to which I answered; The Pepper and Salt Cellars, which caused a great laugh and the new name got us quite a lot of work from the Film Artists Association, not only that, I was paid 17 sterling pounds for the night´s work - a small fortune back in the 60s.
I would be only too happy to send you some of the photos he gave me for your website. Do you have a wide band reception for your e-mail?
Best wishes,
Barry McGinley
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