dangerousminds - Many actors are superstitious, some like Peter Bull kept a collection of Teddy bears to bring him luck; others like Jack Lemmon said the words, “It’s magic time,” before filming each take. But none were quite as obsessed with superstitions and the Occult as comedy legend, Peter Sellers.
Sellers’ introduction to the Occult came via fellow Goon, Michael Bentine, the Watford-born Peruvian, who had grown-up in a household where seances and table-turning were regularly practiced. Not long after they first met, Bentine told Sellers of his psychic abilities - how during the Second World War, when Bentine served in the Royal Air Force, he had been able to tell which of his comrades would die before a bombing mission. Bentine claimed if he saw a skull instead of his colleague’s features, then he knew this person would be killed. How often Bentine was correct in his predictions is not known. No matter, Sellers was impressed by the shock-haired comic and was soon obsessed with all things paranormal.
From then on he collected superstitions, as easily as others collect stamps. He refused to wear green or act with anyone dressed in the color. If anyone gave him something sharp, he gave them a penny. He read his horoscopes every day, to divine what he should do.
Sellers often said he had no idea who he was: “If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am.” This was his way of renouncing any responsibility for his actions. He claimed he found comfort and stability in consulting clairvoyants and fortune tellers, which again only underlines the fact he did know who he was - a control freak, who wanted power over his future. It was inevitable, therefore, that once under the spell of sooth-sayers and psychics, Sellers was open to fraudsters, tricksters and con-men.
The clairvoyant who had most influence over his life was Maurice Woodruff, the famed TV and newspaper astrologer, whose syndicated column reached over fifty million people at the height of his career. Woodruff received over 5,000 letters a week, asking for advice and had a Who’s Who of of celebrity clients, including Lionel Bart and Diana Dors. He also famously predicted the death of President John F. Kennedy and the end of the Vietnam War. Sellers was devoted to Woodruff, consulting him before he accepted any roles, and regularly had Tarot readings performed over the telephone. But Woodruff was heavily in debt and open to the persuasion of a little cash earner when film studios asked him to suggest film scripts for the actor.
One famous tale, recounts how Woodruff was asked to suggest the initials of director Blake Edwards as being very important to him. Unfortunately, Sellers failed to connect ‘B.E.’ with the famous director. On return to the Dorchetser Hotel, his usual residence when in London, Sellers was smitten by the sight of a beautiful, young blonde-haired woman at reception. When he enquired as to who this vision of loveliness was, he was told Britt Ekland. Sellers recalled Woodruff’s prediction and married Ekland within weeks.
Not long after the marriage, Sellers suffered a multiple-heart attack in California, in part caused by his heavy use of Amyl Nitrate. As he later told his close friend and first biographer, Peter Evans:
“When a 38-year-old bloke marries a 21-year-old bird, he needs all the help he can get. We used poppers (amyl nitrate), you know, to tweak the thrill a bit. Bubbly, poppers and Britt. It was all too much. Before I knew it, I was dead as a bloody kipper.”
Sellers ‘died’ on the the operating table, and had an out-of-body experience that influenced the rest of his life.
“Well, I felt myself leave my body. I just floated out of my physical form and I saw them cart my body away to the hospital. I went with it ... I wasn’t frightened or anything like that because I was fine; and it was my body that was in trouble. I looked around myself and I saw an incredibly beautiful bright loving white light above me. I wanted to go to that white light more than anything. I’ve never wanted anything more. I know there was love, real love, on the other side of the light which was attracting me so much. It was kind and loving and I remember thinking That’s God.
“Then I saw a hand reach through the light. I tried to touch it, to grab onto it, to clasp it so it could sweep me up and pull me through it.” But just then his heart began beating again, and at that instant the hand’s voice said, “It’s not time. Go back and finish. It’s not time.”
What Sellers probably saw was the doctor who massaged his heart back to life.
Following his death experience, Sellers immersed himself in the Occult. He began to practice Ouija and increased his use of marijuana to open up his untapped psychic powers. Through Ouija, Sellers had conversations with a variety famous people from history, leading friend and fellow Goon, Spike Milligan, to jest that Sellers only made contact with the likes of Napoleon, Julius Ceaser and Leonardo Da Vinci, rather than a John Doe.
Sellers believed the Occult shaped his performances. For The Optimists (aka The Optimist of Nine Elms) he believed he was possessed by Music Hall comic, Dan Leno, who created the central character of Sam. Sellers used Ouija to talk with Leno, who seemed oblivious to anything had gone wrong in his life, which was odd, considering the great Music Hall comic died at the age of 43, from “General Paralysis Of The Insane,” or syphilis, in a lunatic asylum. For his last great performance, as Chance, in Being There, he channelled Stan Laurel to create the role.
When his mother, Peg, died, Sellers again kept in touch through Ouija. Though Peg was more interested in her pet dog, who was also on the other side, rather than what her son was up to. Convinced he would live to be in his seventies, Sellers refused to have the open-heart surgery that could have saved his life. He died of a heart-attack at the age of 54, in 1980.
Paranormal Peter Sellers from Blackwatch Media on Vimeo
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Puma Sighting In Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
thesun - A puma is on the prowl... in Royal Tunbridge Wells, locals warned last night.
The five-foot beast was seen roaming near bins by two women at a leisure park in the Kent town.
Staff at the complex, near woods, also reported hearing terrifying growls.
Ashish Patel, manager of Frankie and Benny's restaurant, said: "I was locking up when I heard an almighty noise from behind the restaurant.
"I opened the door and realised it was coming from the woods.
"It sounded like two ferocious animals snarling at each other.
"The woodland is very dark and thick so it was pretty scary. It made me think of a lion.
"I know there have been sightings of big cats in this area before."
One Odeon cinema worker added: "We heard a growling then scraping like claws on a metal blind. We all left at the same time that night - there was no way any of us was going out alone."
Expert Neil Arnold said he had received several big cat reports from the area - including from the two women.
He said: "It was 200 yards in front of them.
"The women said it was enormous, about 4ft to 5ft with a very long tail.
"The animal was a puma, 100 per cent. The tail is what many people talk about - it is 3ft long and curls down and back like an 'S' shape.
"They were spooked, they didn't fancy going any further."
He said the beast would be living off rabbits and pheasants.
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The 'Crying Boy' Mystery Solved
thesun - In a chilling story that gripped the UK in 1985, the Yorkshire home of Ron and May Hall was gutted by fire - but their painting of a crying boy remained unscathed. Hundreds more people went on to report experiences of house fires where a Crying Boy painting had survived. Now comedian STEVE PUNT has re-examined the "curse" for his Radio 4 programme Punt PI, in which he investigates quirky unsolved mysteries.
25 years ago, George Michael was a bouffant-haired pop god, David Cameron had just started at university - and Britain was in the grip of the Curse Of The Crying Boy. From all over the country came reports of house fires in which a picture of a tearful child was unscathed.
I remembered reading the story at the time and wanted to investigate whether anyone had ever solved the mystery.
I tracked one of the pictures down. Recession has clearly struck the art world because it was only a tenner.
I then talked to Kelvin MacKenzie - Editor of The Sun in 1985 who urged readers to send in their paintings before organising a bonfire - about what made the story so interesting.
The crucial factor, it seemed, was that it was a Yorkshire fireman, not a regular member of the public, who had noticed the unburnt painting and claimed that this was not the first time they had seen it survive a fire.
By this time I had realised that it wasn't just that the Crying Boy was involved in the fires - there were also rumours that it had STARTED them. How could that happen?
I talked to art expert Tim Marlow. He's not a big fan of the Crying Boy but did recognise the name of the artist, Bragolin, who died in 1981 and created a series of Crying Boy paintings for tourists in post-war Venice.
It didn't fit with the extraordinary tale that has appeared on the internet since the original story 25 years ago.
This version claims that the boy in the painting was an orphan whose parents had died in a fire. He was taken in by the painter despite warnings that he was a firestarter - a child who can burn things without touching them.
The artist's studio caught fire and he was ruined. The boy ran away - and ten years later a car crashed in flames on the outskirts of Barcelona.
The driver died in the crash, the online story goes, but a driving licence found inside showed it was the orphan boy.
This story is, of course, too good to be true. And even if the child himself could start fires, that's not the same as a painting of him starting fires, let alone 50,000 copies.
It didn't, to be honest, seem very likely. But was it true that the picture didn't burn? I went to the Building Research Establishment - a laboratory near Watford where they set things on fire for research purposes.
The result was a little surprising. A flame put immediately in front of the painting did set fire to a corner of the frame but only burnt around the outer edge of the child's profile before petering out.
But it turns out there is a reason why paintings often survive fires relatively undamaged: It is to do with the string on the back burning through first.
The painting falls face-down, giving it protection from smoke and heat.
It's easy to see how the Crying Boy became such a phenomenon. It has all the ingredients of a great spooky story.
An eerie child, a rash of fires, a mysterious artist, a "supernatural" ability to survive flames... and a newspaper with an eye for a good story.
Many people were spooked and wanted to be rid of them but Kelvin MacKenzie thinks there is another reason why the paintings flooded in.
He reckons many came from couples where one person had never liked the picture anyway - and saw a good opportunity to get rid of it.
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Blobfish Faces Extinction
These sad-looking creatures, which grow up to lengths of 12 inches, live at depths of 900m.
They spend most of their time gently floating around waiting for food to pass in front of them, which sounds like quite a nice life to us!
Because they live so far from the sea surface they're not often seen by humans.
However, increasing levels of deep-sea fishing in Australia and Tasmania for crab and lobster mean that the sulky sea-dwellers are being dragged up with other catches in increasing numbers.
These gelatinous masses may not be much to look at, but the world would be a less interesting place without them, probably, so let's hope the Australians don't kill them off.
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Maltese Man Claims Virgin Mary Appears To Him Each Wednesday
madmikesamerica - Malta is an island in the Mediterranean. It has an area of 121 square miles and a population of 412,000. One of the coastal towns is called Borg in-Nadur – Angelik Caruana lives there, he and his followers claim the Virgin Mary appears to him every Wednesday, and he says Our Lady’s latest message was a stern warning for people not to heed the will of the majority.
Do not take notice or pay heed to what the majority of the population is saying. They want divorce, my children. It is not the solution to repair the family. It is the deceit of the devil,” the Virgin Mary is quoted as having told Mr Caruana last week.
An appeal is then made for people to stop being taken for a ride by the devil and to return to Jesus.
Her message was uploaded onto the video sharing website You Tube and is the third time this year that divorce has been the subject of the apparitions.
“My children, take the situation seriously, for once divorce is legalized in your country, what happened abroad will happen to you too: the result will be very ugly,” her message continues.
Contacted about the apparitions last month, the Curia had said it was observing the online videos, consulting experts and relaying everything to the Vatican.
Mr Caruana originally made headlines when a statue of the Virgin that he owns allegedly started weeping tears of blood and oozing a large quantity of oil, a phenomenon said to continue to this day.
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