Lynne Frederick inherited £4million as Peter Sellers died before final divorce
Simon de Bruxelles
November 5, 2009
Times Online
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/celebrity/article6903612.ece
Peter Sellers had reached a final divorce settlement with his fourth wife that would have deprived her of any claim on his estate — but he died before the document became binding, according to legal papers that have come to light.

The settlement, which was never made public, meant that Lynne Frederick was expecting to walk away from the three-year marriage to one of the world’s best-loved comic actors with £375,000 in a one-off payment and ownership of their Los Angeles home.

In the event, Sellers died at 54 on July 24, 1980, before the divorce became final, and Ms Frederick was able to claim his entire £4.5 million estate. His three children, from previous marriages, were left £750 each.

Ms Frederick died an alcoholic in 1994 and the fortune left by the star of the Goons and Pink Panther films has since been inherited by her daughter by her next-but-one husband after Sellers. Cassie Ungar, 25, who lives in Los Angeles, never met her benefactor.

Rumours that Sellers planned to cut his estranged wife out of his will began circulating after his death but Ms Frederick always denied them. Both parties signed the agreement after they separated but, as the decree absolute was never completed, they were legally still married when he died.

The fortune inherited by Ms Frederick included properties around the world, Sellers’s art collection, family heirlooms and the rights to his films.

His children, Michael, Sarah and Victoria, were unable to challenge the will as they had been given token amounts and had not been left out “by mistake”.

The agreement, dated June 15, 1979, was acquired by a collector and is being sold at auction in Devizes, Wiltshire, on November 14.

Roger Lewis, the author of The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, said that Ms Frederick publicly denied knowledge of the settlement. He said Sellers had been in the process of rewriting his will to leave the bulk of his fortune to the British Heart Foundation but collapsed after a heart attack and died the day before he was due to sign it.

Mr Lewis was told by Spike Milligan, another former member of the Goons, that he had pleaded with Ms Frederick, a successful actress, to make provision for Sellers’s children. “She relished the role of Mrs Sellers and played the grieving widow after he died, which his children found deeply offensive,” Mr Lewis said. “His first wife, Anne, and Spike Milligan went to see Lynne Frederick at the Dorchester Hotel and implored her to make some sort of settlement towards the children. She said no, because it was his last wish for her to have his money. But on the basis of this document it would seem that she shouldn’t have claimed his £4 million estate or the royalties to his films.”

He claims that Ms Frederick had coerced Sellers into cutting his ties with his children before they married in 1977. “When she came along he was in his fifties and she was 30 years younger than him. She was very manipulative. She didn’t want him to have anything to do with his former relationships, including his children. She threatened to leave him and his way of keeping her was to write his will so that she inherited the lot. I never met anyone who had a good word to say about her. She was a nasty, manipulative little gold-digger.”

The auctioneer, Andrew Aldridge, who expects the document to sell for up to £3,000, said: “Peter Sellers’s friends said he had been trying to cut Lynne out of his will and these papers substantiate those claims.”

Of Sellers’s children, Michael died of heart failure in 2006 at 52, Victoria, from his second marriage, to Britt Ekland, is a former drug addict living in California; and Sarah runs an antique teddy bear shop in London.

The Mystery of Sellers’ Millions
Adrian Lee
November 5, 2009
Daily Express
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/138306/The-mystery-of-Sellers-millions/
WHEN Peter Sellers’ will was read after his untimely death it seemed that the comedian was determined to have the last laugh from the grave. With a final admonition telling them to “stand on their own two feet” his children Michael, Victoria and Sarah were left almost penniless. Even his lawyer and accountant received more.

For the three, who’d endured their father’s notorious mood swings, perhaps this final cruelty should not have come as a surprise. Instead the man, who is still recognised as one of the finest comic geniuses the nation has produced, left his £4.5million ­fortune to his fourth wife Lynne ­Frederick.

When Frederick subsequently died and the money passed to her daughter Cassie – a young woman born four years after Sellers fell victim to a heart attack aged 54 – the betrayal of the children appeared complete.

Now, however, the wrangle over the Pink Panther star’s millions has produced a sting in the tail. Legal papers which have gathered dust for years but are now about to be auctioned, confirm that Sellers was planning to cut Frederick almost entirely out of his will. At the time of his death they were going through a bitter divorce and the former Goon intended her to receive just £327,000 plus the home they shared in Los Angeles.

The documents show that Frederick, who died in 1994, was not only aware of Sellers’ plans but had signed a waiver in which she agreed to the deal. Crucially, the decree absolute was not completed by the time ­Sellers died and so they were legally still ­married. Frederick inherited his ­fortune, including properties around the world, his art collection, family heirlooms and rights to his films.

For Sellers’ two surviving children – son Michael died of a heart attack aged just 52 in 2006 – the discovery may bring some comfort, even if a legal challenge is now unlikely.

Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son Auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, who is handling the sale later this month, says: “This is a ­fascinating document that sheds light on what was going on behind closed doors in their marriage.

“Peter Sellers’ friends always said he had been trying to cut Lynne Frederick out of his will and these papers substantiate those claims after nearly 30 years. They prove that it wasn’t his intention for her to inherit his estate at the time he died and she had in effect agreed to this. He would have had to amend his will after their divorce came through and he might have left a lot more to his children.”

Until now the documents, which are expected to fetch £3,000, have been in a private collection. Their father’s final act haunted the three children long after he died in 1980.

Victoria, whose mother is Sellers’ second wife Britt Ekland, struggled to cope with life in her father’s shadow, spending 20 years in and out of prison and rehab. She eventually won an extra £10,000 from the Sellers estate for school fees but now ekes a living as a jewellery designer in Los Angeles.

Accounts given by his children show that Sellers, probably best known for his portrayal of the hapless Inspector Clouseau, could be a tyrant.

In one incident when Michael was just five Sellers thrashed him mercilessly with his belt after the boy innocently tried to repair a tiny scratch on his father’s beloved Bentley. Then Sellers stormed inside and took away all his son’s toys, leaving only one on a shelf he could not reach.

Michael, who became an occasional builder and property developer, also said that in his teens he received a ­letter from Sellers saying: “I no longer wish to be thought of as your father. The time has come for you to continue on your own way. My final suggestion is that you change your surname.”

Victoria, 45, said after her brother’s death: “I’m sure he died of a broken heart because he was never able to get over my father’s treatment of him. Dad snubbed us in his will and Michael went to his grave feeling such pain.”

Michael, who died 26 years to the day after his father, once said: “Dad had a mercurial, irrational temper, you could upset him with a look.” It’s said Michael only found some degree of happiness when his mother, Sellers’ first wife Anne Howe, remarried.

There was also the time when ­Sellers gave Victoria a pony, only to snatch it away and present it to Princess Margaret, with whom he was said to have had an affair, for her children.

Sellers, born Richard Henry Sellers in Southsea, Hampshire, was alleged to have had countless other affairs including one with Liza Minnelli. The master of the comedy accent, he was adored by fans but like many funny-men struggled with demons off stage. He was notoriously fickle and would discard friends for trifling reasons.

Even Prince Charles, one of his devotees, incurred his wrath when Lynne Frederick was not invited to the royal premiere of The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Sellers said: “If Lynne is not allowed to be there, I’m bloody well not going myself.”

Appearing on the Michael Parkinson show in 1974 when he dressed up as a member of the Gestapo, Sellers admitted: “I’m not easy to live with.”

Sarah, now 52, is the only one of his three children who appears to have emerged relatively unscarred. Today she lives quietly and runs an antique teddy bear shop in central London.

She says: “It was widely known at the time that my father intended to change his will. We looked into it but nothing could be done. This won’t make any difference. I felt hurt at the time but you just get on with your life. I don’t really want to say too much and drag it all up again. It all happened a long time ago and feelings change.”

Sellers and Lynne Frederick were married for only three years but had no children. Soon after Sellers died she married broadcaster David Frost, divorced him and then married Barry Unger, a Californian cardiologist.

Frederick increased her fortune by a further £1million after suing the makers of the 1982 film Trail Of The Pink Panther, which was panned by critics. It was made after Sellers’ death and brought Clouseau back to life by splicing out-takes from previous films. His ex-wife claimed it tarnished her late husband’s memory.

Frederick died in 1994 at just 39 from alcoholic complications. Few, it seems, who were close to the comedian were untouched by tragedy.

Michael Sellers said of his stepmother: “Her money brought her no happiness. She died bloated, miserable and hopelessly addicted to drink and drugs. I was appalled when her ashes were mingled with my father’s.”

Her daughter Cassie Unger, now 26, became the sole heir and Sellers’ fortune passed into a trust fund which is administered by a Californian accountancy firm in Santa Monica for Cassie’s benefit. She is in the final stages of a four-year English degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she reportedly has a £1.2million apartment. A friend says: “She’s very low-key. She shops at the local supermarket and rarely goes out at night. She’s just a normal student, even if she does have a luxury apartment and millions in the bank.”

Roger Lewis, who wrote Peter Sellers’ biography The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers, says the discovery of the document proves Frederick was wrong to claim his fortune.

He believes that Sellers, who suffered a series of heart attacks when he was 38 and at his death had been due to have surgery a month later, would have left most of his money to the British Heart Foundation. However he died the day before arrangements were to be confirmed.

Mr Lewis adds: “I don’t know about his other children but he was back on terms with Michael towards the end. The lawyer was going to come back the next day so he could sign the papers but Peter dropped dead. Lynne Frederick relished the role of Mrs Peter Sellers and played the grieving widow after he died, which his children found offensive.”

The biographer describes Frede­rick as “a gold digger.” He claims Sellers’ friend, fellow comic Spike Milligan, pleaded with her to leave some money to his children.

He adds: “She refused, stating it was his last wish for her to have his money and his will had to be abided by. Spike Milligan later told me this. Yet on the basis of this new document it would seem that she shouldn’t have claimed his fortune or the royalties to his films.”

Mr Lewis claims Frederick bribed Sellers into cutting all ties with his children before they married in 1977. “When she came along he was in his 50s and she was 30 years younger than him. She was very manipulative. She didn’t want him to have anything to do with his former relationships, including his children. She threatened to leave him and his way of keeping her was to write his will so she inherited the lot. I never met anyone who had a good word to say about her. She was a nasty, manipulative little gold-digger.

“It is now incredible that her daughter, who has no connection whatsoever with Peter Sellers, has his money when there are two of his three children who have nothing.”