Within our culture, every school has a swimming pool. We lived on the coast. People swam in the surf. It's a very sporty nation and at that particular time anyone who had an artistic bent was very much an outsider. So if you liked reading or ideas or playing the piano then your dad viewed you as a sissy, basically.

I always had a fantasy of being a chef, because I like kitchen life.

You had to be into sport and, sad to say, I'm a traitor to my country because I don't have a sporting bone in my body.

I did not want to put myself on the line, as an Australian playing Britain's greatest comic actor. The fans of Sellers are obsessive, possessive - and aggressive. I did not want to risk their anger - or my own reputation.

I always felt thrilled and amazed that I could put actor on my tax form.

I always felt thrilled and amazed that I could put actor on my tax form.