Anecdotes

Following her own death, Frederick left $250,000 to be split between the British Heart Foundation and the Middlesex Hospital in London as tribute to her late husband, Peter Sellers (who died of a heart attack). As a sign of gratitude, the Middlesex Hospital hung up a plaque thanking both Sellers and Frederick for their generous donation.

Had one daughter, Cassie Cecilia Unger (born 21 May 1983) by her third husband, Barry S. Unger. Following her mother's death when she was 10 years old, Cassie inherited all income from Peter Sellers' estate, including royalties from his work. Cassie was brought up mainly by her maternal grandmother Iris Frederick (born 17 May 1928, died 11 January 2006). Cassie graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a master's degree in English and continues to lead a peaceful, productive, and private life in great anonymity.

Lynne Frederick's funeral was held on 5 May 1994 in Santa Monica, California. Attendees at her private funeral and memorial service included her daughter Cassie Unger, her ex-husband Barry Unger, her mother Iris Frederick, her Nicolas et Alexandra (1971) co-star Fiona Fullerton, and other personal family and friends of Frederick. Her ex-husband David Frost and Sellers' children did not attend. Her funeral and memorial service were concealed from the public and members of the press were banned. The press later made a mockery of how few people attended her funeral, which her mother Iris later claimed was her daughter's wish. In an exclusive interview with Hello Magazine in 1995, Frederick's mother stated "that's what she requested in her will. She [Lynne Frederick] was a very private person.".

Peter Sellers biographer, Roger Lewis, claims that of all of Sellers's wives, Lynne Frederick was the most poorly treated. Frederick spent much time acting as nurse to Sellers as his health began to spiral downward in the final years of his life. Despite the fact that Sellers was an increasingly impatient and hostile person to be around, Frederick remained by his side. Rumor has it that Frederick suffered much physical and mental abuse at the hands of Sellers.

Spent nine months living with her Nicolas et Alexandra (1971) co-stars Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Roderic Noble, Ania Marson, Candace Glendenning, and Fiona Fullerton. The film's director, Franklin J. Schaffner, wanted the actors to establish a close family like relationship to make their performances more authentic. According to press reports at the time, Schaffner had noticed that they had all grown close and got so caught up in the story that the actors seemed like a real family. During the execution scene, Frederick and the other young actresses reportedly got so hysterical in between takes that shooting had to stop for a brief period of time for them to calm down.

Despite the fact that she smoked in a few films, in real life she actually abhorred the habit and found smoking disgusting.

After the death of her first husband, Peter Sellers, she became fiercely protective of his name. She even won a $1.475-million lawsuit against the makers of À la recherche de la panthère rose (1982), claiming that it insulted his memory. Following the lawsuit, Frederick was very cautious over the distribution of his films and made sure that each one was handled with respect to her late husband. She also provided previously unreleased home videos and photographs of Sellers for a documentary. In the later years of her life, she insisted on being referred to as Lynne Sellers.

Was portrayed by Emilia Fox in the HBO movie Moi, Peter Sellers (2004). But the scenes where later deleted due to legal reasons. On portraying Frederick, Fox stated "I had thought very carefully about playing Lynne. I wanted to represent her in a way that I though was fair - which was a very young girl being taken up in this world of laughter and light, and then finding out the reality." Fox's deleted scenes are available on the special features section of the DVD.

Described as one of the most promising, talented, beautiful, and ascending young British actresses of the 1970s, there has been continued belief that she would have achieved greater career success had it not been for her marriage to Peter Sellers. Many accredit the negative events after her marriage to Sellers (such as the loss of her acting career, blacklisting in Hollywood, and untimely death).

Peter Sellers first proposed to Lynne two days after meeting her, which she refused. A year later he proposed again, this time she accepted and they eloped in Paris on February 18, 1977.

The exact nature of Lynne Frederick's death has been the subject of much discussion, controversy, and debate. The common idea has been that she died due to alcoholism. The autopsy report, which has never completely released to the public, failed to find a cause of death but did rule out suicide and foul play. Another theory that was published in a newspaper article shortly after her death (titled "Lynne's Last Missed Kiss" written by Terry Willows) claimed that Lynne fell in her bathroom and hit her head a week before she died, which could have been a contributing factor to her death (although this has never been confirmed). On the other hand, her mother, Iris Frederick, claimed, in a 1995 interview with "Hello Magazine", that her daughter's death was due to natural causes after she experienced a seizure in her sleep. Many tabloids reported that Lynne had developed a history of seizures in the years leading up to her death, validating her mother's claim.

Learned how to horseback ride for her role in Les six femmes d'Henri VIII (1972). This proved useful as she also had to ride horses in Follyfoot (1971), Phase IV (1974), and El vicio y la virtud (1975).

Was briefly estranged from her mother, Iris Frederick, during the course of her marriage to Peter Sellers. They later rekindled following the depression and public backlash that Lynne faced after Sellers' death.

Attended a private all-girls school in Middlesex, England, while growing up.

Campaigned to play Cosette in the 1978 Emmy-nominated, British made-for-television film adaptation of Les misérables (1978). When she auditioned for the role of Cosette, she also read for the part of Fantine but was ultimately deemed to be too old to play Cosette and too young to play Fantine.

Was excluded from the 67th Academy Awards annual 'In Memoriam' tribute, despite being in two Oscar nominated films.

Is interred at Golders Green Crematorium in London. Her ashes are intermingled with those of her first husband, Peter Sellers, which are buried in a rosebush, plot #39802. Her grave marker is on a brick wall next to the rose bed which she is buried in, and she is commemorated under her married name "Lynne Sellers".

Never knew her biological father, Andrew Frederick, as he walked out of her life when she was two years of age and lived in America until his death in 1983. She considered the British actor David Niven as her adopted father figure. She became close with Niven after working with him on a television film adaptation of Le fantôme de Canterville (1974). Frederick and Niven made many appearances together at public events over the years. She had even personally asked Niven to speak at a memorial service for her late husband, Peter Sellers. In the aftermath of Frederick's blacklisting in Hollywood after Sellers' death, Niven was one of the few people in show business who did not turn against her. They remained close friends until Niven's death on 29 July 1983, which was just four days after Frederick's 29h birthday and eight weeks after the birth of her daughter.

Stepmother of Michael Sellers, Victoria Sellers and Sarah Sellers.

Married Peter Sellers right after she finished filming Schizo (1976).

Her last public appearance was on 28 November 1982 at the 10th Annual Evening Standard British Film Awards.

Auditioned for the title role of Alice in Alice au pays des merveilles (1972) but was considered too beautiful and grown up for the role. Her Nicolas et Alexandra (1971) co-star Fiona Fullerton got the role instead. Coincidentally her future husband, Peter Sellers, starred in the film too.

Suffered at least one miscarriage during the course of her marriage to David Frost. This was allegedly one of the leading causes to their divorce.

Educated at the Notting Hill and Ealing High School for Girls. Left school when nearly 16 to play a leading role in 'No Blade of Grass'.

While living in California during the later years of her life, she once lived in a house that was previously owned by Hollywood legend Gary Cooper.

Very little was known about her personally and reports about the nature of her true character vary. Her Nicolas et Alexandra (1971) co-star Tom Baker recalled her as being very nice but very reserved and somewhat closed off. Fabio Testi and Mark Burns have similar accounts of Frederick being very nice but more effervescent rather than closed off. Frederick's Play For Today co-star, Benedict Taylor, said that "she had a lot of glamour about her, a very beautiful woman, and someone in the news at the time, a time when there weren't that many home-grown celebrities". Peter Sellers's elder daughter, Sarah, recalled Lynne as being very bubbly, warm, and engaging but slightly airheaded. Most of the negative reports of Lynne (that became most well-known about her) came after Sellers' death and controversial will which was followed by her blacklisting in Hollywood. Most of these 'reports' have been dismissed as being pretenses and mere attempts to further blacken her name, furthermore holding no realistic accounts of her true nature. Frederick herself became a very private individual after her divorce from her second husband and she was hardly ever seen in public after that, which contributed to the lack of knowledge about her personally.

In February 2018, actress Judy Matheson revealed on social media that she and Lynne Frederick were slated to appear together in a film during the early 1970s. The two actresses spent three weeks living together in a shared hotel room in Holland while waiting for producers to gather funds to budget the film (which was ultimately canceled due to financial withdrawal). While Matheson and Frederick never worked together on-screen, Matheson recalled Frederick as being "totally lovely" and "great company". She even stated that they managed to have fun together despite being marooned while waiting for a film project that never materialized.

Had a collection of rings. Each one was acquired during the course of her career whenever she traveled to foreign countries for her work. She even occasionally wore them on film.

Requested that Frank Sinatra's song "My Way" be played at her funeral.

Served as a model and spokesperson for Protein 21 hair shampoo in 1971, and appeared in many advertisements and television commercials for the product.

Was discovered by actor and film director, Cornel Wilde.

Throughout the span of her 10-year career, she worked with many noble and prominent English actors; including Nigel Davenport, Michael Jayston, John Hurt, Malcolm McDowell, John Hallam, Tom Baker, Anthony Higgins, Michael Gough, Simon Ward, Laurence Naismith, Jack Hawkins, Lionel Jeffries, Frankie Howerd, Bruce Forsyth, Jeremy Irons, David Niven, Michael Gambon, John Leyton, and Peter Sellers.

At the age of 16, she is the youngest actress to portray Henry VIII's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, on-screen as of 2017 (in the film Les six femmes d'Henri VIII (1972)). Her performance is noted for its great historical accuracy in portraying Howard from a deeply sympathetic perspective, many noting her performance in the film as the finest adaptation of Catherine Howard in cinema.

Was the first receiver of "Best New Coming Actress" from the Evening Standard British Film Awards in 1973 for her breakout performances in Les six femmes d'Henri VIII (1972) and The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972). She is one of only eight recipients to hold this honorary title (as it has since been retired since 1980). She was also the youngest actress to receive this award. The location of her medal is unknown but is presumably in the possession of her daughter, Cassie.

Her image and likeliness as Catherine Howard was used on the paperback book cover for the 1982 novel 'The Dark Rose' by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.

Daughter of Iris Frederick.

Once presented fellow British actress Julie Dawn Cole with a drama award while Cole was attending theater school.

Was named by a top British National newspaper as its "Face of 1971".

Cut her long brown hair for her role in Le voyage des damnés (1976).

Was good friends with Françoise Pascal. They first became acquainted with each other in 1972 when they co-starred on an episode of the television anthology series BBC Play of the Month.

Her third husband Barry Unger was an American heart specialist.

Died four weeks prior to her daughter's 11th birthday, and three weeks before her mother's 66th birthday.

In the 10-year span of her acting career, she made 17 television appearances in made-for-television films/shows, 13 theatrical release films, and produced one movie. The range of characters she played on screen included three princesses, one queen, a prostitute, a paranoid schizophrenic, a lesbian, a saloon singer, a gypsy, a Jewish refugee in WWII, and more.

Was good friends with her Nicolas et Alexandra (1971) co-star and onscreen sister, Fiona Fullerton.

Was said to have turned down a dinner date offer from Ryan O'Neal when she was in her early 20s.

Lobbied intensely for the role of Meggie Cleary in Les oiseaux se cachent pour mourir (1983) and even dyed her hair red to campaign herself. Despite her impressive acting credits, the producers ultimately decided that they wanted a much bigger catch.

Some of her favorite singers where Frank Sinatra and Simon & Garfunkel.

Had her first onscreen kiss with Keith Michell in Les six femmes d'Henri VIII (1972).

Was not raised particularly religious. Even though she never disclosed or identified with a specific faith or non-faith to the public, she was agnostic. After the death of her first husband, Peter Sellers, she visited a psychic. Although the physic reading did not turn out the way she planned, this suggests that did acknowledge or at least believe in a higher power.

Many of Lynne Frederick's films have garnered cult followings in recent years. Most notably Le Cirque des vampires (1972), The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972), Phase IV (1974), Au-delà de l'amour (1975), and Schizo (1976).