Al rumoured for West End show

Playwright John Antrobus – who knew Sellers as he co-wrote some of the Goon Shows – says the Hollywood star has been very impressed by the script.

It's All In The Mind, Folks! is being developed by the Theatre Royal Haymarket, and will be directed by Blake Edwards – who directed Sellers in the Pink Panther films.

‘We have been looking at some top, top names,’ Antrobus is quoted as saying. ‘The play is about Peter's last days. It is difficult to cast. We have been looking at some of the world's greatest actors,.

‘To play the real Sellers is not easy. [But] Al Pacino loved the script.’

Robert Downey Jnr has previously been linked to the role, after Robin Williams and Steve Coogan reportedly turned it down.

Last year, Antrobus said: ‘I was with Peter from the early days and we were kindred spirits. The play tells the story of the end of Peter's life, when he knew he would have to find a new heart or die. It's sad but it's also funny’

Sellers was 54 when he died of a heart attack in 1980. Geoffrey Rush played him in a 2005 HBO movie about his life.

Antrobus has recently written the play Of Good Report – about his years working alongside Spike Milligan and Galton and Simpson at Associated London Scripts – as well as the stage revival of Steptoe And Son.

Published: 4 Feb 2008