The Magic Christian (novel) The Magic Christian (novel) The Magic Christian is a 1959 comic novel by American author Terry Southern (1924–1995) about an odd billionaire who spends most of his time playing elaborate practical jokes on people. It is known for bringing Southern to the attention of filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, who had received a copy as a gift from Peter Sellers, and subsequently hired him as co-writer for "Dr. Strangelove" (1964) when Kubrick decided to make that film a black comedy/satire, rather than a straightforward thriller. In 1969, "The Magic Christian" was made into a film starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr; the
Peter Sellers the voice of Alfonso Bedoya in "The Black Rose". He continued to work with Bentine, Milligan, and Secombe. On 3 February 1951, he made a trial tape entitled "The Goons", and sent it to the BBC producer Pat Dixon, who eventually accepted it. The first "Goon Show" was broadcast on 28 May 1951. Against their wishes, they appeared under the name "Crazy People". Sellers appeared in "The Goons" until the last programme of the ten-series run, broadcast on 28 January 1960. Sellers played four main characters—Major Bloodnok, Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, Bluebottle and Henry Crun—and seventeen minor ones. Starting with 370,000 listeners,