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 Indian actor who accidentally receives an invitation to a lavish Hollywood dinner party. His character, according to Sellers's biographer Peter Evans, was "clearly an amalgam of Clouseau and the doctor in "The Millionairess"". Roger Lewis notes that like a number of Sellers's characters, he is played in a sympathetic and dignified manner. He followed it later that year with Hy Averback's "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas", playing an attorney who abandons his lifestyle to become a hippie. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three stars, remarking that Sellers was "back doing what he does best", although