After the first day 's shooting , Sellers sprained his ankle while leaving a restaurant and could no longer work in the cramped cockpit set . Kubrick then re-cast Slim Pickens as Kong . The three roles Sellers undertook were distinct , " variegated , complex and refined " , and critic Alexander Walker considered that these roles " showed his genius at full stretch " . Sellers played Muffley as a bland , placid intellectual in the mould of Adlai Stevenson ; he played Mandrake as an unflappable Englishman ; and Dr. Strangelove , a character influenced by pre-war German cinema , as a wheelchair-bound fanatic . The critic for '' The Times '' wrote that the film includes , " three remarkable performances from Mr. Peter Sellers , masterly as the President , diverting as a revue-sketch ex-Nazi US Scientist ... and acceptable as an RAF officer , although the critic from '' The Guardian '' thought his portrayal of the RAF officer alone was , " worth the price of an admission ticket " . For his performance in all three roles , Sellers was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor at the 37th Academy Awards , and the Best British Actor award at the 18th British Academy Film Awards
37th Academy Awards
37th Academy Awards
Peter Sellers