Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE (icon or ˈ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter. A noted wit and raconteur, he was, for much of his career, a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits, as well as a respected intellectual and diplomat who, in addition to his various academic posts, served as a
Goodwill AmbassadorGoodwill Ambassador is a collective term sometimes used as a substitute honorific title or a title of honor for an Ambassador of Goodwill; but, most appropriately for a generic recognition, it is a job position or description that is usually indicated following the name of the individual recognized...
for UNICEF and President of the
World Federalist MovementThe World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...
.
Ustinov was the winner of numerous awards over his life, including two
Academy Awards for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, Emmy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards for acting, a
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for best recording for children, as well the recipient of governmental honours from, amongst others, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. He displayed a unique cultural versatility that has frequently earned him the accolade of a
Renaissance ManA polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
.
Miklós RózsaMiklós Rózsa was a Hungarian-born composer trained in Germany , and active in France , England , and the United States , with extensive sojourns in Italy from 1953...
, composer of the music for Quo Vadis and of numerous concert works dedicated his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 22 (1950) to Ustinov.
After his death in 2004,
Durham UniversityThe University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
renamed its Graduate Society as
Ustinov CollegeUstinov College is the largest college of Durham University. Founded as the Graduate Society in 1965, it became a college in 2003 and was named after the university's then chancellor, the late Sir Peter Ustinov. It is located at the Howlands Farm site at the top of Elvet Hill.-History:In 1965,...
to show significant contributions Sir Peter Ustinov made while serving as the Chancellor in 1992–2004.
Childhood and early life
Ustinov was born
Peter Alexander Baron von Ustinow in
Swiss CottageSwiss Cottage is a district of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. Thedistrict is located north-west of Charing Cross. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and is the location of Swiss Cottage tube station.-Etymology:...
, London. His father,
Jona (born Jonah Freiherr von Ustinow)Jona Baron von Ustinov was a German journalist and diplomat who worked for MI5 during the time of the Nazi regime...
, nicknamed "Klop" (Russian: Клоп, "bed-bug"), was of
RussianThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
,
GermanThe Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
and
EthiopianEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
noble descent, and had served as a lieutenant in the Imperial German Air Force in World War I. Jona's father was Plato von Ustinov. Jona (or Iona) worked as a press officer at the German Embassy in London in the 1930s, and was a reporter for a German news agency. In 1935, two years after
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
came to power in Germany, Iona von Ustinov began working for the British intelligence service
MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
and became a British citizen, thus avoiding internment during the war. He was the controller of Wolfgang zu Putlitz, an MI5 spy in the German embassy in London who furnished information on Hitler's intentions before
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. (
Peter WrightPeter Maurice Wright was an English scientist and former MI5 counterintelligence officer, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies...
mentions in his book
SpycatcherSpycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer , is a book written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. It was published first in Australia...
that Klop was possibly the spy known as U35; Ustinov says in his autobiography that his father hosted secret meetings of senior British and German officials at their London home.) Ustinov's great-grandfather Moritz Hall, a Jewish refugee from
KrakowKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and later a convert and collaborator of Swiss and German missionaries in Ethiopia, married into a German-Ethiopian family.
Ustinov's mother, Nadezhda Leontievna "Nadia" Benois, was a painter and ballet designer of
RussianThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
,
FrenchThe French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, and Italian ancestry. Her father
Leon BenoisLeon Benois was a Russian architect. He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandre Benois and Albert Benois, and the grandfather of the actor Sir Peter Ustinov...
was an imperial Russian architect and owner of
Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's painting
Madonna BenoisMadonna and Child with Flowers, otherwise known as the Benois Madonna, could be one of two Madonnas started by Leonardo da Vinci, as he remarked himself, in October 1478. The other one could be Madonna with the Carnation from Munich....
. His brother
Alexandre BenoisAlexandre Nikolayevich Benois , an influential artist, art critic, historian, preservationist, and founding member of Mir iskusstva , an art movement and magazine...
was a stage designer who worked with
StravinskyIgor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
and Diaghilev. Their paternal ancestor Jules-César Benois was a chef who had left France for St Petersburg during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and became a chef to
TsarTsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Paul.
Ustinov was educated at
Westminster SchoolThe Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and had a difficult childhood because of his parents' constant fighting. One of his schoolmates was
Rudolf von RibbentropRudolf von Ribbentrop is a former German Waffen-SS officer who served in World War II. He is the son of the German diplomat who later became Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Ribbentrop distinguished himself in the Continuation War.-Early life:Ribbentrop spent a year at Westminster School,...
, the eldest son of the
NaziNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Foreign MinisterThe Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs is the head of the Federal Foreign Office and a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The current office holder is Guido Westerwelle...
Joachim von RibbentropUlrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
. While at school he considered anglicizing his name to "Peter Austin" but was counselled against it by a fellow pupil who said that he should “Drop the ‘von’ but keep the ‘Ustinov’”. After training as an actor in his late teens, along with early attempts at playwriting, he made his stage début in 1938 at the
Players' TheatreThe Players' Theatre was a theatre in London as well as a theatre club for music hall in the style of the BBC programme "The Good Old Days".-Origins:...
, becoming quickly established. He later wrote, "I was not irresistibly drawn to the drama. It was an escape road from the dismal rat race of school."
Career highlights
Ustinov served as a private in the British Army during World War II, including time spent as batman to
David NivenJames David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
while writing a Niven film. In 1939 he appeared in White Cargo at the Aylesbury Rep, where he had a different accent every night. He also appeared in propaganda films, debuting in
One of Our Aircraft Is MissingOne of Our Aircraft is Missing is a 1942 British war film, the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers...
(1942), in which he was required to deliver lines in English, Latin and Dutch. After the war he began writing; his first major success was with the play The Love of Four Colonels (1951). He starred with
Humphrey BogartHumphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
and
Aldo RayAldo Ray was an American actor.-Life and career:Ray was born in Pen Argyl, PA, to an Italian family of five brothers and one sister. His brother Mario lettered in football at USC in the years 1952-54...
in We're No Angels (1955). His career as a dramatist continued, his best-known play being Romanoff and Juliet (1956). His film roles include Roman emperor
NeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
in
Quo VadisQuo Vadis is a 1951 epic film made by MGM. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist, from a screenplay by John Lee Mahin, S. N. Behrman and Sonya Levien, adapted from Henryk Sienkiewicz's classic 1896 novel Quo Vadis. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography...
(1951),
Lentulus BatiatusGnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus was the Roman owner of a gladiatorial school in Capua , in southern Italy. It was from this school that in 73 BC, the Thracian slave, Spartacus, and about 70 to 78 followers, escaped...
in Spartacus (1960), Captain Vere in
Billy BuddBilly Budd is a 1962 film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov. Adapted from the stage play version of Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd, it starred Terence Stamp as Billy Budd, Robert Ryan as John Claggart, and Ustinov as Captain Vere...
(1962), an old man surviving a totalitarian future in
Logan's RunLogan's Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources are managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing...
(1976), and, in half a dozen films,
Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. Along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975 and set in the same era.Poirot has been portrayed on...
, a part he first played in
Death on the NileDeath on the Nile is a 1978 film based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot played by Peter Ustinov plus an all-star cast. It takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River...
(1978). Ustinov voiced the anthropomorphic lion
Prince JohnJohn , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
of the 1973 Disney animated film
Robin HoodRobin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
. He also worked on several films as writer and occasionally director, including
The Way AheadThe Way Ahead is a British Second World War drama released in 1944. It stars David Niven and Stanley Holloway and follows a group of civilians who are conscripted into the British Army to fight in North Africa. In the U.S., an edited version was released as The Immortal Battalion.The film was...
(1944),
School for SecretsSchool for Secrets is a 1946 British film written and directed by Peter Ustinov and starring David Tomlinson, Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, Richard Attenborough, John Laurie and Michael Hordern...
(1946),
Hot MillionsHot Millions is an 1968 crime comedy film made by MGM. It was directed by Eric Till and produced by Mildred Freed Alberg, from a collaborative screenplay by Ira Wallach and star Peter Ustinov. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson, featuring the single "This Time" from Scottish singer Lulu...
(1968) and
Memed, My HawkMemed, My Hawk is a 1955 novel by Yaşar Kemal. It was Kemal's debut novel and is the first novel in his İnce Memed tetralogy. The novel won the Varlik prize for that year and earned Kemal a national reputation...
(1984).
Ustinov won Academy Awards for
Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for his roles in Spartacus (1960) and
TopkapiTopkapi is a heist film made by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by the emigre American film director, Jules Dassin...
(1964). He could arguably be considered the first man of known Russian descent to have won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. He also won one Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor for the film Quo Vadis (he set the Oscar and Globe statuettes up on his desk as if playing doubles tennis; the game was also a love of his life, as was ocean yachting). Furthermore, Ustinov was the winner of three Emmys, one Grammy, and was nominated for two Tony Awards.
Between 1952 and 1955, he starred with
Peter JonesPeter Jones was an English actor, screenwriter and broadcaster.-Early life and career:Jones was born in Wem, Shropshire and he was educated at the Wem Grammar School and Ellesmere College. He made his first appearance as an actor in Wolverhampton at the age of 16 and then appeared in repertory...
in the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio comedy In All Directions. The series featured Ustinov and Jones as themselves in a London car journey perpetually searching for Copthorne Avenue. The comedy derived from the characters they met, whom they often also portrayed. The show was unusual for the time as it was improvised rather than scripted. Ustinov and Jones improvised on a tape, which was very difficult then edited for broadcast by
Frank MuirFrank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
and
Denis NordenDenis Mostyn Norden CBE is a former English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during World War II. From 1948 to 1959, he co-wrote the successful BBC Radio comedy programme Take It from Here with Frank Muir...
, who also sometimes took part. The favourite characters were Morris and Dudley Grosvenor, two rather stupid
East EndThe East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
spivIn the United Kingdom, a spiv is a particular type of petty criminal, who deals in stolen or black market goods of questionable authenticity, especially a slickly-dressed man offering goods at bargain prices...
s whose sketches always ended with the phrase "Run for it Morry" (or Dudley as appropriate.)
During the 1960s, with the encouragement of
Sir Georg SoltiSir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
, Ustinov directed several operas including
PucciniGiacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
's
Gianni SchicchiGianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with...
,
RavelJoseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
's
L'heure espagnoleL'heure espagnole is a one-act opera, described as a comédie musicale, with music by Maurice Ravel to a French libretto by Franc-Nohain, based on his play of the same name first performed at the Théâtre de l'Odéon on 28 October 1904...
,
SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
's
ErwartungErwartung , Op.17 is a one-act opera by Arnold Schoenberg to a libretto by Marie Pappenheim. Composed in 1909, it was not premiered until June 6, 1924 in Prague conducted by Alexander Zemlinsky with Marie Gutheil-Schoder as the soprano. The work takes the unusual form of a monologue for solo...
and
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's
The Magic FluteThe Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. Further demonstrating his great talent and versatility in the theatre, Ustinov later did set and costume design for
Don GiovanniDon Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
.
His autobiography,
Dear MeDear Me is the title of an autobiography by Peter Ustinov that was first published in 1977. Often described as extremely egocentric and shamelessly self-advertising, the book chronicles conversations between his "all too solid flesh" and "remorseless spirit."...
(1977), was well received and saw him describe his life (ostensibly his childhood) while being interrogated by his own ego, with forays into philosophy, theatre, fame, and self-realization. In concluding, Ustinov muses "We have gone through much together, Dear Me, and yet it suddenly occurs to me we don't know each other at all".
In the later part of his life (from 1969 until his death), his acting and writing tasks took second place to his work on behalf of UNICEF, for which he was a Goodwill Ambassador and fundraiser. In this role he visited some of the neediest children and made use of his ability to make just about anybody laugh, including many of the world's most disadvantaged children. "Sir Peter could make anyone laugh," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy is quoted as saying. "His one-man show in German was the funniest performance I have ever seen — and I don’t speak a word of German."
On October 31, 1984, Ustinov was to meet with Indian Prime Minister
Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
. She was assassinated on her way to the meeting.
Ustinov also served as President of the
World Federalist MovementThe World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...
from 1991 until his death. He once said, "World Government is not only possible, it is inevitable; and when it comes, it will appeal to patriotism in its truest, in its only sense, the patriotism of men who love their national heritages so deeply that they wish to preserve them in safety for the common good."
He is best known to many Britons and Americans as a chat-show guest, a role to which he was ideally suited. He was an extremely frequent guest of
Jack PaarJack Harold Paar was an author, American radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962...
's Tonight Show in the early 1960s and was a guest on the famous "upside down" episode of the American talk show
Late NightLate Night is an American late-night talk and variety show airing on NBC since 1982. Late Night has been hosted by David Letterman , Conan O'Brien , and Jimmy Fallon...
, during which the camera, mounted on a slowly revolving wheel, gradually rotated the picture 360 degrees during the course of an hour; Ustinov appeared midway through and was photographed upside down in close-up as he spoke while his host only appeared in long shots. Toward the end of Ustinov's life he undertook some one-man stage shows in which he let loose his raconteur streak — he told the story of his life, including some moments of tension with the national society he was born into (as just one example, he took a test as a child which asked him to name a Russian composer; he wrote
Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
but was marked down, told the correct answer was
TchaikovskyPyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
since they had been studying him in class, and told to stop showing off).
A car enthusiast since the age of four, he owned a succession of interesting machines ranging from a
Fiat TopolinoThe Fiat 500, commonly known as Topolino , is an Italian automobile model manufactured by Fiat from 1936 to 1955.-History:...
, several
LanciaLancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more...
s, a
Hispano-SuizaHispano-Suiza was a Spanish automotive and engineering firm, best known for its luxury cars and aviation engines in the pre-World War II period of the twentieth century. In 1923, its French subsidiary became a semi-autonomous partnership with the parent company and is now part of the French SAFRAN...
, a pre-selector
DelageDelage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delage in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953.-History:...
and a special-bodied
Jowett JupiterThe Jowett Jupiter was a British car made by Jowett Cars Ltd of Idle, near Bradford from 1950 to 1954. Following the launch of the all new Jowett Javelin and its successes in competition Jowett decided to use its power train in a sports car for export in the hope of increasing their inadequate...
. He made records like Phoney Folklore which included the song of the Russian peasant "whose tractor had betrayed him" and his "Grand Prix of Gibraltar" was a vehicle for his creative wit and ability at car engine sound-effects and voices.
He spoke English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Russian fluently, as well as some Turkish and modern Greek. He was proficient in accents and dialects in all his languages.
In the late 1960s, he became a Swiss citizen to avoid the British tax system of the time which heavily taxed the earnings of the wealthy. However, he was
knightedThe rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1990, and was appointed
ChancellorA chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
of
Durham UniversityThe University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
in 1992, having previously served as
RectorThe word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the
University of DundeeThe University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
in the late 1970s (a role in which he moved from being merely a figurehead to taking on a political role, negotiating with militant students).
He received an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium).
Ustinov was a frequent defender of the Chinese government, stating in an address to Durham University in 2000, "People are annoyed with the Chinese for not respecting more human rights. But with a population that size it's very difficult to have the same attitude to human rights." In 2003, Durham's postgraduate college (previously known as the Graduate Society) was renamed
Ustinov CollegeUstinov College is the largest college of Durham University. Founded as the Graduate Society in 1965, it became a college in 2003 and was named after the university's then chancellor, the late Sir Peter Ustinov. It is located at the Howlands Farm site at the top of Elvet Hill.-History:In 1965,...
.
Ustinov came to Berlin on a UNICEF mission in 2002 to visit the circle of
United Buddy BearsBuddy Bears are a series of painted, life-size fibreglass bear sculptures originally developed in Berlin, Germany. The first Buddy Bear was created by the German businesspeople Klaus and Eva Herlitz, in cooperation with the sculptor Roman Strobl in 2001....
that promote a more peaceful world between nations, cultures and religions for the first time. He was determined to ensure that Iraq would also be represented in this circle of about 140 countries. In 2003, he sponsored and opened the second exhibition of the United Buddy Bears in Berlin.
Amongst his lesser known works, Ustinov presented and narrated the official video review of the
1987 Formula One seasonThe 1987 Formula One season was the 38th season of Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1987 FIA Formula One World Championship for Drivers and Constructors which commenced on April 12, 1987 and ended on November 15 after sixteen races...
. His commentary proved highly entertaining. Ustinov also narrated the documentary series Wings of the Red Star.
Ustinov gave his name to the Foundation of the
International Academy of Television Arts and SciencesThe International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is an organization of global broadcasters, with members from nearly 70 countries and over 400 companies...
for their prestigious
Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting AwardThe Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award is a prestigious television writing award bestowed annually by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences to a non-US citizen under the age of 30 who dwells outside the United States....
, given annually to a young television screenwriter.
Ustinov appeared as a guest star during the first season of
The Muppet ShowThe Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
in 1976. The theme of the show had
Miss PiggyMiss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
,
Fozzie BearFozzie Bear is a Muppet, created by Jim Henson. He is an orange, particularly fuzzy bear who works as a stand-up comic and has a catchphrase, "Wocka Wocka Wocka". Shortly after telling the joke, he is usually the target of rotten tomatoes and ridicule, especially from hecklers Statler and Waldorf...
, Hilda ‘The Wardrobe Lady’ and
ScooterScooter is a bespectacled character from The Muppets. In The Muppet Show he was the troupe's backstage "gofer". He was originally performed by Richard Hunt.-Characteristics:...
openly saying to
Kermit the FrogKermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over...
how much they admired and wanted to be like Peter Ustinov. Kermit was under the impression that they harboured these feeling towards him but hastily altered them when Ustinov was on the show, and so to cheer himself up Kermit goes off and sings ‘It’s Not Easy
Bein' Green"Bein' Green" is a popular song written by Joe Raposo in 1970 for the first season of the children's television program Sesame Street. It was originally performed by Kermit the Frog ....
’. At the end of the episode Kermit admits to Ustinov that he feels a bit jealous and Ustinov responds by saying ‘...I’m jealous of you. I’ve always wanted to be a frog.’ One of the highlights of the episode is when Ustinov becomes ‘The Robot Politician’, which was Bunsen Honeydew's latest invention. In the sketch when ‘The Robot Politician’ inevitably breaks down, Ustinov accidentally punches Dr. Bunsen Honeydew in the face before blowing up. In a later interview about his time with
Jim HensonJames Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
's creations he said ‘...you took the characters absolutely seriously and paid no attention to the manipulator...’ adding ‘...there's an old theatrical saying...“never work with children or animals”...I would add puppets to that list because they always steal the limelight.’
Personal life
Ustinov was married three times--first to Isolde Denham, daughter of Reginald Denham and Moyna MacGill. The marriage lasted from 1940 to their divorce in 1950, and they had one child, daughter Tamara Ustinov. Isolde was the half-sister of
Angela LansburyAngela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
.
His second marriage was to Suzanne Cloutier, which lasted from 1954 to their divorce in 1971. They had three children, two daughters, Pavla Ustinov and Andrea Ustinov, and a son, Igor Ustinov.
His third and final marriage was to Helene du Lau d' Allemans, which lasted from 1972 to his death.
He died on 28 March 2004 of heart failure in a clinic in
GenolierGenolier is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-Geography:Genolier has an area, , of . Of this area, or 44.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 35.3% is forested...
, near his home in
BursinsBursins is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.-History:Bursins is first mentioned in 1011 as Bruzinges. In a record that was written before 1031 it was mentioned as Brucins.-Geography:...
,
VaudVaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
, Switzerland. He was so well regarded as a goodwill ambassador that UNICEF Executive Director
Carol BellamyCarol Bellamy has been Director of the Peace Corps, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , and President and CEO of World Learning. In April, 2009, Bellamy was appointed as Chair of the International Baccalaureate Board of Governors...
spoke at his funeral and represented United Nations
Secretary-General-International intergovernmental organizations:-International nongovernmental organizations:-Sports governing bodies:...
Kofi AnnanKofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
.
World politics
Peter Ustinov was the President of the
World Federalist MovementThe World Federalist Movement is a global citizens movement with member and associate organizations around the world. The WFM International Secretariat is based in New York City across from the United Nations headquarters...
from 1991 to 2004, the time of his death.
WFMWFM is a three-letter acronym with multiple meanings, as described below:* Waveform monitor a type of oscilloscope used to monitor video signals* Western Federation of Miners, an important American labor union* Whole Foods Market...
is a global NGO that promotes the concept of global democratic institutions. WFM wish to lobby those in powerful positions to establish a unified human government based on democracy and civil society. The
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and other world agencies would become the institutions of a World Federation. The UN would be the federal government and nation states would become like provinces.
He was also unintentionally a part witness to the assassination of India's Prime Minister
Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
. She was on her way to be interviewed by him for a documentary for Irish television, at her residence, when two of her bodyguards,
Satwant SinghSatwant Singh was a Sikh bodyguard to the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, who on October 31, 1984 assassinated Indira Gandhi at her residence along with another bodyguard, Beant Singh....
and
Beant SinghBeant Singh , born in Jaitu in the Faridkot district of Punjab , was one of Indira Gandhi's assassins...
, opened fire and riddled her with bullets.
Novels and plays
- Abelard and Heloise
- Add a Dash of Pity and Other Short Stories
- Brewer's Theatre with Isaacs et al.
- The Comedy Collection
- Dear Me
- Disinformer: Two Novellas
- Frontiers of the Sea
- Generation at Jeopardy: Children in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union with United Nations Children's Fund
- God and the State Railways
- Half Way Up a Tree
- The Indifferent Shepherd
- James Thurber with Thurber
- Klop and the Ustinov Family with Nadia B. Ustinov
- Krumnagel
- The Laughter Omnibus
- Life is an Operetta: And Other Short Stories
- Loser
- The Love of Four Colonels
|
The Methuen Book of Theatre Verse with Jonathan and Moira Field
Monsieur Rene
My Russia
Niven's Hollywood with Tom Hutchinson
Old Man & Mr. Smith
Photo Finish
Quotable Ustinov
Romanoff and Juliet
Still at Large
The 13 Clocks with James ThurberJames Grover Thurber was an American author, cartoonist and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories published in The New Yorker magazine.-Life:...
The Unicorn in the Garden and Other Fables for Our Time with James Thurber
The Unknown Soldier and His Wife
Ustinov at Eighty
Ustinov at Large
Ustinov in Russia
Ustinov Still at Large
Beethoven's Tenth |
Television Work
- Doctor Snuggles
Doctor Snuggles is an animated television series created by Jeffrey O'Kelly about a friendly and optimistic inventor named Doctor Snuggles who has unusual adventures with his friends in a slightly psychedelic world...
- Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries)
- Omni: The New Frontier
Filmography
- Hullo Fame (1940) (documentary)
- Mein Kampf — My Crimes (1940) (documentary)
- One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
One of Our Aircraft is Missing is a 1942 British war film, the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers...
(1942)
- Let the People Sing
Let the People Sing is a 1942 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Alastair Sim, Fred Emney and Edward Rigby. A small town bands together to try to save their music hall from closure. It was based on the novel Let the People Sing by J.B...
(1942)
- The Goose Steps Out
The Goose Steps Out is a British comedy film released in 1942. This film starred, and was co-directed by, the British comedian Will Hay.The film's title refers to the Nazis' vigorous ceremonial marching, called "goose-stepping".-Plot summary:...
(1942)
- The New Lot
The New Lot is a 1943 British drama film directed by Carol Reed and starring Eric Ambler, Robert Donat, Kathleen Harrison, Bernard Lee, Raymond Huntley, John Laurie, Peter Ustinov and Austin Trevor, with music by Richard Addinsell...
(1943)
- The Way Ahead
The Way Ahead is a British Second World War drama released in 1944. It stars David Niven and Stanley Holloway and follows a group of civilians who are conscripted into the British Army to fight in North Africa. In the U.S., an edited version was released as The Immortal Battalion.The film was...
(1944)
- The True Glory
The True Glory was a 1945 co-production of the US Office of War Information and the British Ministry of Information, documenting the victory on the Western Front, from Normandy to the collapse of the Third Reich. Although many individuals contributed to the film, British director Carol Reed is...
(1945) (documentary)
- School for Secrets
School for Secrets is a 1946 British film written and directed by Peter Ustinov and starring David Tomlinson, Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, Richard Attenborough, John Laurie and Michael Hordern...
(1946) (director and writer)
- Carnival
-Cast:*Sally Gray as Jenny Pearl*Michael Wilding as Maurice Avery*Stanley Holloway as Charlie Raeburn*Bernard Miles as Trewhella*Jean Kent as Irene Dale*Catherine Lacey as Florrie Raeburn*Nancy Price as Mrs. Trewhella*Hazel Court as Mae Raeburn...
(1946) (screenwriter)
- Vice Versa (screenwriter, director, and producer)
- Private Angelo
Private Angelo is a 1949 British comedy war film directed by Michael Anderson and Peter Ustinov. It starred Ustinov, Godfrey Tearle, Maria Denis and Marjorie Rhodes. It depicts the misadventures of a soldier in the Italian Army during the Second World War...
(1949)
- Odette
Odette is a 1950 film that was directed by Herbert Wilcox and used a screenplay by Warren Chetham-Strode. The film starred Anna Neagle as Odette Sansom, an Allied French-born heroine of World War II who joined the Special Operations Executive and was sent to France to work with the resistance...
(1950)
- Hotel Sahara
Hotel Sahara is a 1951 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Yvonne De Carlo, Peter Ustinov and David Tomlinson.-Cast:* Yvonne De Carlo as Yasmin Pallas* Peter Ustinov as Emad* David Tomlinson as Captain Puffin Cheyne...
(1951)
- The Magic Box
The Magic Box is a 1951 British, Technicolor, biographical drama film, directed by John Boulting and starring Ronald Shiner as the Fairground Barker, Sid James, Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov and Charles Victor. It was produced by Ronald Neame and distributed by British Lion Film Corporation...
(1951)
- Quo Vadis
Quo Vadis is a 1951 epic film made by MGM. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Sam Zimbalist, from a screenplay by John Lee Mahin, S. N. Behrman and Sonya Levien, adapted from Henryk Sienkiewicz's classic 1896 novel Quo Vadis. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography...
(1951)
- The King and the Mockingbird (1952) (voice)
- Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
(1952) (narrator of English version)
- The Egyptian
The Egyptian is an American 1954 epic film made in CinemaScope by 20th Century Fox, directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on Mika Waltari's novel and the screenplay was adapted by Philip Dunne and Casey Robinson...
(1954)
- Beau Brummell
Beau Brummell is a historical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and produced by Sam Zimbalist from a screenplay by Karl Tunberg, based on the play Beau Brummell by Clyde Fitch. The music score was by Richard Addinsell with Miklós Rózsa...
(1954)
- We're No Angels (1955)
- Lola Montès
Lola Montès is an historical film, and the last film directed by Max Ophüls. The film is based loosely on the life of the 19th Century cabaret dancer Lola Montez — portrayed by Martine Carol — and tells the story of her numerous affairs, most notably with Franz Liszt and Ludwig I, King of Bavaria,...
(1955)
- The Wanderers (1956)
- The Spies (1957)
- An Angel Passed Over Brooklyn (1957)
- Spartacus (1960)
- The Sundowners
The Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place...
(1960)
- Romanoff and Juliet
Romanoff and Juliet is a 1961 feature film adaptation of the play of the same name released by Universal Pictures. Peter Ustinov wrote the screenplay, directed, and starred in the film...
(1961) (director)
- Billy Budd
Billy Budd is a 1962 film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov. Adapted from the stage play version of Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd, it starred Terence Stamp as Billy Budd, Robert Ryan as John Claggart, and Ustinov as Captain Vere...
(1962)
- Alleman
The Human Dutch is a 1963 Dutch documentary film directed by Bert Haanstra. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature...
(1963) (documentary) (narrator)
- Women of the World (1963) (documentary) (narrator)
- Topkapi
Topkapi is a heist film made by Filmways Pictures and distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by the emigre American film director, Jules Dassin...
(1964)
- The Peaches
The Peaches, is a British Short Film, narrated by Peter UstinovIn 1964 the film was the British choice for the Cannes Film Festival and is a sensual, surreal fantasy about a beautiful woman and her passion for peaches...
(1964) (narrator)
- John Goldfarb, Please Come Home
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home is a 1963 novel by William Peter Blatty that was adapted as a film by the same title, released in 1965.-Synopsis:...
(1965)
- Lady L
Lady L is a 1965 comedy film based on the novel by Romain Gary and directed by Peter Ustinov. The film stars Sophia Loren, Paul Newman, David Niven and Cecil Parker, and it focuses on an elderly Corsican lady recalls the loves of her life, including a Parisian aristocrat and an...
(1965)
- The Comedians
The Comedians is a novel by Graham Greene, first published in 1966. Set in Haiti under the rule of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his secret police, the Tontons Macoute, The Comedians tells the story of a tired hotel owner, Brown, and his increasing fatalism as he watches Haiti descend into...
(1967)
- The Comedians in Africa
The Comedians in Africa is a 1967 film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to augment its feature film The Comedians.-Synopsis:This short documentary chronicles the difficulties encountered by the crew and cast while filming The Comedians on location in Africa's Dahomey...
(1967)
- Blackbeard's Ghost
Blackbeard's Ghost is a 1968 live-action fantasy comedy Disney film starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette, directed by Robert Stevenson. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Ben Stahl and was shot in Walt Disney Studios. The Disney Channel aired this film until the...
(1968)
- Hot Millions
Hot Millions is an 1968 crime comedy film made by MGM. It was directed by Eric Till and produced by Mildred Freed Alberg, from a collaborative screenplay by Ira Wallach and star Peter Ustinov. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson, featuring the single "This Time" from Scottish singer Lulu...
(1968)
- Viva Max!
Viva Max! is a 1969 comedy film starring Peter Ustinov, Jonathan Winters and John Astin, directed by Jerry Paris. The film was written by Elliott Baker and based on a 1966 novel by Jim Lehrer.-Plot:...
(1969)
- The Festival Game (1970) (documentary)
- Hammersmith Is Out
Hammersmith Is Out is a 1972 comedy film based on the legend of Faust. It is directed by Peter Ustinov, who starred in the film alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Beau Bridges, Leon Ames, and George Raft.-Plot:...
(1972)
- Robin Hood
Robin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
(1973) (voice)
- One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing is a 1975 British comedy film, which is set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company. The title is a parody of the...
(1975)
- Logan's Run
Logan's Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources are managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing...
(1976)
- Treasure of Matecumbe
Treasure of Matecumbe is a Walt Disney Productions family adventure film released in 1976, directed by Vincent McEveety. It was based on the novel by Robert Lewis Taylor. The plot involves a boy and his companion who run away from home to hunt for treasure. The filming locations were in Kentucky...
(1976)
- The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(1976)
- The Purple Taxi (1977)
- The Last Remake of Beau Geste
The Last Remake of Beau Geste is a 1977 American historical comedy film. It starred and was also directed and co-written by Marty Feldman. It is a satire loosely based on the novel Beau Geste, a frequently-filmed story of brothers and their adventures in the French Foreign Legion. The humor is...
(1977)
- Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (Herod the Great)
- The Mouse and His Child (1977)
- Double Murder
Double Murder is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Steno.-Cast:* Marcello Mastroianni - Bruno Baldassarre* Agostina Belli - Teresa Colasanti* Ursula Andress - Princess Dell'Orso* Peter Ustinov - Harry Hellman* Jean-Claude Brialy - Van Nijlen...
(1977)
- Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile is a 1978 film based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot played by Peter Ustinov plus an all-star cast. It takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River...
(1978)
- Thief of Baghdad (1978 film) (The Calif)
- Winds of Change
Winds of Change is a fantasy novel by Mercedes Lackey. It is the second book in the Mage Winds Trilogy, in order between Winds of Fate and Winds of Fury. The book was first released in August 1994.- Synopsis :...
(1979) (narrator)
- Tarka the Otter
Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers is a novel by Henry Williamson. The book narrates the experience of an otter. It was first published in 1927 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, with an introduction by the Hon. Sir John Fortescue, K.C.V.O..-Plot summary:The plot...
(1979) (narrator)
- Morte no Tejo (1979) (documentary)
- My Friend as the Alien (1999) (voice)
- Ashanti (1979)
- We'll Grow Thin Together (1979)
- Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
(1981)
- The Great Muppet Caper
The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 mystery comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, ITC Entertainment and Universal Pictures, and premiered on 26 July 1981. The...
(1981) (cameo)
- Grendel Grendel Grendel
Grendel Grendel Grendel is an Australian animated film based on John Gardner's novel Grendel and starring Peter Ustinov. It was released in 1981....
(1981) (voice)
- Evil Under the Sun
Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film based on the 1941 novel Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie.-Production:The screenplay was written by Anthony Shaffer and an uncredited Barry Sandler...
(1982)
- Memed, My Hawk
Memed, My Hawk is a 1955 novel by Yaşar Kemal. It was Kemal's debut novel and is the first novel in his İnce Memed tetralogy. The novel won the Varlik prize for that year and earned Kemal a national reputation...
(1984)
- Thirteen at Dinner
Thirteen at Dinner is a 1985 American-British television film featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Adapted from the Agatha Christie novel Lord Edgware Dies by Rod Browning it was directed by Lou Antonio and starred Peter Ustinov, Faye Dunaway, Jonathan Cecil, Diane Keen and Bill Nighy...
(1985)
- Dead Man's Folly
Dead Man's Folly is a 1986 British-American television film featuring Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It is based on Christie's novel Dead Man's Folly. The film was irected by Clive Donner it starred Peter Ustinov, Jean Stapleton, Constance Cummings, Nicollette Sheridan, Tim...
(1986)
- Peter Ustinov's Russia (documentary) (1986)
- Murder in Three Acts
Murder in Three Acts is a 1986 British-American television film produced by Warner Bros. Television, featuring Peter Ustinov as Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot...
(1986)
- Appointment with Death
Appointment with Death is a 1988 mystery film, made by Golan-Globus Productions and produced and directed by Michael Winner. It is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Appointment with Death featuring the detective Hercule Poirot...
(1988)
- Peep and the Big Wide World
Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated cartoon that teaches nature and basic science concepts to preschoolers. The main characters include a baby chicken named Peep and his friends Quack, a blue duck, and Chirp, a red robin with purple eyelids...
(1988) (narrator)
- La Révolution française
La Révolution française is a two-part film, co-produced by France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada. The first part, titled La Révolution française : les Années lumière was directed by Robert Enrico. The second part, La Révolution française : les Années terribles, was directed by...
(1989)
- Granpa (pencil animation) (1989) (voice talent)
- Around the World in 80 Days
Around the World in 80 Days is a 1989 three-part television Eastmancolor miniseries originally broadcast on NBC. The production garnered three nominations for Emmy awards that year...
(1989)
- There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs
There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs is a 1990 produced film, starring Peter Ustinov and directed by Duccio Tessari. It is based on the novel Au bonheur des chiens by Rémo Forlani....
(1990)
- Lorenzo's Oil
Lorenzo's Oil is a 1992 drama film directed by George Miller. It is based on a true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone, two parents in a relentless search for a cure for their son Lorenzo's adrenoleukodystrophy...
(1992)
- The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet
The Phoenix and the Carpet is a fantasy novel for children, written in 1904 by E. Nesbit. It is the second in a trilogy of novels that began with Five Children and It , and follows the adventures of the same five protagonists – Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and the Lamb...
(1995)
- The Old Curiosity Shop (1995)
- Paths of the Gods (1995) (documentary)
- Stiff Upper Lips
Stiff Upper Lips is a broad parody of British period films, especially the lavish Merchant-Ivory productions of the 'eighties and early 'nineties...
(1998)
- The Bachelor (1999)
- Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland is a television film first broadcast in 1999 on NBC and then shown on British television on Channel 4. It is based upon Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass....
(1999)
- Animal Farm
Animal Farm was a made for TV film version of the 1945 George Orwell novel of the same name. The film tells the story of how the animals of a farm successfully revolt against its human owner, only to slide into a more brutal tyranny among themselves. It was released in 1999 by Hallmark Films...
(1999) (voice)
- My Khmer Heart (2000) (documentary)
- Majestät brauchen Sonne (2000) (documentary)
- Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures is a 2001 documentary about the life and work of Stanley Kubrick, famed film director, made by his long-time assistant and brother-in-law Jan Harlan...
(2001) (documentary)
- The Will to Resist (2002)
- Luther
Luther is a 2003 biopic about the life of Martin Luther . It was an independent biopic and was partially funded by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, starring Joseph Fiennes....
(2003)
- Winter Solstice (film)
Winter Solstice is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Josh Sternfeld. The screenplay focuses on the efforts of a man to interact with and relate to his sons in the years following the accidental death of his wife.-Plot:...
(2003)
- Siberia: Railroad Through the Wilderness (2004) (narrator)
Academy Award
- 1952 nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Quo Vadis)
- 1961 won: Best Supporting Actor (Spartacus)
- 1965 won: Best Supporting Actor (Topkapi)
- 1969 nominated: Best Original Screenplay (Hot Millions)
BAFTA AwardThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
- 1962 nominated: Best British Screenplay (Billy Budd)
- 1978 nominated: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Death on the Nile)
- 1992 won: Britannia Award
- 1995 nominated: Best Light Entertainment Performance (An Evening with Sir Peter Ustinov)
Berlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
- 1961
The 11th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 23 to July 4, 1961.-Jury:* James Quinn * France Roche* Marc Turfkruyer* Satyajit Ray* Gian Luigi Rondi* Hirosugu Ozaki* Nicholas Ray* Falk Harnack* Hans Schaarwächter...
nominated: Golden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
(Romanoff and Juliet)
- 1972
The 22nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 4 July 1972.-Jury:* Eleanor Perry * Fritz Drobilitsch-Walden* Francis Cosne* Rita Tushingham* Tinto Brass* Yukichi Shinada* Julio Coll* Hans Hellmut Kirst...
won: Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution (Hammersmith Is Out)
Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
- 1958 won: Best Single Performance by a Leading or Supporting Actor (Omnibus: The Life of Samuel Johnson)
- 1967 won: Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Barefoot in Athens)
- 1970 won: Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (A Storm in Summer)
- 1982 nominated: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Informational Programming (Omni: The New Frontier)
- 1985 nominated: Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts (The Well-Tempered Bach with Peter Ustinov)
Golden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
- 1952 won: Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Quo Vadis)
- 1961 nominated: Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Spartacus)
- 1965 nominated: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Topkapi)
Grammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
- 1960 won: Best Recording for Children (Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf) with the Philharmonia Orchestra directed by Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian orchestra and opera conductor. To the wider world he was perhaps most famously associated with the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was principal conductor for 35 years...
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
- 1958 nominated: Best Play (Romanoff and Juliet)
- 1958 nominated: Best Actor in a Play (Romanoff and Juliet)
External links
- Peter Ustinov interviewed by Mike Wallace
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
on The Mike Wallace Interview March 29, 1958
Critical viewpoints