Ustinov, Sir Peter Alexander

▪ 2005

      British entertainer, writer, and humanitarian (b. April 16, 1921, London, Eng.—d. March 28, 2004, Genolier, Switz.), enjoyed a versatile career that spanned more than 60 years, during which he excelled in numerous areas of the arts while gaining renown—especially by means of lectures and one-man shows—as a witty raconteur. In addition to achieving success as a film, stage, and television actor, playwright, film director, screenwriter, and novelist, he served as an unpaid goodwill ambassador for UNICEF for some 35 years. While still in his teens, Ustinov wrote and appeared in revues, acted in plays and films, and wrote his first produced play, House of Regrets. He continued playwriting during his World War II military service, and after the war he returned to acting. Ustinov's role in Quo Vadis? (1951) gained him international acclaim and his first Academy Award nomination. He later won two best supporting actor Oscars, for Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964). Other notable early films were Hotel Sahara (1951), We're No Angels (1955), The Sundowners (1960), and Billy Budd (1962), on which Ustinov served as coadapter, director, and producer as well as filling the role of Captain Vere. He was a memorable Hercule Poirot in several filmed versions of the Agatha Christie novels featuring the Belgian detective, including Death on the Nile (1978), Evil Under the Sun (1982), and Appointment with Death (1988). Ustinov won Emmy Awards for his performances in the television productions The Life of Samuel Johnson (1958), Barefoot in Athens (1966), and A Storm in Summer (1970) and earned a 1959 Grammy for his narration of Sergey Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. He enjoyed success as a playwright with such hits as The Love of Four Colonels (1951), Romanoff and Juliet (1956; filmed 1961, directed by Ustinov), The Unknown Soldier and His Wife (1967), and Beethoven's 10th (1983). His storytelling skills were demonstrated in several books, including the short-story collection Add a Dash of Pity (1959), the novels The Loser (1960) and Krumnagel (1971), the historical study My Russia (1983), and the autobiographical Dear Me (1977), Ustinov at Large (1991), and Ustinov Still at Large (1993). Ustinov was made CBE in 1975 and was knighted in 1990.

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