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Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor and humanitarian. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards, an Olivier Award and a Grammy Awards.
Ustinov received two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Spartacus (1960), and Topkapi (1964). He also starred in notable films such as Quo Vadis (1951), The Sundowners (1960), Billy Budd (1962), and Hot Millions (1968). He voiced Prince John and King Richard in the Walt Disney Animated film Robin Hood (1973), and portrayed Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot six times for both film and television.
Ustinov also displayed a unique cultural versatility which frequently earned him the accolade of a Polymath. Miklós Rózsa, composer of the music for Quo Vadis and of numerous concert works, dedicated his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 22 (1950) to Ustinov.
An intellectual and diplomat, Ustinov held various academic posts, and served as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and president of the World Federalist Movement (WFM). In 2003, Durham University changed the name of its Graduate Society to Ustinov College, in honour of the significant contributions Ustinov had made as chancellor of the university from 1992 until his death.
Ustinov's mother, Nadia Benois, known as Nadia, was a painter and ballet designer of French, German, Italian, and Russian descent. Her father, Leon Benois, was an architect and owner of Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Benois Madonna. Leon's brother Alexandre Benois was a stage designer who worked with Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Diaghilev. Their paternal ancestor Jules-César Benois was a chef who had left France for Saint Petersburg during the French Revolution and became a chef to Emperor Paul I of Russia.
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 Hitler Machtergreifung in Germany, Jona von Ustinov began working for the British intelligence service MI5 and became a British subject, thus avoiding internment during the war. Ustinov claimed that the statutory notice of his application for citizenship was published in a Wales newspaper so as not to alert the Germans;According to Ustinov in his biography Dear Me notice of "Iona von Ustinow"'s intention to apply for naturalisation was published in a London newspaper in July 1935 and his naturalisation gazetted in December. He was the controller of Wolfgang Gans zu Putlitz, an MI5 spy in the German embassy in London, who furnished information on Hitler's intentions before the Second World War. (Peter Wright mentions in his book Spycatcher that Jona 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 was educated at Westminster School and had a difficult childhood because of his parents' constant fighting. While at school, Ustinov considered anglicising 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. In his late teens he trained as an actor at the London Theatre Studio.Ian Herbert, Christine Baxter, Robert E. Finley, Who's Who in the Theatre: A Biographical Record of the Contemporary Stage, Volume 16 (Pitman, 1977), p. 1202 While there, on 18 July 1938 he made his first appearance on the stage at the Barn Theatre, Shere, playing Waffles in Chekhov's The Wood Demon, and his London stage début later that year at the Players' Theatre, 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".
After the war, he began writing; his first major success was with the play The Love of Four Colonels (1951). He starred with Humphrey Bogart and Aldo Ray in We're No Angels (1955). His career as a dramatist continued, one of his successful plays being Romanoff and Juliet (1956). His film roles include Roman emperor Nero in Quo Vadis (1951), Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (1960), Captain Blackbeard in the Disney film Blackbeard's Ghost (1968), and an old man surviving a totalitarian future in Logan's Run (1976). Ustinov voiced the anthropomorphic lions Prince John and King Richard in the 1973 Disney animated film Robin Hood. He also worked on several films as writer and occasionally director, including The Way Ahead (1944), School for Secrets (1946), Hot Millions (1968), and Memed, My Hawk (1984).
In half a dozen films, he played Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot, first in Death on the Nile (1978) and then in 1982's Evil Under the Sun, 1985's Thirteen at Dinner (TV movie), 1986's Dead Man's Folly (TV movie), 1986's Murder in Three Acts (TV movie), and 1988's Appointment with Death.
won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964). He also won a 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 a love of his life, as was ocean yachting). Ustinov was also the winner of three Emmys and one Grammy and was nominated for two Tony Awards.
During the 1960s, with the encouragement of Georg Solti, Ustinov directed several operas, including Giacomo Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Maurice Ravel's L'heure espagnole, Schoenberg's Erwartung, and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Further demonstrating his great talent and versatility in the theatre, Ustinov later undertook set and costume design for Don Giovanni. In 1962 he adapted Louis O. Coxe and Robert H. Chapman's critically successful Broadway play Billy Budd into a film; penning the screenplay, producing, directing, and starring as Captain Vere. In 1968, he was elected the first rector of the University of Dundee and served two consecutive three-year terms.
His autobiography, Dear Me (1977), was well received and had him describe his life (ostensibly his childhood) while being interrogated by his own ego, with forays into philosophy, theatre, fame, and self-realisation. From 1969 until his death, his acting and writing 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 people 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. On 31 October 1984, Ustinov was due to interview Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi for Irish television. She was assassinated on her way to the meeting.
Ustinov served as president of the World Federalist Movement (WFM) 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 was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions, in November 1977 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Pinewood Studios on the set of Death on the Nile. He was surprised again in December 1994, when Michael Aspel approached him at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. A car enthusiast since the age of four, he owned a succession of interesting machines ranging from a Fiat Topolino, several , a Hispano-Suiza, a preselector gearbox Delage, and a special-bodied Jowett Jupiter. He made records like Phoney Folklore that 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. Ustinov provided his own German and French dubbing for some of his roles, both of them for Lorenzo's Oil. As Hercule Poirot, he provided his own voice for the French versions of Thirteen at Dinner, Dead Man's Folly, Murder in Three Acts, Appointment with Death, and Evil under the Sun, but unlike Jane Birkin, who had dubbed herself in French for this film and Death on the Nile, Ustinov did not provide his voice for the latter (his French voice being provided by Roger Carel, who had already dubbed him in Spartacus and other films). He dubbed himself in German as Poirot only in Evil under the Sun (his other Poirot roles being undertaken by three actors). However, he provided only his English and German voices for Disney's Robin Hood and NBC's Alice in Wonderland.
In the 1960s, he became a Swiss resident. He was Knight Bachelor in 1990 and was appointed chancellor of Durham University in 1992, having previously been elected as the first rector of the University of Dundee in 1968 (a role in which he moved from being merely a figurehead to taking on a political role, negotiating with student protesters). Ustinov was re-elected to the post for a second three-year term in 1971, narrowly beating Michael Parkinson after a disputed recount. He received an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
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 College. Ustinov went to Berlin on a UNICEF mission in 2002 to visit the circle of United Buddy Bears 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. Ustinov also presented and narrated the official video review of the 1987 Formula One season and narrated the documentary series Wings of the Red Star. In 1988, he hosted a live television broadcast entitled The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper. Ustinov gave his name to the Foundation of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for their Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award, given annually to a young television screenwriter.
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. Both Pavla and Andrea are actresses; Pavla appeared with her father in the 1978 fantasy movie, The Thief of Baghdad.
His third marriage was to Helene du Lau d'Allemans, which lasted from 1972 to his death in 2004. and daughter in the 1950s]]
Ustinov was a secular humanist. He was listed as a distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association, and had once served on its advisory council.
Ustinov suffered from diabetes and a weakened heart in his last years.
In 1999, Sir Peter and his son Igor Ustinov founded the Sir Peter Ustinov Stiftung ( Sir Peter Ustinov Foundation) in the city of Munich in Germany. The foundation is now based in Frankfurt.
Ustinov found his final resting place at the cemetery. His ledger stone bears a cross, despite his self-description as a secular humanist, and the inscription:
1921-2004
Writer-Actor-Humanist
Musicien-Membre de l'Institut
Until his death, Ustinov was a member of English PEN, part of the PEN International network that campaigns for freedom of expression.
Career
Ustinov appeared in White Cargo at the Aylesbury Rep in 1939, where he performed in a different accent every night. He served as a private in the British Army during the Second World War, including time spent as batman to David Niven while writing the Niven film The Way Ahead. The difference in their ranksNiven was a lieutenant-colonel and Ustinov a privatemade their regular association militarily impossible; to solve the problem, Ustinov was appointed as Niven's batman. He also appeared in propaganda films, debuting in One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), in which he was required to deliver lines in English, Latin and Dutch. In 1944, under the auspices of ENSA -->, he presented and performed the role of Sir Anthony Absolute, in Sheridan's The Rivals, with Dame Edith Evans, at the theatre in Larkhill, Wiltshire, England.
Personal life
Ustinov was married three times—first to Isolde Denham (1920–1987), 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 Lansbury, who appeared with Ustinov in Death on the Nile.
Death
Ustinov died on 28 March 2004 of heart failure in a clinic in Genolier, near his home in Bursins, Switzerland, aged 82. He had suffered from diabetes and heart disease. Obituary, chicagotribune.com. Accessed 30 March 2022.
SIR PETER USTINOV
Globalism
Ustinov was the president of the World Federalist Movement (WFM) from 1991 to 2004, the time of his death.
Filmography
Films
1940 Hullo Fame Andrew Buchanan Mein Kampf — My Crimes Marinus van der Lubbe Norman Lee Uncredited 1942 One of Our Aircraft Is Missing The Priest Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger The Goose Steps Out Krauss Basil Dearden Let the People Sing Dr. Bentika John Baxter 1943 The New Lot Keith Carol Reed Uncredited 1944 The Way Ahead Rispoli – Cafe Owner Carol Reed 1945 The True Glory Commentator Carol Reed Documentary 1946 School for Secrets N/A Peter Ustinov Carnival N/A Stanley Haynes 1948 Vice Versa N/A Peter Ustinov 1949 Private Angelo Private Angelo Peter Ustinov 1950 Odette Lt. Alex Rabinovich / Arnauld Herbert Wilcox 1951 Hotel Sahara Emad Ken Annakin Quo Vadis Nero Mervyn LeRoy The Magic Box Industry Man John Boulting 1952 Le Plaisir Narrator Max Ophuls English version; Voice; Uncredited The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird Wonderbird Paul Grimault English version; Voice 1953 Martin Luther Duke Francis of Luneberg Irving Pichel Uncredited 1954 The Egyptian Kaptah Michael Curtiz Beau Brummell George IV Curtis Bernhardt 1955 We're No Angels Jules Michael Curtiz Lola Montès Circus Master Max Ophüls 1956 The Wanderers Don Alfonso Pugliesi Hugo Fregonese 1957 Les Espions Michel Kiminsky Henri-Georges Clouzot The Man Who Wagged His Tail Mr. Bossi Ladislao Vajda 1960 Spartacus Batiatus Stanley Kubrick The Sundowners Rupert Venneker Fred Zinnemann 1961 Romanoff and Juliet The General Peter Ustinov 1962 Billy Budd Edwin Fairfax Vere Peter Ustinov 1963 The Human Dutch Narrator Bert Haanstra Voice, English-language version only Women of the World Narrator Franco Prosperi Voice 1964 Topkapi Arthur Simon Simpson Jules Dassin The Peaches Narrator Michael Gill Voice 1965 John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! King Fawz J. Lee Thompson Lady L Prince Otto of Bavaria Peter Ustinov Uncredited 1967 The Comedians Amb. Manuel Pineda Peter Glenville 1968 Blackbeard's Ghost Blackbeard Robert Stevenson Hot Millions Marcus Pendleton
/ Caesar SmithEric Till 1969 Viva Max! General Max Jerry Paris 1970 The Festival Game Himself Tony Klinger and Michael Lytton 1972 Hammersmith Is Out Doctor Peter Ustinov Big Truck and Sister Clare Israeli Truck Driver Robert Ellis Miller 1973 Robin Hood Prince John
King RichardWolfgang Reitherman Voice 1975 One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing Hnup Wan Robert Stevenson 1976 Logan's Run Old Man Michael Anderson Treasure of Matecumbe Dr. Ewing T. Snodgrass Vincent McEveety 1977 The Purple Taxi Taubelman Yves Boisset The Mouse and His Child Manny the Rat Charles Swenson
Fred WolfVoice Double Murder Harry Hellman Stefano Vanzina The Last Remake of Beau Geste Sgt. Markov Marty Feldman 1978 Winds of Change Narrator Takashi Masunaga Voice Death on the Nile Hercule Poirot John Guillermin Thief of Baghdad The Caliph Clive Donner 1979 Morte no Tejo himself Luís Galvão Teles Ashanti Suleiman Richard Fleischer Victor Lasnier Michel Vocoret Tarka the Otter Narrator David Cobham Voice 1981 Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen Charlie Chan Clive Donner The Great Muppet Caper Truck Driver Jim Henson Grendel Grendel Grendel Grendel Alex Stitt Voice The Search for Santa Claus Grandfather Stan Swan 1982 Venezia, carnevale – Un amore Mario Lanfranchi Evil Under the Sun Hercule Poirot Guy Hamilton 1984 Memed, My Hawk Abdi Aga Peter Ustinov 1988 Appointment with Death Hercule Poirot Michael Winner Peep and the Big Wide World Narrator Rick Marshall Voice 1989 La Révolution française Comte de Mirabeau Robert Enrico and Richard T. Heffron Segment: "Les Années Lumière" Granpa Granpa (voice) Dianne Jackson 1990 There Was a Castle with Forty Dogs Le vétérinaire Muggione Duccio Tessari 1992 Lorenzo's Oil Professor Nikolais George Miller 1993 Glasnost and Glamour Narrator / Himself Patrick Lichfield / Unipart 1995 The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet Grandfather / Phoenix Zoran Perisic Voice 1998 Stiff Upper Lips Horace Gary Sinyor 1999 The Bachelor Grandad James Shannon Gary Sinyor 2000 My Khmer Heart Himself Janine Hosking Majestät brauchen Sonne Voice Peter Schamoni 2001 Himself Jan Harlan 2003 Luther Frederick the Wise Eric Till 2004 Siberia: Railroad Through the Wilderness Narrator Frank Mueller Voice; final film role
Television
– Hughie McLellan
Bibliography
Nonfiction
Fiction
Discography
Awards and nominations
1951 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Quo Vadis 1960 Spartacus 1964 Topkapi 1968 Best Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen Hot Millions 1961 Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear Romanoff and Juliet 1972 Hammersmith Is Out Silver Bear 1992 Britannia Awards 1962 British Academy Film Awards Best British Screenplay Billy Budd 1978 Best Actor in a Leading Role Death on the Nile 1995 British Academy Television Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance An Evening with Sir Peter Ustinov 1962 Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Billy Budd 1963 Romanoff and Juliet 1979 Evening Standard British Film Awards Best Actor Death on the Nile 1998 Film Fest Gent Joseph Plateau Honorary Award 1984 Giffoni Film Festival Nocciola d'oro 1951 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Quo Vadis 1960 Spartacus 1964 Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Topkapi 1959 Grammy Awards Best Recording for Children Peter and the Wolf 1973 The Little Prince 1977 1980 Best Spoken Word, Documentary or Drama A Curb in the Sky 1960 Laurel Awards Top Male Supporting Performance Spartacus 1964 Topkapi 1983 Laurence Olivier Awards Best Comedy Performance Beethoven's Teeth 1958 Primetime Emmy Awards Actor – Best Single Performance – Lead or Support Omnibus 1967 Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama Hallmark Hall of Fame 1970 Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Hallmark Hall of Fame 1982 Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming Omni: The New Frontier 1985 Outstanding Classical Program in the Performing Arts The Well-Tempered Bach with Peter Ustinov 1958 Tony Awards Best Play Romanoff and Juliet Best Leading Actor in a Play 1962 Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Drama Billy Budd 1968 Best Written American Comedy Hot Millions
Honorary accolades
Other
Honours
State honours and awards
Honorary degrees
Ustinov received for his work.
See also
External links
Categories: 1921 Births, 2004 Deaths, 20th-century English Male Actors, 20th-century English Novelists, 20th-century English Screenwriters, Actors Awarded Knighthoods, Actors From The London Borough Of Camden, Alumni Of The London Theatre Studio, Assassination Of Indira Gandhi, Audiobook Narrators, Benois Family, Best Supporting Actor Academy Award Winners, Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe Winners, British Army Personnel Of World War Ii, British Music Hall Performers, Chancellors Of Durham University, Commanders Of The Order Of The British Empire, Commandeurs Of The Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres, Disney People, English Autobiographers, English Dramatists And Playwrights, English Expatriates In Switzerland, English Film Directors, English Humanists, English Humorists, English Male Dramatists And Playwrights, English Male Film Actors, English Male Television Actors, English Male Voice Actors, English People Of Ethiopian Descent, English People Of French Descent, English People Of German Descent, English People Of Italian Descent, English People Of Polish-jewish Descent, English People Of Russian Descent, English People Of Swiss Descent, English Male Screenwriters, English-language Film Directors, Fellows Of The Royal Society Of Arts, Grammy Award Winners, Knights Bachelor, Male Actors From London, Military Personnel From The London Borough Of Camden, Parlophone Artists, People Educated At Gibbs School, People Educated At Westminster School, London, People From Belsize Park, Recipients Of The Order Of Independence, Rectors Of The University Of Dundee, Royal Sussex Regiment Soldiers, Silver Bear For Outstanding Artistic Contribution Winners, Unicef Goodwill Ambassadors, Ustinov Family, World Federalist Activists
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