Peter Ustinov

In 1919, Jona Freiherr von Ustinow joined his own mother and sister in St Petersburg, Russia, where he met his future wife, artist Nadia Benois, who worked for the Imperial Mariinsky Ballet and Opera House in St Petersburg.

In 1920, in a modest and discreet ceremony at a Russian-German church in St Petersburg, Ustinov's father married Nadia.

Peter Ustinov was a two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, director, writer, journalist and raconteur. He wrote and directed many acclaimed stage plays and led numerous international theatrical productions. He was born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinow on April 16, 1921 in Swiss Cottage, London, the son of Nadezhda Leontievna (née Benois) and Jona Freiherr von Ustinow. His father was of one-quarter Polish Jewish, one-half Russian, one-eighth Ethiopian, and one-eighth German descent, while his mother was of one-half Russian, one-quarter Italian, one-eighth French, and one-eighth German ancestry. Ustinov had ancestral connections to Russian nobility as well as to the Ethiopian Royal Family. His father, also known as "Klop Ustinov", was a pilot in the German Air Force during World War I.

In February 1921, when she was seven months pregnant with Peter, the couple emigrated from Russia in the aftermath of the Communist Revolution. Young Peter was brought up in a multilingual family. He was fluent in Russian, French, Italian and German, as well as English.

He attended Westminster College (1934-37), took the drama and acting class under Michel St Denis at the London Theatre Studio (1937-39), and made his stage debut in 1938 in a theatre in Surrey. The following year, he made his London stage debut in a revue sketch, then had regular performances with Aylesbury Repertory Company.

In 1940 he made his film debut in Hullo, Fame! (1940).

From 1942-46, Ustinov served with the British Army's Royal Sussex Regiment. He was batman for David Niven, and the two became lifelong friends. Ustinov spent most of his service working with the Army Cinema Unit, where he was involved in making recruitment films, wrote plays and appeared in three films as an actor.

At that time he co-wrote and acted in The Way Ahead (1944) (aka "The Immortal Battalion"). Ustinov had a stellar film career as actor, director, and writer.

Ustinov's mother, Nadia Benois, was a niece of Alexandre Benois. Both were designers for the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Both also worked for impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons and Ballets Russes productions. Ustinov's mother was costume designer on two films which he directed, Vice Versa (1948) and Private Angelo (1949).

He directed his then mother-in-law Moyna MacGill in Private Angelo (1949).

Made a comedy record in the late 1950s, "Mock Mozart" and "Phoney Folk Lore". He had been performing these as party pieces. Overdubbing allowed Ustinov to sing multiple parts. His producer was George Martin, future producer of The Beatles. (Martin later described Ustinov as "Britain's answer to Orson Welles.")

Among his numerous screen acting gems were his unparalleled, Academy Award-nominated interpretation of Nero in Quo Vadis (1951) and roles in Max Ophüls's masterpiece Lola Montès (1955), Barefoot in Athens (1966), The Comedians (1967), Robin Hood (1973) and Logan's Run (1976).

Anonymously dubbed several Italian actors on the soundtrack of Beat the Devil (1953).

Auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Detective Fix in Around the World in 80 Days (1956). However, he would play the same part in the made-for-television remake (Around the World in 80 Days (1989)) more than 30 years later.

In 1958 he received two Tony Award nominations, for Best Actor (Dramatic) and Best Play Author, for "Romanoff and Juliet".

He was awarded two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, one for his role in Spartacus (1960) and one for his role in Topkapi (1964), and received two more Oscar nominations as an actor and writer.

He also wrote and directed such brilliant films as Billy Budd (1962), Lady L (1965) and Memed My Hawk (1984).

In January 1963, the Mirisch Company sued him for damages after he pulled out of The Pink Panther (1963), which was in production in Rome with his replacement, Peter Sellers.

In 1964, he accepted the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role on behalf of Margaret Rutherford, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony.

Was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966.

Was the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF from 1968 until his death in 2004.

His career slowed down a bit in the 1970s, but made a comeback as Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile (1978) by director John Guillermin.

From 1971 until his death in 2004, Ustinov's permanent residence was a château in Bursins, Vaud, Switzerland.

The New London Theatre in Drury Lane WC2 first opened on 2nd January 1973 with Peter Ustinov's play "The Unknown Soldier and His Wife".

Ustinov was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama. 15 years later, he received a knighthood (Knight Bachelor) for the same service in the 1990 list.

In his autobiographies, "Dear Me" (1977) and "My Russia" (1996), Ustinov revealed his observations on his life, career, and his multicultural and multi-ethnic background. He wrote and directed numerous stage plays, successfully presenting them in several countries. His drama, "Photo Finish", was staged in New York, London and St. Petersburg, Russia, where Ustinov directed the acclaimed production, starring Elena Solovey and Pyotr Shelokhonov. Ustinov also served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and a president of WFM, a global citizens movement.

In the 1980s, Ustinov recreated Poirot in several subsequent television movies and theatrical films, including Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Appointment with Death (1988), while his cinema work in the 1990s also includes his superb performance as Professor Gus Nikolais in George Miller's excellent dramatic film, Lorenzo's Oil (1992), a character partially inspired by Hugo Wolfgang Moser, a research scientist who had been director of the Neurogenetics Research Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. His expertise in dialectic and physical comedy made him a regular guest of talk show hosts and late-night comedians. His witty and multidimensional humor was legendary, and he later published a collection of his jokes and quotations summarizing his wide popularity as a raconteur. He was also an internationally acclaimed TV journalist.

On 31 October 1984, he was waiting in the garden of Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, to interview her for an Irish television documentary when she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards (Beant Singh, who was killed while trying to escape after his arrest, and Satwant Singh, sentenced to hang in 1988) as she was approaching Ustinov and his film crew.

Ustinov covered over 100,000 miles and visited more than 30 Russian cities during the making of his well-received BBC television series Russia (1986).

He was knighted in 1990.

Was Chancellor of the University of Durham from 1992 until his death in 2004.

He was originally cast to play Inspector Clouseau in The pink Panther but pulled out at the 11th hour. Peter Sellers was suggested to director Blake Edwards as a replacement, but when they met, Blake was unsure until Peter said he was a fan of Laurel and Hardy, at which point Blake didn't hesitate to cast him.