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Peter Ustinov
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Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Portly British character actor, a master dialectician and entertaining raconteur who shines in comedic roles but rates kudos for his dramatic performances as well. Ustinov was, in his own way, the U.K.'s Wellesian "boy wonder": He began acting at 17, sold his first screenplay (for The True Glory at 24, and directed his first film (School for Secrets at 25. Ustinov excels in characterizations of vain, selfish, petulant characters. He earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in Quo Vadis? (1951, as Nero), and won Academy Awards for outstanding supporting turns in Spartacus (1960) and Topkapi (1964). Ustinov startled even his admirers with the superb Billy Budd (1962), which he wrote, produced, directed, and acted in. In later years he was well received as pompous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in the Agatha Christie whodunits Death on the Nile (1978), Evil Under the Sun (1982), and Appointment With Death (1988). He had one of his best screen roles in years as the sympathetic doctor in Lorenzo's Oil (1992). He has also provided voices for such animated features as Disney's Robin Hood (1973), The Mouse and His Child (1977), and Grendel, Grendel, Grendel (1980). He won Emmy Awards in 1957, for an "Omnibus" drama on Samuel Johnson; 1966, for his performance as Socrates in "Barefoot in Athens," and 1970, for "A Storm in Summer." His 1977 volume of memoirs is titled "Dear Me." |  |
