The '60s would be Ustinov's most fruitful decade. After achieving some international popularity with that role, Ustinov gave some top-notch performances in quality films: the snappish Prinny in the Stewart Granger vehicle Beau Brummel (1954) holding his own against Humphrey Bogart as an escaped convict in We're No Angels (1954) the ring master who presides over the life of the lead character in Max Ophuls's resplendent Lola Montez (1955) and a garrulous settler coping with the Australian outback in The Sundowners (1960). Ustinov made his Hollywood debut, and garnered his first Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as an indolent Nero in the Roman epic, Quo Vadis? (1951). Although not a huge hit of its day, the sheer buoyancy of the surreal premise has earned the film a large cult following. It was enough of a hit to earn Ustinov his first film directorial assignment, School for Secrets (1946), a well paced drama about the discovery of radar starring Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir Richard Attenborough.Īfter the war, Ustinov took on another writer-director project Vice Versa (1948), a whimsical fantasy-comedy starring Roger Livesey and Anthony Newley as a father and son who magically switch personalities. One of Sir Carol Reed's best films, The Way Ahead was a thrilling drama which starred David Niven as a civilian heading up a group of locals to resist an oncoming Nazi unit. He eventually earned his first screenwriting credit for The Way Ahead (1944). He served in the British Army for four years (1942-46), where he found his talents well utilized by the military, allowing him to join the director Sir Carol Reed on some propaganda films. His jovial nature and strong gift for dialects made him a natural player for films, and it wasn't long after finding theatre work that Ustinov moved into motion pictures: a Dutch priest in Michael Powell's One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1941) an elderly Czech professor in Let the People Sing (1942) and a star pupil of a Nazi spy school in The Goose Steps Out (1942). He then enrolled for acting classes at the London Theater Studio, and by 1939, he made his London stage debut. He attended Westminster School, an exclusive private school in central London until he was 16. His father was a press attache at the German embassy until 1935 - when disgusted by the Nazi regime - he took out British nationality. He was born Peter Alexander Ustinov on Apin London, England. Sir Peter Ustinov, the witty, multi-talented actor, director and writer whose 60-year career in entertainment included two Best Supporting Actor Oscars® for his memorable character turns in the films Spartacus and Topkapi, died of heart failure on March 28 at a clinic in Genolier, Switzerland.
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