RIP Peter Ustinov

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 4:43 pm

A truly cool human has jumped the mortal coil....

From the IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/

Oscar Winner Peter Ustinov Dies at 82

Legendary character actor Peter Ustinov, who won two Oscars for roles in Spartacus and Topkapi, died Sunday night in Switzerland of heart failure; he was 82. Also a prolific writer, Ustinov began his acting career at the age of 17 and sold his first screenplay (for The True Glory) at 24. At age 30, he earned his first Oscar nomination for his turn as Nero in Quo Vadis?, effectively establishing himself as one of the screen's most versatile supporting actors. Though known to most moviegoers as a portly British character actor, Ustinov was a multi-talented entertainer who also wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the acclaimed 1962 film Billy Budd, wrote innumerable novels and plays (including Romanoff and Juliet), and traveled extensively as a humanitarian, raconteur and humorist. Ustinov's biographer, John Miller, once remarked that the actor, who was knighted in 1990, "had enough careers for about six other men." Though confined to a wheelchair later in his life, Ustinov continued to raise money for UNICEF and most recently appeared in the film Luther. Other notable roles include his turns as Agatha Christie detective Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, Evil Under the Sun and Appointment with Death as well as films Lorenzo's Oil, Logan's Run, Hot Millions (for which he also received a Screenplay Oscar nomination), The Sundowners and The Egyptian. --Prepared by IMDb staff

Tim(e) · Post by **Tim(e)** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 5:59 pm

Yes, sad... a truly wonderful human being has been lost to us.

lapinsjolis · Post by **lapinsjolis** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 2:38 am

He was one of my very first crushes and I've never gotten over it. Such a brilliant man and one of the best titled autobiographies, "Dear Me". May he find peace.

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:03 pm

Yes - a legend.

But I must admit is was one of those celebrity deaths where you say, "I didn't know he was still alive."

Post by **DrSpooky** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 1:17 pm

I remember being impressed seeing Peter Ustinov perform in the play "Beethoven's Tenth" at the Schubert Theatre while I was in college. He was simply amazing. Until I looked it up on the net just now, I didn't realize he also wrote it. In it he played the ghost of Beethoven who was trying to pass along his 10th symphony to the hack critic.

http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Fictions/Fic ... glish.html

Some of the reviews on the net aren't so kind but that's critics for you.