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Biography: Peter Ustinov

Hirsute, puckish "renaissance man" Peter Ustinov was born in England to parents of Russian lineage. Trained at the London Theatre Studio, Ustinov was on stage from the age of 17, performing sketches written by himself in the 1939 revue Late Joys. In 1940, the year that his first play, Fishing for Shadows, was staged, the 19-year-old Ustinov appeared in his first film. Just before entering the British army, Ustinov penned his first screenplay, The True Glory (1945). School for Secrets (1946) was the first of several films starring, written, and directed by Ustinov; others include Vice Versa (1946), Private Angelo (1949), Romanoff and Juliet (1961) (adapted from his own stage play), and Lady L (1965). Perhaps Ustinov's most ambitious film directorial project was Billy Budd (1962), a laudable if not completely successful attempt to transfer the allegorical style of Herman Melville to the screen. As an actor in films directed by others, Ustinov has sparkled in parts requiring what can best be described as "justifiable ham" -- he was Oscar-nominated for his riveting performance as the addled Nero in 1951's Quo Vadis and has won the Best Supporting Actor prize for Spartacus (1961) and Topkapi (1964). Never one to turn down a good television assignment, Ustinov has appeared on American TV in such guises as King George and Dr. Samuel Johnson, winning the first of his three Emmy awards for the latter characterization; he is also a frequent talk show guest, regaling audiences with his droll wit and his mastery over several dialects. While he has never starred on-camera in a weekly TV series, his voice could be heard essaying virtually all the roles on the 1981 syndicated cartoon series Dr. Snuggles. The closest he has come to repeating himself was with his frequent theatrical film and TV-movie appearances as Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in the late '70s and early '80s. The author of several plays (the most popular of which included Love of Four Colonels and Photo Finish) and books (including two autobiographies), Peter Ustinov was still going strong into the 1990s, making a long-overdue return to Hollywood in the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide less

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Luther (2003)
Cast: Alfred Molina
Tags: Drama Religious Drama Hagiography
Length: 120min
The life of one of the controversial figures in the history of modern religion is brought to the screen in this historical iography. Born in 1483, Martin Luther (Joseph Fiennes) was an intelligent and principled young man who was studying law in...
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Salem Witch Trials (2003)
Cast: Shirley MacLaine Alan Bates
Tags: Drama Courtroom Drama Period Film
Length: 190min
In the tradition of Arthur Miller's McCarthy-era play +The Crucible, this two-part TV dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials was heavily influenced by the present-day political scene. Rev. Parris (Henry Czerny), spiritual leader of Salem,...
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Charlie Chaplin: The Forgotten Years (2003)
Cast: Ennio Morricone
Tags: Biography Film, TV & Radio
Length: 52min
For a variety of reasons, mostly political, Charlie Chaplin left the United States in the early fifties living the final quarter-century of his life in Switzerland. Charlie Chaplin: The Forgotten Years documents this last act in the legendary...
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My Khmer Heart (2000)
Tags: Culture & Society Politics & Government Social Issues Biography
Length: 97min
Geraldine Cox is an eccentric but deeply compassionate Australian woman who since the 1980s has been operating a refugee center for orphaned children within Cambodia. The documentary My Khmer Heart offers a close look at Cox's life and her work; a...
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Granpa (1991)
Tags: Family Dance
Length: 30min
Based on the children's book by John Burningham, Granpa brings together original music, heartfelt characterizations, and a universal story line. Emily has a unique imagination, or so she thinks, until she meets her match in Granpa. Together, the two...
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Appointment with Death (1988)
Cast: John Gielgud Lauren Bacall Piper Laurie Carrie Fisher
Tags: Detective Film Mystery Whodunit
Length: 103min
In this mystery, Peter Ustinov reprises the role of Hercule Poirot, the fussy and flower-tending detective from Belgium created by Agatha Christie. In 1937, Mrs. Emily Boynton (Piper Laurie) is on an archeological dig in Palestine; she inherited the...
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Stiff Upper Lips (1997)
Tags: Comedy Comedy of Manners Parody/Spoof
Length: 94min
This 5.7-million-dollar British comedy from writer/director Gary Sinyor satirizes the now-familiar Merchant-Ivory style of period dramas. So no one will miss the joke, the central setting is Ivory Hall, the Ivory family mansion in rural England. In...
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Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
Cast: Susan Sarandon George Miller Nick Nolte
Tags: Drama Medical Drama Docudrama
Length: 135min
Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte give brilliant performances as parents trying to save the life of their son in George Miller's harrowing and heartbreaking Lorenzo's Oil. Based on a true story, the film begins as bright young Lorenzo (Zack O'Malley...
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Murder in Three Acts (1986)
Cast: Tony Curtis Peter Ustinov
Tags: Whodunit Thriller Crime Mystery Crime Thriller
Length: 100min
Agatha Christie's Murder in Three Acts represents Peter Ustinov's fifth appearance as Dame Agatha's brilliant, insufferable Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The scene is Acapulco, where retired actor Tony Curtis hosts two separate parties--both of...
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Dead Man's Folly (1986)
Tags: Detective Film Mystery
Length: 100min
Peter Ustinov stars once more as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's insufferably brilliant Belgian detective. Unlike many of Ustinov's earlier Poirot vehicles, which were set in the 1930s, the made-for-TV Dead Man's Folly takes place in contemporary...
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Peter Ustinov

Biography: Peter Ustinov

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