What did peter ustinov die of

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Peter Ustinov

British actor, director and writer (1921–2004)

Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov ((Y)OO-stin-off; born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov; 16 April 1921 – 28 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award.

Ustinov received two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in Spartacus (1960), and Topkapi (1964). He also starred in notable films such as Quo Vadis (1951), The Sundowners (1960), Billy Budd (1962), and Hot Millions (1968). He voiced Prince John and King Richard in the Walt Disney Animated film Robin Hood (1973), and portrayed Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot six times for both film and television.

He also displayed a unique cultural versatility which frequently earned him the accolade of a Renaissance man. Miklós Rózsa, composer of the music f

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For Ustinov, Humor Was the Key to Life

GENEVA -- Peter Ustinov once quipped that he could kneel to be knighted -- he just couldn't get up. When he turned 60, he said there was no reason to take things easy -- "I only feel 59." And he thought "Keep off the grass" would be a fitting inscription for his tombstone.

Laughter, he said, is "the most civilized music in the world."

Ustinov, who died Sunday at age 82, never made a secret of how he used humor to make a point. An actor who won two Oscars and three Emmys, he was a great practitioner of the pithy remark and the quick comeback.

"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious," he was fond of saying.

Ustinov never seemed to take himself too seriously, and he delivered many of his witticisms with a wide range of accents and sounds. He demonstrated an ability to mimic at age 2 when he was left with a parrot during his nursemaid's assignations.

"It imitated me and I imitated it," Ustinov said.

He began amusing his parents and their guests with impressions of the parrot and soon added leaders of the day, including Adolf Hitle

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If English-born Peter Ustinov, of Russian parentage, seems to have been around forever, this is only because he has.

He was only 17 when he made his stage debut, 19 when he appeared in his first films, and in his early 20s when Private Ustinov was legendarily meeting with Captain Carol Reed, Colonel David Niven and Lieut. Eric Ambler at the Ritz to prepare the screenplay for The Way Ahead (d. David Lean, 1944), in which he also played the North African café owner (he didn't look English enough for anything else).

Postwar he directed three quirkily likeable films: School for Secrets (1946), Vice-Versa (1947) and Private Angelo (1949). He then did some notable acting turns, including his protean hotelier in Hotel Sahara (d. Ken Annakin, 1951), the Prince of Wales ("Who's your fat friend?") in Beau Brummell (d. Curtis Bernhardt, 1954), several roles including Nero (Oscar nominated) in Quo Vadis? (US, d. Mervyn LeRoy, 1951), and the circus master in Max Ophuls's glorious Lola Montès (France, 1955).

He directed, produced, co-wrote and starred in a cleanl