“He shows great originality which must be curbed at all costs.”
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Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov was a British actor and humanitarian. 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, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Silver Bear, a Laurel Award, a Photoplay Award and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations fo…
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entertainment · British actor and humanitarian (1921–2004) · actor · humanitarian · writer · television presenter · screenwriter · playwright · film producer · autobiographer · television actor · director · also Peter Ustinov, Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov, Sir Peter Alexander von Ustinov, Peter Alexander Ustinov, Ustinov
Born 16 April 1921 · Died 28 March 2004 · Q55796
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2026· 2 entries
Public attention spiked: 4,257 Wikipedia readers in one day, 3.9× the usual 1,080, with 0 article edits.
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2025· 1 entry
BroadwayWorld: Peter Ustinov
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2024· 1 entry
Released album “Le bestiaire / Chansons villageoises / Rapsodie nègre / Le bal masqué / Histoire de Babar / Aubade / Concerto pour piano / Les animaux modèles”.
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2023· 1 entry
The Guardian: ‘Him coming home with a Renoir was our normal’: Peter Ustinov art goes on sale
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2019· 1 entry
Released album “Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf / Angerer: Toy Symphony”.
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2010· 1 entry
Released album “Orchestral Works / Háry János”.
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2007· 1 entry
Released album “An Audience with Peter Ustinov”.
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2004· 28 entries
Chicago Tribune: PETER USTINOV, 82
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SFGate: PETER USTINOV / 1921-2004 / Multi-talented actor known as great wit and humanitarian
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The Telegraph: Peter Ustinov dies of heart failure
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Dawn: Peter Ustinov dies at 82
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Died 2004-03-28.
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Released album “Rilke Projekt: Überfließende Himmel”.
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“The truth is really an ambition which is beyond us.”
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“If Botticelli were alive today he'd be working for Vogue.”
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“Laughter would be bereaved if snobbery died.”
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“O progresso não para. Deus criou o mundo em seis dias. E o que temos hoje? A semana de cinco dias.”
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“Politicians only get to the top because they have no qualifications to detain them at the bottom.”
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“Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who got there first.”
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“Her virtue was that she said what she thought, her vice that what she thought didn't amount to much.”
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“To be gentle, tolerant, wise and reasonable requires a goodly portion of toughness.”
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“By increasing the size of the keyhole, today's playwrights are in danger of doing away with the door.”
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“I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer.”
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“Parents are the bones on which children cut their teeth.”
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“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.”
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“In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.”
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“Playwrights are like men who have been dining for a month in an Indian restaurant. After eating curry night after night, they deny the existence of asparagus.”
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“Unfortunately, the balance of nature decrees that a superabundance of dreams is paid for by a growing potential for nightmares.”
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“There is no question but that if Jesus Christ, or a great prophet from another religion, were to come back today, he would find it virtually impossible to convince anyone of his credentials despite the fact that the vast evangelical machine on American television is predicated on His imminent return among us sinners.”
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“Pavarotti is not vain, but conscious of being unique.”
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“Sex is a conversation carried out by other means.”
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“I have Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Ethiopian blood in my veins.”
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“The only reason I made a commercial for American Express was to pay for my American Express bill.”
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“Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.”
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“Children are the only form of immortality that we can be sure of.”
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2003· 2 entries
Durham's postgraduate college (previously known as the Graduate Society) was renamed Ustinov College
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Durham University changed the name of its Graduate Society to Ustinov College, in honour of the significant contributions Ustinov had made as chancellor of the university from 1992 until his death
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2002· 2 entries
To visit the circle of United Buddy Bears that promote a more peaceful world between nations, cultures, and religions for the first time
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Released album “Prokofiev: Pierre et le loup / Saint‐Saëns: Le Carnaval des animaux / Poulenc: L’Histoire de Babar”.
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2001· 1 entry
Released album “Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus: Eine musikalische Erzählung von und mit Sir Peter Ustinov”.
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2000· 2 entries
Released album “Bilder einer Ausstellung: Eine musikalische Erzählung von und mit Sir Peter Ustinov”.
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"People are annoyed with the Chinese for not respecting more human rights
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1999· 2 entries
In 1999, Peter and his son Igor Ustinov founded the Sir Peter Ustinov Stiftung (Sir Peter Ustinov Foundation) in the city of Munich in Germany.
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Peter and his son Igor Ustinov founded the Sir Peter Ustinov Stiftung (Sir Peter Ustinov Foundation) in the city of Munich in Germany
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1998· 2 entries
Awarded Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1998).
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Awarded Bavarian TV Awards (1998).
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1995· 1 entry
Awarded honorary doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (1995).
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1994· 1 entry
Released album “Háry János / Peacock Variations / Psalmus Hungaricus”.
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1992· 2 entries
Career landmark: Chancellor of Durham University (1992–2004).
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Ustinov was awarded with the British Academy Britannia Award
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1990· 2 entries
And was appointed chancellor of Durham University in 1992, having previously been elected as the first rector of the University of Dundee in 1968 (a role in which he moved from being merely a figurehead to taking on a po
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Released album “Peter Ustinov Reads The Orchestra”.
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1989· 1 entry
Released album “Peter and the Wolf / Toy Symphony / Carnival of the Animals”.
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1988· 2 entries
Released album “L'Histoire du Soldat”.
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Hosted a live television broadcast entitled The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper
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1987· 1 entry
Won Golden Schlitzohr (1987).
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1984· 1 entry
Awarded Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1984).
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1981· 1 entry
Awarded Order of Karl Valentin (1981).
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1975· 1 entry
Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1975).
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1971· 1 entry
Narrowly beating Michael Parkinson after a disputed recount
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1968· 1 entry
Was elected the first rector of the University of Dundee and served two consecutive three-year terms
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1967· 1 entry
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Hallmark Hall of Fame (1967).
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1966· 1 entry
Released album “Peter Ustinov Tells the Stories of Babar the Elephant and the Little Tailor”.
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1965· 1 entry
Awarded Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Topkapi (1965).
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1961· 1 entry
Awarded Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Spartacus (1961).
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1960· 1 entry
Released album “The Grand Prix of Gibraltar!”.
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1959· 1 entry
Released album “Peter and the Wolf / Toy Symphony”.
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1958· 2 entries
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (1958).
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Won Benjamin Franklin Medal (1958).
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1950· 1 entry
And they had one child, daughter Tamara Ustinov
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1944· 1 entry
Under the auspices of Entertainments National Service Association, he presented and performed the role of Sir Anthony Absolute, in Sheridan's The Rivals, with Dame Edith Evans, at the theatre in Larkhill Camp, Wiltshire
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1939· 1 entry
Where he performed in a different accent every night
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1935· 1 entry
Two years after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, Jona von Ustinov began working for the British intelligence service MI5 and became a British subject, thus avoiding internment during the war
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1921· 1 entry
Born 1921-04-16.
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