- On 31 October 1984, he was waiting in the garden of Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, to interview her for an Irish television documentary when she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards (Beant Singh, who was killed while trying to escape after his arrest, and Satwant Singh, sentenced to hang in 1988) as she was approaching Ustinov and his film crew.
- Was fluent in French, German, English, Italian, Russian and Spanish and could speak passably in Turkish and Greek, among others.
- During WWII Pvt. Peter Ustinov was batman to Lt Col David Niven.
- Ustinov's first wife was Angela Lansbury's half-sister, Isolde Denham (1920-1987). They were married from 1940 to 1950, when the union ended in divorce. Ustinov and Denham had one child together, Tamara Ustinov.
- Winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (1960), Ustinov stands as the only actor to win an Oscar for a Stanley Kubrick film. In fact, Peter Sellers is the only other actor to receive so much as a nomination.
- Was the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF from 1968 until his death in 2004.
- Both his father and uncle were officers in the German army and fought Britain in WWI.
- He was a Humanist Laureate, a member of the International Academy of Humanism.
- Made a comedy record in the late 1950s, "Mock Mozart" and "Phoney Folk Lore". He had been performing these as party pieces. Overdubbing allowed Ustinov to sing multiple parts. His producer was George Martin, future producer of The Beatles. (Martin later described Ustinov as "Britain's answer to Orson Welles.")
- Was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Dundee University and an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio.
- In 1958 he received two Tony Award nominations, for Best Actor (Dramatic) and Best Play Author, for "Romanoff and Juliet".
- He directed his then mother-in-law Moyna MacGill in Private Angelo (1949).
- His father was a German subject who came on personal business to Soviet Russia, where he met his future wife. Shortly after they were married, they decided to leave Russia and settle in Britain. As Ustinov has said, "It is for that very reason that I am addressing you today in English.".
- He was known to proudly say, "I have Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Ethiopian blood in my veins". His father was of one-quarter Polish Jewish, one-half Russian, one-eighth Ethiopian, and one-eighth German descent, while his mother was of one-half Russian, one-quarter Italian, one-eighth French, and one-eighth German ancestry. Peter was a member of the royal family of Russia and the royal family of Ethiopia. Peter's paternal grandfather, Plato Grigorivich von Ustinov, was Russian. Peter's paternal grandmother, Magdalena Hall, was born in Magdala, Ethiopia. (Magdalena's father, Moritz Hall, born in Krakow, was of Polish Jewish descent, while Magdalena's mother was born in Ethiopia to a German father, Christoph Eduard Zander from Kothen, and a black Ethiopian mother, Woizero Essete Work Meqado de Choa, making Peter of one-sixteenth Ethiopian descent). Peter's maternal grandfather, Leontij Ludovic Benois, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to a prominent artistic family and was of one-quarter French, one quarter-German, and one-half Italian ancestry. Peter's maternal grandmother, Maria Alexandrovna Sapjhnkoff (or Sapojnikova), was Russian.
- In January 1963, the Mirisch Company sued him for damages after he pulled out of The Pink Panther (1963), which was in production in Rome with his replacement, Peter Sellers.
- According to Peter Wright in his book "Spycatcher," Ustinov's father, Klop Ustinov, had been active in MI5 (British Security Service, Counterespionage) as an agent runner during the Second World War. He also had the distinction of having held commissions in the Russian, German and British armies (presumably at different times).
- His funeral service was held at Geneva's historic Cathedral of St Pierre. He was later buried in the village of Bursins, where he had lived in a chateau since 1971. [April 2004].
- He was originally cast to play Inspector Clouseau in The pink Panther but pulled out at the 11th hour. Peter Sellers was suggested to director Blake Edwards as a replacement, but when they met, Blake was unsure until Peter said he was a fan of Laurel and Hardy, at which point Blake didn't hesitate to cast him.
- Directed one Oscar-nominated performance, that of Terence Stamp in Billy Budd (1962).
- In 1964, he accepted the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role on behalf of Margaret Rutherford, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony.
- He wrote 2 plays before doing his army service which were both produced while he was in the army. One was a success the other a disaster.
- Ustinov was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama. 15 years later, he received a knighthood (Knight Bachelor) for the same service in the 1990 list.
- Anonymously dubbed several Italian actors on the soundtrack of Beat the Devil (1953).
- Ustinov's mother, Nadia Benois, was a niece of Alexandre Benois. Both were designers for the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Both also worked for impresario Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons and Ballets Russes productions. Ustinov's mother was costume designer on two films which he directed, Vice Versa (1948) and Private Angelo (1949).
- Was Chancellor of the University of Durham from 1992 until his death in 2004.
- Played two roles that would go to be played by Jim Broadbent (Ustinov first). "Fix" from Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 days: in the miniseries Around the World in 80 Days (1989) and a BBC Radio adaptation in 1992. William IV: in Victoria & Albert (2001) and The Young Victoria (2009). He auditioned unsuccessfully for the role of Fix in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), more than 30 years earlier.
- Was Rector of the University of Dundee in Scotland from 1968 to 1974.
- He played five different English/British kings: leonine versions of Prince John (the future King John) and his elder brother, Richard the Lionheart, in Robin Hood (1973); the future King George IV in Beau Brummell (1954); his great-nephew King Edward VII in Episode #1.1 (1980); and George IV's younger brother and eventual successor, King William IV, in Victoria & Albert (2001).
- Wrote the script for the film The Way Ahead with Eric Ambler while he was in the army.
- He wrote 23 plays,13 books and 9 films plus numerous memoirs and directed8 films,8 plays and 14 operas including one a the Bolshoi in 1997,.
- Ustinov and Suzanne Cloutier had three children: two daughters (Andrea and Pavla Ustinov) and a son, Igor Ustinov.
- Has a song about him written and recorded by Lauren Christy, "The Night I Saved Peter Ustinov".
- The New London Theatre in Drury Lane WC2 first opened on 2nd January 1973 with Peter Ustinov's play "The Unknown Soldier and His Wife".
- Along with Hugh Burden, he is one of two actors to appear in both One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975).
- Held various academic posts and was a president of the World Federalist Movement.
- Was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966.
- A memorial service was held for him at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London on 18 November 2004.
- Was a Tony Award away from achieving EGOT. He made his Broadway debut as a performer in "Romanoff and Juliet," which was the second Broadway play he had written. He was nominated for both achievements at the 12th Annual Tony Awards on April 13, 1958 (both categories, Best Play and Best Actor, went to "Sunrise at Campobello." Two days later, he won his first of three Primetime Emmys.
- His children were Tamara born 1945, Pavia born 1954, Igor born 1956 and Andrea born 1958.
- He along with Anthony Quinn. Shelley Winters and Jason Robards all won 2 Best Supporting Actor Oscars each.
- The actor spoke several languages, Russian and Spanish among them. In speaking the latter, his vocabulary used to give him an appearance of comic character similar to that of the character speaking that language.
- His 3rd marriage was to Helene in 1973.
- He was buried at Bursamme, an Alpine village overlooking Lake Geneva.
- Was a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1986.
- Involved in multiple capacities for 7 Broadway productions from January 1953 through May 1984 - "The Love of Four Colonels" (written by); "Romanoff and Juliet" (written by, ballads co-written by, starring in); "Photo Finish" (written by, directed by, starring in); "The Unknown Soldier and His Wife" (written by); "Halfway Up the Tree" (written by, directed by); "Who's Who in Hell" (written by, starring in); "Beethoven's Tenth" (written by, starring in).
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