He scored another Oscar® nomination in the Best Original Screenplay category for his airy, clever crime romp Hot Millions (1968), in which he played a con artist who uses a computer to bilk a company out of millions of dollars but after that, Ustinov began taking a string of offbeat character parts: the lead in one of Disney's better kiddie flicks Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) a Mexican General who wants to reclaim Texas for Mexico in Viva Max! (1969) an old man who survives the ravaged planet of the future in Logan's Run (1976) and an unfortunate turn as a Chinese stereotype in Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981). He started off gabbing his first Oscar® as the cunning slave dealer in Spartacus (1960) made a smooth screen adaptation by directing his smash play, Romanoff and Juliet (1961), earned critical acclaim for his co-adaptation, direction, production and performance in Herman Melville's nautical classic Billy Budd (1962) and earned a second Oscar® as the fumbling jewel thief in the crime comedy Topkapi (1964). The '60s would be Ustinov's most fruitful decade.
After achieving some international popularity with that role, Ustinov gave some top-notch performances in quality films: the snappish Prinny in the Stewart Granger vehicle Beau Brummel (1954) holding his own against Humphrey Bogart as an escaped convict in We're No Angels (1954) the ring master who presides over the life of the lead character in Max Ophuls's resplendent Lola Montez (1955) and a garrulous settler coping with the Australian outback in The Sundowners (1960). Ustinov made his Hollywood debut, and garnered his first Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actor, as an indolent Nero in the Roman epic, Quo Vadis? (1951). Although not a huge hit of its day, the sheer buoyancy of the surreal premise has earned the film a large cult following. It was enough of a hit to earn Ustinov his first film directorial assignment, School for Secrets (1946), a well paced drama about the discovery of radar starring Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir Richard Attenborough.Īfter the war, Ustinov took on another writer-director project Vice Versa (1948), a whimsical fantasy-comedy starring Roger Livesey and Anthony Newley as a father and son who magically switch personalities. One of Sir Carol Reed's best films, The Way Ahead was a thrilling drama which starred David Niven as a civilian heading up a group of locals to resist an oncoming Nazi unit. He eventually earned his first screenwriting credit for The Way Ahead (1944). He served in the British Army for four years (1942-46), where he found his talents well utilized by the military, allowing him to join the director Sir Carol Reed on some propaganda films. His jovial nature and strong gift for dialects made him a natural player for films, and it wasn't long after finding theatre work that Ustinov moved into motion pictures: a Dutch priest in Michael Powell's One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1941) an elderly Czech professor in Let the People Sing (1942) and a star pupil of a Nazi spy school in The Goose Steps Out (1942). He then enrolled for acting classes at the London Theater Studio, and by 1939, he made his London stage debut.
He attended Westminster School, an exclusive private school in central London until he was 16. His father was a press attache at the German embassy until 1935 - when disgusted by the Nazi regime - he took out British nationality.
He was born Peter Alexander Ustinov on Apin London, England. Sir Peter Ustinov, the witty, multi-talented actor, director and writer whose 60-year career in entertainment included two Best Supporting Actor Oscars® for his memorable character turns in the films Spartacus and Topkapi, died of heart failure on March 28 at a clinic in Genolier, Switzerland. Max is wounded in the confrontation with the Sentries but courageously leads his unarmed soldiers to victory and then orders the army back to Mexico. Paula becomes sympathetic to the Mexican's revolutionary cause, but Hattie secretly sends a message for help to her nephew, Sam Gillison, the leader of the Sentries, a para-military organization pledged to the defense of the United States.
During the ensuing siege, Max captures Hattie Longstreet Daniel, a right-wing fanatic who was visiting the fort, and Paula Whitland, a young woman who operates the souvenir stand. The Mexicans refuse to leave the fort, however, and Max outwits the Guard when he learns that they have not been issued ammunition. Max telephones Police Chief George Sylvester and proclaims his triumph, and Sylvester calls in a local National Guard unit, led by Gen. Maximilian Rodrigues de Santos leads his motley band of Mexican soldiers across the United States border on the pretext of marching in the Washington's Birthday parade instead, the men advance to San Antonio and capture the Alamo.
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