# R.I.P. Sir Peter Ustinov **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203 "2004-03-30T00:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/1 "2004-03-30T00:25:08Z")
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3578415.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3578415.stm) I note that two tracks of musical parody by him are now on alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.comedy. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/2 "2004-03-30T00:42:36Z")
Years of wonderful entertainment - Brilliant in _Spartacas_, delightful in _Logan’s Run_, great in _Topkapi_, even in a stinker like _Viva Max_, he was fun to watch. TV ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/3 "2004-03-30T00:48:28Z")
Do svidanya, Petr. A good actor, but a wonderful human being. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/4 "2004-03-30T00:54:32Z")
In 1983 Ustinov was a guest on _Late Night with David Letterman_. On that particular show Letterman and the producers had the technical staff rotate the screen so that it “spun” 360 degrees as the show progressed. When Ustinov came on he leaned in his seat during his interview as if the actual set was rotating. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/5 "2004-03-30T01:53:54Z")
☹ One of a handful of legends that still walked the earth, no more. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/6 "2004-03-30T02:41:33Z")
Who the hell is [Peter Ustinov](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247904)? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/7 "2004-03-30T02:50:01Z")
Always seemed like a good person and a class act who kept a sense of humor about himself as well. In addition to his acting chops, he was a fair director as well, I’ve been recommending his version on _Billy Budd_ ever since I furst saw it in high school. I think the last thing I saw him in was _On the Trail of Mark Twain: Following The Equator_, a cute travelogue show on PBS several years ago. He was old, weak, and tired but still very funny and observant. I loved seeing him trying to file a claim for native land rights and checking his geneology in Hawaii “just in case”. As well as looking into posting a personal ad in India. The conversation he had with an old Brit or Aussie sailor (can’t recall which) who had married a native and settled in Polynesia was touching. Wish I had a copy of it. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/8 "2004-03-30T03:13:24Z")
A fine actor, and truly witty and gentlemanly. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/9 "2004-03-30T20:07:50Z")
Did you know that, blonde hair and blue eyes and all, he was 1/8 black, incidentally? His great-grandmother was an Ethiopian. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/10 "2004-03-30T20:25:53Z")
“New York run by the Swiss”, one of the finest compliments about Toronto ever. A great actor and a greater man. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-sir-peter-ustinov/237203/11 "2004-03-31T07:25:52Z")
Sigh. As a kid, I first ‘met’ Peter Ustinov when he supplied the voices for two regal members of the animal kingdom: Babar, King of the Elephants, and Prince John (“that phony king of Eng–land!”) from Disney’s _Robin Hood_ – I not only owned the recording of the latter, I had to buy two new ones when I wore out their predecessors. (Admittedly, part of my obsession with this record was due to my very first crush, targetting Brian Bedford’s vocal portrayal of Robin Hood. But I loved Ustinov as the thumb-sucking “PJ” too.) I also loved his version of Hercule Poirot in _Evil Under the Sun_ and _Death on the Nile._ While he wasn’t Agatha Christie’s Poirot in either appearance or personality, his charm, jovial enthusiasm and deceptive buffoonery/primness still conveyed the essence of the “little Belgian.” A talented, witty man. He’ll be missed.