Product Description

Actor, playwright, director, novelist, wit and raconteur, Peter Ustinov is a show business polymath. Born in England in 1921 of Russian immigrant parents, he discovered an ability to mimic while at school. He wrote his first play before he was 20 - he has since had more than a dozen produced, three of which were later filmed. As an actor his films include SPARTACUS and TOPKAPI (Academy Awards for Best Supporting actor), QUO VADIS, DEATH ON THE NILE (one of three appearances as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot) and BILLY BUDD (which he also wrote and directed). More recently he has directed operas in every major opera house in Europe. His one-man show, AN EVENING WITH PETER USTINOV has been a hit in London and on Broadway. He has published several novels and one early volume of memoirs.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #686736 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Review
Peter Ustinov was in London last month to celebrate the publication of his autobiography and he was kept very busy with events and interviews.Events included:Platform performance at the National Theatre on 12 September, with John Miller - this was followed by a reception for Sir Peter's friends, family andselected booksellersAn Oldie Literary Lunch with John Miller and Dickie Birdon 10 September (and we've had diary stories in the Daily Mail (x2), Independent (x2) and Daily Telegraph about this as well as a cartoon in the Times).ADaily Mail Literary Lunch with A.N. Wilson on 11th September. Radio interviews were fixed up with:Front Row (BBC Radio 4) on 7th SeptemberRadio 2 Arts programmeBrian Morton Show (BBC Radio Scotland)John Miller has also been doing a number of regional radio interviews to include: BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Solent, BBC Radio Berkshire, BBC Radio Leicester, BBC Radio Northampton, BBC Radio Jersey, BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Hereford & Worcester, BBC Yorkshire & Lincolshire and News Talk 106 (based in Dublin), LBC, BBC Wiltshire Sound, BBC Radio Newcastle Press interviews with Peter include:G2 interview in the Guardian (23 September)The 'Lunch With...' slot in the Financial TimesMail on Sunday ('Roots' interview in Night & Day)Woman's Weekly magazine (to run in December)Lady magazineTES (My Best Teacher Slot) (11 October '02) TV interviews were on BBC 6pm News (audience of 8 million)Open House with Gloria Hunniford (Channel 5) John Miller was also interviewed by Reuters. There has been a big interview in the Daily Telegraph with Peter Ustinov, about tennis, which whilst it doesn't mention the book is nonetheless great coverage. There was also a large interview in the Independent on Sunday (21st July '02). He's also completed the 'Best Day of My Life' feature for the Daily Mail and an interview in the Observer. John Miller will also bedoing some solos events about Peter Ustinov, and these include a talk at theLaurence Studio Bookshop in New Alresford (27 September) and a talk at the Guildford Book Festival (28 October). Reviews have started coming in and are very positive... 'Along with the anecdotes, Miller, manages to convey Ustinov's serious preoccupations with human folly and his attempts to promote intelligent international discussion....Of course, he is above all a brilliant entertainer, but he is more than that and this book conveys it...'Peter Lewis, Daily Mail 'John Miller is a sympathetic and intelligent chronicler of thespian extravagance...'Simon Callow, Sunday Times 'Miller is a paintstaking biographer and he digs deeply in the psyche of the great man...If you only buy one theatrical biography this year, I urge you to make this your choice!'Amateur Stage 'John Miller is an intriguing biographer who writes the entire affair with a contemporary edge...In absolute contrast to most biographies written today, Miller's book attempts to crush a massive story into a relatively short text. The result is a dizzyingly speedy tale, hurtling through an extraordinarylife. To read more than three pages and not become addicted is simply impossible.'Mick Middles, Manchester Evening News '...very funny in places...'Tom Widger, Sunday Tribune There has also been a review in the Sunday Telegraph by

From the Inside Flap
As actor, playwright, screenwriter, director, novelist, historian, broadcaster and incomparable raconteur, the name of Peter Ustinov is one to conjure with in theatre, film, radio, television, opera, concert-hall or the recording studio. British by birth, Russian by lineage, and international by reputation, Ustinov has often said 'I act for a living, I write because I must,' but as John Miller researched his life, he observed at first-hand how his subject also has a powerful compulsion to entertain. It first showed itself in Ustinov's precocious gift for mimicry as a child, and has continued through his rise to stardom in every aspect of his profession. In his eighties he has shown no sign of letting up - and not just in the theatre or cinema, but as an ardent human rights compaigner, and as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. What is the compulsion that drives him to go on working so hard, and in so many different fields? Ustinov, who has collaborated fully with John Miller, talks as frankly about his setbacks and disappointments, as he does of the rewards and excitements of his multi-faceted career. Friends and colleagues, too, have helped Miller in his search for the man behind the public image of the great entertainer. This warm and revealing biography is the enthralling story of a man whose unique gift of laughter has been delighting audiences for more than six decades. ILLUSTRATED 20 in UK only John Miller has previously collaborated with John Gielgud on his memoirs for radio and television, and their two subsequent books - An Actor and his Time and Acting Shakespeare. He has also written the authorised biographies of Ralph Richardson and Judi Dench, the latter now in its third edition. He has worked for BBC, UNESCO and TVS, and broadcast regularly on theatrical and historical subjects. For the Millennium celebrations he wrote and produced Men in Scarlet - a Son et Lumiere history of the Chelsea Pensioners presented at the Royal Hospital. In 2001 he collaborated with John Mills on his updated autobiography, Up in the Clouds, Gentleman Please. Credits: Front: Robin Mathews, Camera Press Back: Ustinov in Beethoven's Tenth: John Timbers Author : Tony Nutley Weidenfeld & Nicolson The Orion Publishing Group Orion House 5 Upper Saint Martin's Lane London, WC2H 9EA

About the Author
John Miller's career has principally been in TV and radio (for the BBC) and for ten years until 1992 for the South of England ITV company, TVS. He is the author of biographies of Ralph Richardson and Judi Dench (W&N hb & Orion pb) and collaborated with John Gielgud on his memoirs, AN ACTOR AND HIS TIME (Pan pb)