Years ago I had been impressed by Peter Ustinov’s portrayal of Agatha Christie’s ‘Hercule Poirot’ and enjoyed watching him in Disney’s Blackbeard’s Ghost. Then as I grew older and devoured more movies, I noticed him in movies such as Spartacus and Hot Millions. Able to play diverse roles, yet his skill and intelligence always shining through.
Peter wasn’t only a two time academy award winning British actor though. A director, playwright, journalist, UNICEF ambassador and more. When his name was mentioned I made the effort to watch or read. Then I saw the Mike Wallace interview made in 1958. I realised this was a person to listen to, to appreciate their work, to go out of the way to discover what I hadn’t seen or read.
Peter Ustinov passed away in 2004 and has left a legacy of material to read, watch and appreciate. Peter Ustinov’s autobiography ‘Dear Me’ is a good place to start and to find out more background to this incredible person and the work he’s left behind.
Older generations in Russia, United Kingdom and America might of watched Peter being interviewed on television, seen him act in plays he wrote, sat in the movie theatre to see one of his movies, perhaps listened to an opera he had directed. Unfortunately I am not old enough to have seen the majority of those and for the television shows or movie appearances later in his career I saw, I was young enough to not be able to fully appreciate.
Now I’ve written four paragraphs and only lightly covered a few aspects covered in his book. I’ve tried to give you the sense of impression I felt before learning more, the realisation that in a world so often cluttered with nonsense television shows, interviews with people without depth, books written with limited skill, this is a person to appreciate and an autobiography to read.
The skill of the writing throughout is breathtaking, the insight into different era’s fascinating. Stories of meetings with legends of both English stage acting and hollywood are down to earth and rewarding to read. Peter’s intelligence at times is frightening, his honesty and openness regarding his family and youth humbling.
There simply was no chapter I found boring, no story uninteresting and from the beginning to the end, all helped build a well rounded autobiography.
Plus I have to point out the first part of the book doesn’t cover Peter, but his family background, his ancestors. Jealous of the knowledge he has of ancestors, wonderful to read and a perfect start to his book, which throughout was written with good humour and was down to earth.
This book covers up till the late seventies and I know his personal story doesn’t end there. For me this book also represents a guide, a starting point to journey out and find more of Peter’s work.
I’ve read many autobiographies over the years and without doubt it is one of the very best, if not the best. No longer with us today, but his work is and I for one will be seeking it out and no doubt will read this book again. I highly recommend you read it.
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