Peter Ustinov

Born in London in April 1921, Peter Ustinov built a half-century screen career on roles that let him chew scenery with precision: a Roman slave dealer in Quo Vadis, then the con men and schemers that won him Oscars for Spartacus in 1960 and Topkapi four years later. He voiced both Prince John and King Richard in Disney's Robin Hood, embodied Hercule Poirot across film and television, and racked up Emmys, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe along the way. But the stage and screen were only half the act: he spent decades as a fixture on lecture circuits and talk shows, deployed his polyglot charm as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and president of the World Federalist Movement, and served as chancellor of Durham University until his death in March 2004. The university renamed its graduate society Ustinov College the year before he died.