Intelligent, erudite, multi talented, linguist, sharp, well dressed, no foul language, witty, entertaining.....I could go on. RIP Notice all the young comics looking up to him.
I've had to write this comment. I'm a council estate lad, a chippy, not highly educated or well worded. I can't read a book without a dictionary. This video came up on my suggestions for some reason and I clicked on it. mainly because I'd seen this blokes face before and heard the name. I always thought he was a boring and serious man. I clicked on it because I wondered why he'd be on an audience with. Well I'm half way through and I haven't stopped laughing or being amazed at how brilliant he is. I've definitely found an absolute gem and I feel I've missed out in a big way. What a discovery. Fantastic
This is a bit late Steve, you posted a year ago, but you should check out the interviews with him. Ones where he gets a chance to tell some old stories. His was a life well lived. He had the talent to laugh at what he found & not take himself too seriously. I’m also a lad from a council estate. Nothing wrong in that.
I received my degree at Durham from Peter Ustinov. He described the giant red robes he was wearing as "being dressed as a Ferrari." He also said there were two types of graduand (what you are before after exams but before receiving the "paperwork"), those who say thank you before receiving their diploma and those who say thank you after. "Be careful," he warned, "ensure you get paid before saying thank you to an employer. In acting, there is no shame in checking the envelope before showing your gratitude.,"
He doesn’t so much name drop as name carpet-bomb, but you know that he’s genuinely met all of these people and done all of these things. 2 Oscars, 2 Emmy’s, a Grammy, and a Golden globe - actor, screenwriter, playwrite, UN Ambassador and so on….
I can't help feeling how sad Peter Ustinov would be to see the state of the world today (particularly how Russia has gone). He's the type of humane, tolerant, decent and intelligent person we so badly need to remind us people are capable of doing good.
If I had to be stuck in a lift for a considerable amount of time, I couldn't wish for a better companion! What a brilliant man, so full of life and living it! Absolutely brilliant.
It was said of him that he never talked with you, he talked at you. That is to say the conversation was a performance for him and you were the audience.
One thing that always strikes me when I look at these older vids is the eloquence, vocabulary and intelligence of people (not just the performers). People back then really used to speak to each other and tell stories - I fear we are really losing that ability to elegantly communicate in this modern age.
Not only in England I Listened to the female reading the News on the radio today I could not understand her at all , some new raspy kind of accent I believe it's called "vocal Fry " people in Australia blame the Americans .lol..
I admit there is something to that perception that the average person (or at least the average White male who mattered politically and left his mark somehow -- someone mentioned the example of American Civil War letters), was more eloquent than later generations. But I think there is also a selection bias at work. We remember people who left their mark by being the wittiest and the smartest around as witty and smart and think they were representative. Reagan was the great communicator, but Bush I, despite his patrician aplomb, was much less inspiring and coherent. Even regarding the basic gifts of the mind... I mean, how many decades ago a book called Why Johnny Can't Read was written? It complained about low standards among youth draft during the Korean War (1950-1953). Even if we admit the intellectual standards were higher a few decades ago, it was the end tail of the proccess of dissemination of basic education. As late as the early 1900s, 20 percent of the American adult population was illiterate. Among American Blacks, the rate of illiteracy was four times the one for the general population. To be honest, I am particularly skeptical because, as a Brazilian, I keep hearing people ranting about people in Brazil being smarter in the 1950s, when about 50% of Brazil's population was illiterate. Sure, one can be eloquent and illiterate, but I don't think it is what people have in mind.
A true "renaissace man" . Knew everyone important in the day. Speaks languages just like that, makes impressions, sings like a bird and is witted beyond belief. And top of that, funny as hell.
One of the most intelligent, beautifully spoken, talented and witty men whoever existed, in my humble opinion. Whenever he was on a talk show, I watched eagerly and he never disappointed.
I agree with you. Eloquently spoken, expertainly executated voice and body mimicking. Never will we have comics, come actors genius entertainers in the makings for a long long time.
@@lenagreen4031 His father was a spy and his nickname was Clop (bed bug) because that was a vital part of spying and Clop was one of the best at seduction and a MASTER spy, I mean one of the best...
This awesome man was a couple of seats away from me on a night flight from Heathrow to San Francisco in 1990 - and he chatted to us all throughout the flight. On landing, as we plebs queued up at Customs, he was waived straight through with a "Mr Ustinov, nice to see you again, come straight through!"
In the four seconds from 8:50, Peter Ustinov's utterly masterful insight and consummate acting have captured a quintessence of Englishness through the butler. No script, no props, no costume. Ephemeral, minimalist, this is a thespian equivalent of the Zen brush stroke.
Unless you live in Britain you cannot get it. I remember the terror of trying to understand the language people spoke in my first week in England. Like a carnival of accents
Forgive me I had actually forgot the genius of this man. As already mentioned you could listen to him all day. Crying with laughter. Nothing vulgar or offensive.
What a legend Peter Ustinov was loved his stories and the way he does the different characters and voices funny and educational what a legend he was a true comedy and great actor
Contrast this genius to the celebrities of today. It's almost unbelievable how stupid people have become. Ustinov was a complete genius, what a legend!
I'm 25 and I can clearly see how the ugly contrast of today and the previous generations. The only words I can use to describe what I've just seen is BRILLIANT............. JUST BRILLIANT.
Hi Yasser I'm 55 and I remember Ustinov, Niven, Borge etc. They were terrific and as funny to look back on now as they were then. However, with a lifetime ahead of you I am optimistic that there will be plenty of inovative humour in the future too.
Hello Yasser. I pray yours and the next generation are exposed to great minds and new talent, the likes of Ustinov. This will only come about by comedians daring to use their intellect and the young willing to say no to crude and poor substitutes. You yourself have started the ball rolling by finding this BRILLIANT! Spread the word.
Richard Thorpe I am not at all optimistic that another 'Ustinov' will be produced. Globalisation and the EU are flat out working to homogenise everyone and make sure that noble, educated, interesting and erudite people are unable to exist. Follow the French system and realise that everyone must be specialised in one field and one field only and that children should spend as little time with family as possible so that the state can mould them into EUites.
I came across this video by chance now in 2022. As an elderly guy, I can remember all the featured audience members, and the relevance of much of Peter's material. I had forgotten just how talented Peter was, and spent my time watching with a glass (or two) of red wine, in awe and admiration of his superb talent. Although we shall never see his like again, the hope is that others will come to the fore as time goes on, although succeeding generations may well find such finely nuanced humour mystifying.
He has the ability to draw an audience deeply into a story … he can go 10-15 seconds just making faces and then deliver a subtle punch line that the audience loves. He makes something that is just silly into something that is side-spitting hilarious.
For anyone outside the UK who may not know, and won't get the point, he mentions that his mother wondered why every railway station was called Bovril. It's a long-established kind of paste made from beef, and was at one time advertised using massive hoardings (bilboards) on railway stations, to be visible as the trains passed. Always much bigger than the station nameplates.
Peter Ustinov has been a hero of mine since I was a child. It wasn't mentioned here but he could speak 12 yes TWELVE languages extremely well. I know his French was accentless and in this video his German sounds excellent too.English Russian French German Italian Mandarin and perhaps someone else knows the other six. Peter Ustinov also worked with British intelligence. He was truly larger than life. Sadly missed.
Almost 2022 and I still find this man fantastically entertaining. I cried so many tears of laughter during this. Just brilliant. Incomparable and sadly Irreplaceable.
The absolute, total sadness fills me that the likes of this incredible GentleMan will never come our way again.......What a loss AND.what an unbelievable pity!
Peter was revered as one of the world's truly legendary entertainers. As an actor, producer, director, novelist, playwright, and columnist, his body of work was thoroughly impressive. RIP Legend❤︎
As kid in the 80s he was Dr Snuggles & the voice of Prince John, now as a +40 year old man he still fascinates me just as much as he did then but for different reasons. What an absolutely wonderful genius person Peter Ustinov was. I could listen to him all day long. RIP
A gifted, brilliant man who was so much more than an actor. Where are people like that today in entertainment? Educated, witty, worldly, multi-lingual, shrewd, with an endless appetite for knowledge. I miss people like this in the entertainment industry.
Ustinovs father, Jona Freiherr von Ustinov, was of Russian, German, Polish, and Ethiopian and Jewish descent. Peter's paternal grandfather was Baron Plato von Ustinov, a Russian noble, and his grandmother was Magdalena Hall, of mixed German-Ethiopian-Jewish origin. Ustinov's great-grandfather Moritz Hall, a Jewish refugee from Kraków and later a Christian convert and colleague of Swiss and German missionaries in Ethiopia, married into a German-Ethiopian family. Peter's paternal great-great-grandparents (through Magdalena's mother) were the German painter Eduard Zander and the Ethiopian aristocrat Court-Lady Isette-Werq in Gondar. Ustinov's mother, Nadezhda Leontievna Benois, known as Nadia, was a painter and ballet designer of French, German, Italian, and Russian descent. Her father, Leon Benois, was an Imperial Russian architect.
What a great person he was. He was a real polymath. He could talk for hours entertaining people. And a great actor of course. We will not see the likes of his kind for some time.
One that understands the German language can relate to this hilarious , wonderful man. So remarkable, brilliant and humble person. I love his movies especially his role as Monsieur Poirot. He was always my fav. Immensely missed.
I have watched this many times and it always makes me laugh. Peter was an outstanding talent the likes of which we will never see again. What an amazing man he was , I could listen to him for hours. His ability to instantly be the person he is mimicking was legendary. What a great man.
One of the most funny, witty, clever and eloquent gentleman ever to grace our shores! The only person even slightly close is a current national treasure, Stephen Fry. We're haemorrhaging, even bleeding out, when it comes to wonderful people like these
It's late and I'm watching this in bed. I know for certain that I will wake in the middle of the night laughing unexplicibly over this outragously funny and talented man.
Dearly love this wonderful man. I also enjoyed seeing the audience. All those fantastic faces. I may not remember the names but I will never forget the faces.
As an American I cannot imagine what your country and others think of where we are at in the U S when so many of us cannot think how we got here. When we visited our relatives in Norway they told us ET was not shown there because of the disrespect to parents. In this day and age it’s nothing but violence and shows that I can’t understand how writers got the idea they could strike. My daughter and I watch Britbox, Acorn the Canadian ch. PBS, Hallmark, not much else. $265. A month for hundreds of ch that are useless if not worse. For us this Ustinov is priceless. Have saved it for the future. A treasure for us
My relatives don’t lie. I’m talking about 1976. I would guess ET would have been in theatres there in time. There were only three channels at the time. To say liar is a very serious accusation to me
@@lynnecody1548 Yes, I'm very sorry, but I say "a tall tale", not a lie - I do not want to accuse your relatives of lying! But the movie E.T. (I assumed we were talking about the movie E.T.?) was not made until 1982, so that cannot be the case for 1976... Anyhow, the movie E.T. was indeed shown publicly in cinemas/theatres in Norway (I am Norwegian and was 12 at the time and lived in Norway). But perhaps you were talking about something else entirely? If so, just ignore my comment! I just don't want people to think that an innocent movie like E.T. was banned in Norway. :-)
Had the privilidge of meeting him around 1975. My father was his biggest fan. We were staying at The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, dining at la Normandie restaurant. Ustinov was at the next table, dad sat there for ages compling something clever to say to him finally "Mr Ustinov may your shadow never diminish." Ustinov turned to my father we made introductions and he replied "Unless its a sunless day". Will never forget it.One of the most educated, erudite raconteurs that this world has ever produced, and had the privildge to meet. :)
Peter Ustinov - a name I have known since my childhood - but never really experienced. This is simply sublime - I have never seen a performer or entertainer of this caliber. This is simply a class of its own
For the last 30 years since seeing this live our family always responds, when asked what we would like with a cup of tea, with a screwed up face a la Ustinov: "Any cake?"
How very nice to hear an hour of jokes, and anecdotes without any sly double meanings or a solitary swear word. The World is not always a better place without these men who were truly greats in their profession.
You got old-timer syndrome. Understandable, but Sir Ustinov was not only great, a Hollywood great and a global super star for decades; he truly was one of a kind. You can't compare him to "acts of today" in or any era and be fair.
Not only the best "An Audience With..." One of the most entertaining pieces of tv I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot! Thanks so much for posting this gem. Ustinov has got to be the number 1 dinner party guest. I'm a Scot and enjoyed Billy Connolly's audience, but Ustinov is in a completely different league.👍
I've watched this "Audiance..." at least six times and every time I laugh my head off. What a truly incredible and keen observer of life Peter was. May he live in our hearts forever. CVD
Peter was absolutely BRILLIANT at what ever he turned his hand to, His genius voice's and well travelled brain gave all of us a fantastic memory of him.
A tour de force - thanks for uploading. Years ago I was in the audience for a similarly amusing Clive James programme in which he interviewed Ustinov for an hour. After Ustinov left, James confided quietly to the audience that as an interviewer he had been somewhat worried whether he would ask Ustinov the right question. Of course it didn't matter: the man had such a fund of knowledge and stories that he could probably do 60 minutes off the cuff on the opening of a sliding door. What a wonderful chap Ustinov was.
@@c.a.g.3130 Sadly, the majority of today's comics receive next to no training or apprenticeship under the auspices of a qualified tanner, cobbler or bootblack, and the world is poorer for it. The late Mitch Hedberg had amassed some degree of skill in the related art of the pedicure by the time of his passing, but most social historians regard even this as a case of "too little, too late".
I have always enjoyed Peter Ustivov's excellent acting but didn't know how wonderfully humorous and entertaining he was. What a pleasure to have listened to him. Hope there are more gems of his to find on youtube.
I remember watching an audience with Peter ustinov originally, I'm now watching it again and it's as brilliant as when it first aired, I could listen to this man forever ,his knowledge and obviously his willingness to absorb and integrate new culture into his life is just fantastic, and for him to share this is just ingenious, wonderful man wonderful actor wonderful comedy But most of all a wonderful human being. So sadly missed
How delightful. As someone who comes from an English family (in America), I can appreciate the English love of language and nuance. Hopefully, people recognized the number of famous people in the audience, what an evening. The range of his impressions from Reagan (for those of us old enough to remember) to Jackie Stewart calling a race are peerless and priceless. I just watched a movie yesterday "The way ahead" (1944) a war film with a very young Peter Ustinov as a North African Inn owner, so I was delighted to see this video today. God bless.
I absolutely loved Peter Ustinov from a very young age. I was fascinated by his linguistics and personal experiences. Intellect, humility, wit, charm and compassion encompassed this gentle man. The world today is empty without such giants. Alarmingly, our own intelligence is being continually assaulted by depraved individuals intent on dumbing us down with substandard, vulgar or drug-fueled rhetoric. In my opinion, those who would argue against this point of view, were never in possession of an athletic and well utilized brain to start with. As they say... humour is knowledge. Without it, ignorance is a sad and dangerous thing.
He was sooo entertaining and very well versed.A wonderful memory,he could write best selling books,A good actor and brilliant one man show.This is wonderful entertainment.
Today we are flooded with Zelebrity reality Tv shows , back then Witty , gifted , intelligent humanitarians such as this man ,graced our screens . People like Billy Connolly ,certainly inherited some of the traits that this man possessed , but Peter Ustinov was a true one of a kind . A man who Kings, Queens and Prime ministers looked to for advice , a man who could hold court with the best of them , a story teller so gifted he could summon up a cast of a thousand characters . He was an actor, writer , ambassador for peace .... a man of so many talents , it was impossible to define him . He was many things to many people . He is sorely missed .
Multi talented, multi lingual, very intelligent, and mesmerising sense of humour, and fantastic mimic There was and is only this one great talent Mr Peter Ustinov , the like of which we’ll never see again and our world is the poorer for loosing! RIP Peter!
There have been many great actors in the past, but, not many great gentlemen, like our dare Peter Ustinov. We lost a giant in how humans should behave with dignity.
I've watched this so many times in as many years and will watch it more. Simply a brilliant performance by Sir Peter, and being German myself, I appreciate his humor. Thank you for uploading this video!
Not only is he brilliant with his comedic timing but also he knows every single person in the audience! Just because you’re in the same field doesn’t mean you know or met every one. Nevermind the politicians and royalty he’s met. What an extraordinary man. I just want an hr to chat with him...
Who among us would have had the life, the exposure, the observances, and the genius to absorb both the minutia and the world events to be able to weave such an entertaining and richly documented retrieval as does Mr. Ustinov? His glorious ability to utter in every world accent all of the hilarious happenings is par excellence. I hope the Americans enjoyed his devastatingly accurate portrayal of Ronald Reagan in which the latter's pathetic grasp of things in general was frightfully on display. Ustinov, to quote Kipling, was truly a man who could "walk with kings, nor lose the common touch". Some people were simply born to be listened to while others create a mad dash for the exits. And in all of this, we get the sense that he was barely scratching the surface and that lurking just behind every word spoken was an even greater story if only time could have permitted it! Nobody does this today and the world is poorer for it!
Agreed. A great analysis of this talented man. but you do realize he was doing comedy? Queen Mary didn't really speak like that, nor did Constant Lambert. And since you brought up the so called "accurate description" of the President Reagan bit, that should wake all of us Americans up about how "frightening" he was. I didn't take it that way at all. Reagan was a very sharp individual, many of us Americans appreciated him as President (sorry) . He was older and was often lampooned at that time for being absent-minded by all sorts of comedians, I laughed at that too, and even this bit made me laugh..but I also realize it was exaggeration for comedic effect. You didn't.
Ustinov was last man to interview Indira Gandhi. She was assassinated later. He had a rare sense of history. Amazing person and a more amazing personality.
Patrick McKenna , thank you for summarizing how I felt. Clearly Ustinov was a great man with an incredible intellect. However, intellectual ability is not measured solely in mimicking traits or the deftness at associations with humor. Reagan had huge intellect and steered a great country in the proper direction against a tidal wave of horribly liberal Americans and godless communists. Charles Darwin, maybe it was Reagan’s belief in God you so despise that causes you such angst?
@@Umbazooksus1 3 years late to the party though I am, I will agree with your assessment. I will also say, though, that I felt it was a shame that he took such a tired, overworked route as to mock Reagan and make him appear as a doddering old fool, even done for comic effect. Having been alive during his time in the Presidency and now, in the time after his death seeing how history has reevaulated him and his Presidency, with even his detractors speaking of the work he did and how well he did it, his "jokes" aged poorly, in my opinion. Sounds to me like "Charles Darwin" is just another in a long line of tired revisionists who feel it appropriate to sit and yap at the people who shaped and made the world that they now live in, while spitting on them at the same time.
