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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.