Melina Mercouri and Peter Ustinov

Melina Mercouri, the vivacious actress with a husky laugh who went on to become Greece's Minister of Culture, died yesterday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. Miss Mercouri, whose greatest screen success was her role as a flamboyant prostitute in the 1960 film "Never on Sunday," was 68, her family said, although references disagree on the year of her birth. The cause was complications from lung cancer, said Patricia Turi, a hospital spokeswoman. Miss Mercouri was hospitalized in early February and underwent surgery on Feb. 23 to remove cancerous tissue, but her conditioned deteriorated on Saturday because of an infection, Ms. Turi said. Coming from a politically prominent family, the actress was a passionate anti-Fascist who lost her citizenship and property in 1967 for her aggressive opposition to the junta that held power in Athens for seven years, until 1974. She then speedily returned home and entered politics, winning election to Parliament in 1977 as a Socialist. Miss Mercouri was appointed Culture Minister in 1981 after the Socialists won a landslide victory. She served in the post until 1989, when her party lost power, and then returned when the party was re-elected in October. "Never on Sunday," the story of a nurturing trollop who refused to work more than six nights a week, established Miss Mercouri as an international star. The movie was directed by Jules Dassin, her close companion and later her husband. Mr. Dassin, the son of a New York barber, fled to Europe after being blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1950's. Mr. Dassin directed, and often wrote and produced, most of Miss Mercouri's nearly 20 other movies, including "He Who Must Die" (1957), about life overtaking a Passion play in a primitive village on Crete; Mr. Dassin co-adapted the story from the novel "The Greek Passion," by Nikos Kazantzakis. Other joint efforts included "Phaedra," a 1961 tale of a woman lusting for her stepson, and "A Dream of Passion," a 1978 variation of Medea's child-murders. Both were based on, or inspired by, ancient Greek dramas. Their other team efforts included "Topkapi," a well-regarded 1964 museum-theft caper; "10:30 P.M. Summer," a 1966 story of a descent into alcoholism, and "Promise at Dawn" (1970), from a memoir by Romain Gary about his unconventional mother. Miss Mercouri conquered Broadway in a 1967 musical adaptation of "Never on Sunday" titled "Illya Darling," prompting Walter Kerr of The New York Times to hail her as "a creature you'd be happy to take home to mother, if mother was out." Politics and Pacifism The outspoken actress and politician with a flashing smile and feline movements was a favorite of interviewers, who called her a charming, forceful and quotable woman very much in love with life. She spoke French, German and English, as well as Greek.

Peter Ustinov Date of Birth 16 April 1921, London, England, UK Date of Death 28 March 2004, Genolier, Vaud, Switzerland (heart failure) Birth Name Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov Height 5' 11½" (1.82 m) Peter Ustinov was a two-time Academy Award-winning film actor, a director, writer, journalist and raconteur. He wrote and directed many acclaimed stage plays and led numerous international theatrical productions. In 1939 he made his London stage debut in a revue sketch, then had regular performances with Aylesbury Repertory Company. In 1940 he made his film debut in Hullo, Fame! (1940). In the 1980s Ustinov recreated brilliantly Poirot in several subsequent television movies and theatrical films, such as Evil Under the Sun (1982) and Appointment with Death (1988), while his cinema work in the 1990s also includes his superb performance as Professor Gus Nikolais in George Miller's excellent dramatic film Lorenzo's Oil (1992), a character partially inspired by Hugo Wolfgang Moser, a research scientist who had been director of the Neurogenetics Research Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University. "I am an international citizen conceived in Russia, born in England, working in Hollywood, living in Switzerland, and touring the World" said Peter Ustinov. Spouse (3) Helene du Lau d'Allemans (17 June 1972 - 28 March 2004) (his death) Suzanne Cloutier (14 February 1954 - 1971) (divorced) (3 children) Isolde Denham (1940 - 3 February 1950) (divorced) (1 child) Trivia (35) His mother was artist Nadia Benois, the niece of Alexandre Benois. Both were designers for the Mariinsky Opera and Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. Both also worked for the "Russian Seasons" and "Ballets Russes" productions by impresario Sergei Diaghilev. He was knighted in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1975 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama. The New London Theatre in Drury Lane WC2 first opened on 2nd January 1973 with Peter Ustinov's play "The Unknown Soldier and His Wife" Was the Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF from 1968 until his death in 2004. During WWII Pvt. Peter Ustinov was batman to Lt. Col. David Niven. His father was a German subject who came to Soviet Russia on personal business where he met his future wife. Shortly after they were married they decided to leave Russia and settle in Britain. As Ustinov has said, "It is for that very reason that I am addressing you today in English." First marriage to Isolde Denham, daughter of Reginald Denham and Moyna MacGill. Their daughter is Tamara Ustinov. Isolde was half-sister of Angela Lansbury. In January 1963, the Mirisch Company sued him for damages after he pulled out of The Pink Panther (1963), which was in production in Rome with his replacement, Peter Sellers. Peter and Suzanne had 3 children: two daughters, Pavla Ustinov and Andrea Ustinov, and a son Igor Ustinov. Chancellor of the University of Durham from 1992 until his death in 2004. Has a song written about him: "The Night I Saved Peter Ustinov" - written and recorded by Lauren Christy. Was fluent in French, German, English, Italian, Russian and Spanish, and could pass in Turkish and Greek among others. He was known to proudly say "I have Russian, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Ethiopian blood in my veins." Funeral service held at Geneva's historic Cathedral of St Pierre. He was later buried in the village of Bursins, where he had lived in a Chateau since 1971. (April 2004) According to Peter Wright, in his book "Spycatcher," Ustinov's father Klop Ustinov had been active in MI5 (British Security Service, Counterespionage) as an agent runner during the Second World War. He also had the distinction of having held commissions in the Russian, German and British armies (presumably at different times). He was a Humanist Laureate, a member of the International Academy of Humanism. In 1958, received two Tony Award nominations for "Romanoff and Juliet": as Best Actor (Dramatic) and as Best Play Author. In 1964, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" on behalf of Margaret Rutherford, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966 Winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Lentulus Batiatus in Spartacus (1960), Ustinov stands as the only actor to win an Oscar for a Stanley Kubrick film. In fact, Peter Sellers is the only other actor to receive so much as a nomination. Both his father and uncle were officers in the German army and fought Britain in WWI. Made a comedy record in the late 1950s, "Mock Mozart" and "Phoney Folk Lore". He had been performing these as party pieces. Overdubbing allowed Ustinov to sing multiple parts. His producer was George Martin, future producer of The Beatles. (Martin later described Ustinov as "Britain's answer to Orson Welles.") Member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1986. On 31 October 1984 he was waiting in the garden of Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi to interview her for an Irish television documentary when she was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards (Beant Singh, who was killed while trying to escape after his arrest, and Satwant Singh, sentenced to hang in 1988) as she was approaching Ustinov and his film crew. His father was of one quarter Polish Jewish, one half Russian, one eighth African Ethiopian, and one eighth German, descent, while his mother was of one half Russian, one quarter Italian, one eighth French, and one eighth German, ancestry. Peter was a member of the royal family of Russia and the royal family of Ethiopia. Peter's paternal grandfather, Plato Grigorivich von Ustinov, was Russian. Peter's paternal grandmother, Magdalena Hall, was born in Magdala, Ethiopia (Magdalena's father, Moritz Hall, born in Krakow, was of Polish Jewish descent, while Magdalena's mother was born in Ethiopia, to a German father, Christoph Eduard Zander, from Kothen, and to a black Ethiopian mother, Woizero Essete Work Meqado de Choa, making Peter of 1/16th Ethiopian descent). Peter's maternal grandfather, Leontij Ludovic Benois, was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a prominent artistic family, and was of one quarter French, one quarter German, and one half Italian, ancestry. Peter's maternal grandmother, Maria Alexandrovna Sapjhnkoff, was Russian. He played five different English / British kings: leonine versions of Prince John (the future King John) and his elder brother Richard the Lionheart in Robin Hood (1973), the future King George IV in Beau Brummell (1954), his great-nephew King Edward VII in Strumpet City: Episode #1.1 (1980) and George IV's younger brother and eventual successor King William IV in Victoria & Albert (2001). Anonymously dubbed several Italian actors on the soundtrack of Beat the Devil (1953). Auditioned for the role of Detective Fix in the movie Around the World in 80 Days but was rejected. Would later get the part in television remake more than 30 years later. Directed one Oscar nominated performance: Terence Stamp in Billy Budd (1962). Rector of the University of Dundee in Scotland from 1968 to 1974. Along with Hugh Burden, he is one of two actors to appear in both One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975). He directed his then mother-in-law Moyna MacGill in Private Angelo (1949). His mother Nadia Benois was the costume designer on two films that he directed: Vice Versa (1948) and Private Angelo (1949). The actor spoke several languages, Russian and Spanish among them, in the latter his vocabulary used to give him an appearance of comic character, very close, speaker and peculiar, much appreciated and similar to the character of that language.