Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov was a British actor, filmmaker, and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award.
Portrait by Allan Warren, 1986
Ustinov as Nero in Quo Vadis (1951)
Ustinov (left) as Hercule Poirot with John Gielgud in Appointment with Death (1988)
Ustinov c. 1960
A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business entertainers whose business is to make an audience laugh. It is possible to play both roles in the course of a career. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
Samuel Clemens, American humorist who wrote under the pen name Mark Twain.
Oscar Wilde is the most cited humorist in the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations.