Nearly 20 years ago, on October 31, 1984, he was waiting to interview India's prime minister Indira Gandhi when he heard shots ring out across the lawn at 1, Safdarjung Lane.

Peter Ustinov, Oscar-winning actor, writer and humanitarian, knew instantly that something had gone awfully wrong.

Last night, Ustinov himself passed into the ages at his Swiss home.

Ustinov, best known in India perhaps for his portrayal of the mad Roman monarch in the Biblical epic Quo Vadis, would have turned 83 on April 16. He won two Best Supporting Oscars -- for Spartacus and Topkapi.

The colourful British thespian -- who often said he had every strain of European blood in him but English -- was also a fine writer (check out his fine memoir Dear Me) and a long-time ambassador for good causes, notably the UNICEF.