Rose d'Or Festival pays tribute to Peter Ustinov

Rose d'Or Festival pays tribute to Peter Ustinov

Rose d or

MUMBAI: The Rose d'Or Festival, commencing from 13 April - 18 April in Lucerne announced a tribute to Sir Peter on his demise in Geneva. He was aged 82. The Bal de la Rose d'Or is to be held at the lakeside Hotel Schweizerhof in Lucerne, Switzerland on Saturday, 17 April.

Sir Peter was to have been the Guest of Honour at the Bal de la Rose d'Or, a charity gala on behalf of UNICEF, which takes place on April 17th. Actor, producer, playwright, novelist and raconteur, Sir Peter had received many awards and tributes throughout his extraordinary life and was knighted in 1990 in recognition of his artistic and humanitarian achievements; he was scheduled to attend the Bal de la Rose d'Or as the recipient of the first Rose d'Or Charity Award in honour of his thirty-five years as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Born in London in 1921 to Russian, German, French and Italian ancestry, Sir Peter said that he had 'automatic loyalty to something like the United Nations' and this was reflected in his tireless work for UNICEF.

The Bal de la Rose d'Or marks the inaugural Rose d'Or Charity Award . Rose d'Or Festival CEO Georges Luks says "We were very saddened to hear the tragic news of Sir Peter's death. It was a great honour for the Rose d'Or Festival that he was joining us for our first Bal de la Rose d'Or. The Rose d'Or Charity Award will now be given in honour of his memory and his humanitarian achievements".

Sir Roger Moore, Harry Belafonte and Nana Mouskouri, fellow UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors of Sir Peter's would be among the stars attending the Bal de la Rose d'Or, as is Christopher Lee. Shashi Tharoor, the Under Secretary General of the United Nations will also be present at the event, which will now include a tribute in memory of Sir Peter and his achievements, as well as raise money for UNICEF projects around the world says the release.

Meanwhile, Rose d'Or Festival has also announced the nominations of Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Host. . For the first time in forty three years, the coveted Golden Rose Award will be awarded to individual artists as well as to programmes. The winners will be announced on Saturday 17th April at the Rose d'Or Award Ceremony.

Golden Roses will be awarded to the Best Actor and Best Actress in the Comedy, Sitcom and Soap categories. The Golden Rose for Best Host will be awarded in the Gameshow category.

The Best Comedy Actor nominations are Harry Hill for his role in Harry Hill's TV Burp (UK) and Matt Lucas/David Walliams jointly for their role in Little Britain (UK). The Best Comedy Actress nominations are Karen Dunbar for The Karen Dunbar Show (UK) and Anke Engelke for her role in Ladykracher (Germany).

In Situation Comedy, the Best Actor nominations are Hugh Laurie for his role in Forty Something (UK) and Martin Freeman for Hardware (UK). Angela Finnochiaro is nominated for Best Actress in a Situation Comedy for Mammamia! (Italy) and Felicitas Woll for her role in Berlin, Berlin (Germany).

Shane Ritchie is contending for a Golden Rose as Best Actor in a Soap for his role in EastEnders (UK) alongside Ryan Maloney of Neighbours (Aus). Sally Lindsay is nominated as Best Actress in a Soap for her role in Coronation Street and Benedicte Delmas is also nominated in this category for Saint Tropez (France).

Best Game Show Host nominations go to Jimmy Carr for Distraction (UK) and Anthony McPartlin & Declan Donnelly (jointly) for Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.