Ustinov is buried in Alpine village

BURSINS, Switzerland (AP) -- Sir Peter Ustinov, the portly British actor and author who made the world laugh in a career crowned with two Oscars, was buried Saturday in this Alpine village overlooking Lake Geneva.
It was Ustinov's use of wit on behalf of children that was most remembered during the funeral service in Geneva's historic St. Pierre Cathedral and the burial service in the village where he lived for the past three decades.
"This is an extraordinarily sad occasion, all the more so because Sir Peter was an extraordinarily funny man," said Carol Bellamy, executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund.
Ustinov served as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for 35 years.
Ustinov, who died March 28 at age 82, won two Academy Awards for best supporting actor -- in "Spartacus" (1960) and "Topkapi" (1964) in an acting career spanning six decades. He also won acclaim for his portrayal of the cruel emperor Nero in "Quo Vadis" (1951) and the quirky detective Hercule Poirot in adaptations of Agatha Christie's mystery novels.
He was buried Saturday afternoon about 20 miles from Geneva in the village cemetery in Bursins, where he had lived in a chateau surrounded by vineyards since the early 1970s.
About 100 family members and friends attended the burial in the picturesque graveyard with a view of the snowcapped Alps.