Cast
Maximilian Schell as Peter the Great
Jan Niklas as Peter the Great in early adulthood
Vanessa Redgrave as Tsarevna Sophia
Omar Sharif as Prince Feodor Romodanovsky
Laurence Olivier as William III and II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
Trevor Howard as Sir Isaac Newton
Ursula Andress as Athalie
Olegar Fedoro as Boyar Lopukhin
Natalya Andrejchenko as Tsaritsa Eudoxia Lopukhina
Helmut Griem as Captain Alexander Menshikov
Renée Soutendijk as Anna Mons (Peter's Dutch mistress)
Hanna Schygulla as Catherine Skavronskaya (Peter's 2nd mistress and later on wife)
Christoph Eichhorn as Charles XII, King of Sweden
Lilli Palmer as Tsarina Natalya, mother of Peter the Great
Mel Ferrer as Frederick I, King in Prussia
Elke Sommer as Charlotte, Queen in Prussia
Jan Malmsjö as The Patriarch
Boris Plotnikov as Tsarevich Alexis
Jeremy Kemp as General Patrick Gordon
Geoffrey Whitehead as Prince Vasily Golitsyn
Graham McGrath as young adult Peter the Great
Dennis DeMarne as the figure of Peter the Great at the narrating scenes of the later years
Ann Zacharias as Daria Lund, the mistress of Captain Alexander Menshikov
The series was released as a three-tape VHS box (set in 1992, then, in 1994, as a single, lengthy VHS tape).
Written by Edward Anhalt
Directed by
Marvin J. Chomsky
Lawrence Schiller
Composer Laurence Rosenthal
Peter the Great is a 1986 American biographical historical drama television miniseries directed by Marvin J. Chomsky and Lawrence Schiller, based on Robert K. Massie's 1980 non-fiction book Peter the Great: His Life and World. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Maximilian Schell, Vanessa Redgrave, Omar Sharif, Trevor Howard, Laurence Olivier, Helmut Griem, Jan Niklas, Elke Sommer, Renée Soutendijk, Ursula Andress, and Mel Ferrer.
The miniseries received generally positive reviews from critics and won three Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries. It was also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Miniseries or Television Film.