Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole
File:Peterotoole.jpg The Savannah Film Festival, 2004
Born	Peter Seamus O’Toole
Years active	1956-present
Spouse	Siân Phillips (1959-1976)
Awards	NBR Award for Best Actor 1969 Goodbye, Mr. Chips 1972 The Ruling Class ; Man of La Mancha

Peter Seamus O'Toole (born August 2 1932) is an eight-time Academy Award-nominated Irish actor. He has received three Golden Globes and an Emmy Award. He was awarded an honorary Oscar for his body of work in 2003.

Biography

Early life

O'Toole was born in 1932, with some sources giving his birthplace as Connemara, County Galway, Ireland, and others as Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England, where he also grew up. O'Toole himself is not certain of his birthplace or date, noting in his autobiography that while he accepts August 2 as his birthdate, he has conflicting birth certificates in both countries, with the Irish one giving a June, 1932 birthdate. O'Toole is the son of Constance Jane (née Ferguson), a Scottish-born nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish bookmaker. When O'Toole was one year old, the O’Tooles began a five-year tour of major racetrack towns in northern England. Peter O'Toole went to a Catholic School for seven or eight years, where he was "implored" to become right-handed. “I used to be scared stiff of the nuns: their whole denial of womanhood—the black dresses and the shaving of the hair—was so horrible, so terrifying,” he later commented. “Of course, that's all been stopped. They're sipping gin and tonic in the Dublin pubs now, and a couple of them flashed their pretty ankles at me just the other day.”

O'Toole later took pride in his Irish ancestry, even to the point of apparently always wearing at least one item of green clothing - usually his socks.

O'Toole was called up for National Service in Britain. As reported in a radio interview in 2006 on NPR, he was asked by an officer whether he had something he'd always wanted to do. His reply was that he'd always wanted to try being either a poet or an actor. O'Toole attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) (1952–1954) on a scholarship after being rejected by the Abbey Theatre's Drama School in Dublin by the then director Ernest Blythe, because he couldn't speak Irish. At RADA, he was in the same class as Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Alan Bates and Brian Bedford. O'Toole described this as "the most remarkable class the academy ever had, though we weren't reckoned for much at the time. We were all considered dotty".

Career

O'Toole began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company, before making his television debut in 1954 and a very minor film debut in 1959. O'Toole's major break came when he was chosen to play T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), after Marlon Brando proved unavailable and Albert Finney turned down the role. His performance was ranked number one in Premiere magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. The role introduced him to U.S. audiences and earned him the first of his eight nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

O'Toole is also one of a handful of actors to be Oscar-nominated for playing the same role in two different films; he played King Henry II in both 1964's Becket and 1968's The Lion in Winter. O'Toole played Hamlet under Laurence Olivier's direction in the premiere production of the Royal National Theatre in 1963. He has also appeared in Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock at Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, fulfilling a lifetime ambition when taking to the stage of the Irish capital's Abbey Theatre in 1970 to play in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, alongside the stage actor Donal McCann. His 1980 performance as Macbeth is often considered one of the greatest disasters in theatre history, but he has redeemed his theatrical reputation with his performances as John Tanner in Man and Superman and Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, and won a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (1989).

O'Toole won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1999 mini-series Joan of Arc. In 2004, O'Toole played King Priam in the summer blockbuster Troy. In 2005, he appeared on television as the older version of legendary 18th century Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova in the BBC drama serial Casanova. O'Toole's role was mainly to frame the drama, telling the story of his life to serving maid Edith (Rose Byrne). The younger Casanova seen for most of the action was played by David Tennant, who had to wear contact lenses to match his brown eyes to O'Toole's blue.

He was once again nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Maurice in the 2006 film Venus, directed by Roger Michell, his eighth such nomination. Most recently, O'Toole co-stars in the Pixar animated film, Ratatouille, an animated film about a rat with dreams of becoming the greatest chef in Paris. Jeffrey M. Anderson of Combustible Celluloid praised O'Toole's performance in Ratatouille, "Peter O'Toole's performance as the critic Anton Ego is worthy of another Oscar nomination." O'Toole has recently starred in the second season of Showtime's hit drama series The Tudors in which he portrays Pope Paul III, who excommicates King Henry VIII from the church. That leads to a showdown between the two men in eight of the ten episodes.

Personal life

In a BBC Radio interview in January 2007, O'Toole said that he had studied women for a very long time, had given it his best try, but knew "nothing". In 1960, he married Welsh actress, Siân Phillips, with whom he had two daughters, Kate O'Toole, born 1961 (an award-winning actress and resident of Clifden, Ireland) and Patricia; the couple divorced in 1979. Ms Phillips later revealed in two autobiographies that O'Toole had subjected her to mental cruelty - largely fuelled by drinking - and was subject to bouts of extreme jealousy when she finally left him for a younger lover.

He and his ex-girlfriend, model Karen Brown, had a son, Lorcan Patrick O'Toole (born March 14, 1983), born when Peter was in his fifties. Lorcan, now an actor, was a pupil at Harrow School, boarding at West Acre from 1996.

Severe illness almost ended his life in the late 1970s. Due to his heavy drinking, he underwent surgery in 1976 to have his pancreas and a large portion of his stomach removed, which resulted in insulin dependent diabetes. O'Toole eventually recovered and returned to work, although he found it harder to get parts in films, resulting in more work for television and occasional stage roles. However, he gave a star turn in 1987's much-garlanded The Last Emperor. He has resided in Clifden, County Galway, Ireland since 1963 and at the height of his career maintained homes in Dublin, London and Paris (at the Ritz), but now only keeps his home in London. While studying at RADA in the early 1950s he was active in protesting British involvement in the Korean War. Later in the 1960s he was an active opponent of the Vietnam War.

He is perhaps the only one of his "London" acting contemporaries not to be knighted. While a glaring omission at first glance, it is one that, according to London's Daily Mail in 2006, is one of his own making. According to the paper's Richard Kay, he was offered an honorary knighthood in 1987, but turned it down for personal and political reasons.

In an NPR interview in December 2006, O'Toole revealed that he knows all 154 Shakespeare sonnets. A self-described romantic, O'Toole regards the sonnets as among the finest collection of English poems. He reads them daily. In the movie Venus, he recites Sonnet 18, "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day". O'Toole has written two books. Loitering With Intent: The Child chronicles his childhood in the years leading up to World War II and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1992. His second, Loitering With Intent: The Apprentice, is about his years spent training with a cadre of friends at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. The books have been praised by critics such as Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times, who wrote: "A cascade of language, a rumbling tumbling riot of words, a pub soliloquy to an invisible but imaginable audience, and the more captivating for it. O'Toole as raconteur is grand company." O'Toole is taking the rest of 2007 to finish his third installment. This book will have (as he described it) "the meat", meaning highlights from his stage and filmmaking career.

O'Toole is a noted fan of rugby and used to attend Five Nations matches with friends and fellow rugby fans Richard Harris and Richard Burton. He is also a lifelong player, coach and enthusiast of cricket. O'Toole is licensed to teach and coach cricket to children as young as ten. O'Toole is a fan of the football club Sunderland AFC. During an interview with DJ Chris Evans on his show TFI Friday, he was asked about his soccer allegiances and snarled 'Sunderland!' as if blighted by the experience.

O'Toole has been interviewed more than three times by Charlie Rose on The Charlie Rose Show. In the last year interview January 17 2007, O'Toole said that the actor who had influenced him the most was Eric Porter. He also said that the difference between actors of yesterday and today are that actors of his generation were trained for "theatre, theatre, theatre." He also believes that the challenge for the actor is "to use his imagination to link to his emotion" and that "good parts make good actors." However, in other venues (including the DVD commentary for Becket), O'Toole has also credited Donald Wolfit as being his most important mentor. In an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on January 11 2007, O'Toole said that the actor he most enjoyed working with was his close friend, actress Katharine Hepburn. They made the movie The Lion in Winter. He played King Henry II to her Eleanor of Aquitaine.

O'Toole remains close friends with his Lawrence of Arabia co-star Omar Sharif and his RADA classmate Albert Finney.

Academy Award nominations

O'Toole has been nominated eight times for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, making him the most-nominated actor never to win the award.

Nominations

• 1962 - Lawrence of Arabia
• 1964 - Becket
• 1968 - The Lion in Winter
• 1969 - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• 1972 - The Ruling Class
• 1980 - The Stunt Man
• 1982 - My Favorite Year
• 2006 - Venus

In 2003, the Academy honoured him with an Academy Honorary Award for his entire body of work and his lifelong contribution to film. O'Toole initially balked about accepting, and wrote the Academy a letter saying he was "still in the game" and would like more time to "win the lovely bugger outright." The Academy informed him that they would bestow the award whether he wanted it or not. Further, as he related on The Charlie Rose Show in January 2007, his children admonished him, saying that it was the highest honor one could receive in the filmmaking industry. And so, O'Toole agreed to appear at the ceremony and receive his Honorary Oscar. It was presented to him by Meryl Streep, who has the most Oscar nominations of any actor (14).

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes Augustus, Caesar, Augustus
1960	Kidnapped	Robin MacGregor
	The Day They Robbed the Bank of England	Captain Fitch
	The Savage Innocents	First Trooper
1962	Lawrence of Arabia	T.E. Lawrence
1964	Becket	Henry II
1965	Lord Jim	Lord Jim
	What's New Pussycat?	Michael James
	The Sandpiper		(voice)
1966	How to Steal a Million	Simon Dermott
	The Bible: In the Beginning...	The Three Angels
1967	The Night of the Generals	General Tanz
	Casino Royale	Piper	(uncredited)
1968	The Lion in Winter	Henry II
	Great Catherine	Capt. Charles Edstaston
1969	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Arthur Chipping
1970	Country Dance	Sir Charles Ferguson
1971	Murphy's War	Murphy
1972	Under Milk Wood	Captain Tom Cat
	The Ruling Class	Jack Gurney, 14th Earl of Gurney
	Man of La Mancha	Don Quixote de La Mancha/Miguel de Cervantes/Alonso Quijana
1975	Rosebud	Larry Martin
	Man Friday	Robinson Crusoe
1976	Foxtrot	Liviu
	Rogue Male	Sir Robert Thorndyke
1978	Power Play	Colonel Zeller
1979	Zulu Dawn	Lord Chelmsford
	Caligula	Tiberius Caesar
1980	The Stunt Man	Eli Cross
1982	My Favorite Year	Alan Swann
1983	Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear	Sherlock Holmes	(voice)
	Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet	Sherlock Holmes	(voice)
	Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four	Sherlock Holmes	(voice)
1984	Supergirl	Zaltar
1985	Creator	Harry
1986	Club Paradise	Governor Anthony Cloyden Hayes
1987	The Last Emperor	Reginald Johnston
1988	High Spirits	Peter Plunkett
1989	As Long as It's Love	Prof. Yan McShoul
1990	The Rainbow Thief	Prince Meleagre
	Wings of Fame	Cesar Valentin
	The Nutcracker Prince	Pantaloon	(voice)
1991	King Ralph	Sir Cedric Charles Willingham
1992	Rebecca's Daughters	Lord Sarn
	Isabelle Eberhardt	Maj. Lyautey
1993	The Seventh Coin	Emil Saber
1997	FairyTale: A True Story	Arthur Conan Doyle
1998	Phantoms	Dr. Timothy Flyte
1999	The Manor	Mr. Ravenscroft
	Molokai: The Story of Father Damien	William Williamson
2002	Global Heresy	Lord Charles Foxley
	The Final Curtain	J.J. Curtis
2003	Bright Young Things	Colonel Blount
2004	Troy	Priam
2005	Lassie	The Duke
2006	Venus	Maurice
	One Night with the King	Samuel, the Prophet
2007	Ratatouille	Anton Ego	(voice)
	Stardust	Lord of Stormhold
2008	Thomas Kinkade's Home for Christmas	Glen Wessler	awaiting release
	Dean Spanley	Fisk Senior	post-production

Television

Year	TV	Role	Notes
1956	The Scarlet Pimpernel	First Soldier	TV show (1 episode)
1961	Rendezvous	John	TV show (3 episodes)
1980	Strumpet City	Jim Larkin	TV show
1981	Masada	General Cornelius Flavius Silva	miniseries
1982	Man and Superman	Jack Tanner	TV movie
1983	Pygmalion	Professor Henry Higgins	TV movie
	Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse	Sherlock Holmes	(voice) TV movie
	Svengali	Anton Bosnyak	TV movie
1984	Kim	Lama	TV movie
1986	The Ray Bradbury Theater	John Hapmton	TV show (1 episode)
1987	The Dark Angel	Uncle Silas	TV movie
1990	Crossing to Freedom	John Sidney Howard	TV movie
1992	Civvies	Barry Newman	TV movie
1994	Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III	Sam Trump	miniseries
1995	Heavy Weather	Clarence, Earl of Emsworth	TV movie
1996	Gulliver's Travels	Emperor of Lilliput	TV movie
1998	Coming Home	Colonel Carey-Lewis	TV movie
1999	Joan of Arc	Bishop Cauchon	Won Emmy
	Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell	Jeffrey Bernard	TV movie
2002	The Education of Max Bickford	Sidney McKnight	TV show (1 episode)
2003	Hitler: The Rise of Evil	President Paul von Hindenberg	TV movie
	Imperium: Augustus	Augustus Caesar	TV movie
2005	Casanova	Older Casanova	TV movie
2008	The Tudors	Pope Paul III	TV show
	Iron Road	Relic	miniseries

Stage appearances

1955-58 Bristol Old Vic

• King Lear (1956) (Cornwall)
• The Recruiting Officer (1956) (Bullock)
• Major Barbara (1956) (Peter Shirley)
• Othello (1956) (Lodovico)
• Pygmalion (1957) (Henry Higgins)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1957) (Lysander)
• Look Back in Anger (1957) (Jimmy Porter)
• Man and Superman (1958) (Tanner)
• Hamlet (1958) (Hamlet)
• Amphitryon '38 (1958) (Jupiter)
• Waiting For Godot (1957) (Vladimir)

1959 Royal Court Theatre

• The Long and the Short and the Tall (Bamforth)

1960 Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford

• The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio)
• The Merchant of Venice (Shylock)
• Troilus and Cressida (Thersites)

1963 National Theatre

• Hamlet (title role)

1963-1965

• Baal (Phoenix Theatre, 1963) (Baal)
• Ride a Cock Horse (Piccadilly Theatre, 1965)

1966 Gaiety Theatre, Dublin

• Juno and the Paycock (Jack Boyle)
• Man and Superman (Tanner)

1969 Abbey Theatre, Dublin

• Waiting for Godot (Vladimir)

1973-74 Bristol Old Vic

• Uncle Vanya (Vanya)
• Plunder
• The Apple Cart (King Magnus)
• Judgement (monologue)

1978 Toronto, Washington, and Chicago

• Uncle Vanya (Vanya)
• Present Laughter (Gary Essendine)

1980-1999

• Macbeth (1980) (Macbeth) (Old Vic Theatre)
• Man and Superman (Theatre Royal, Haymarket)
• Pygmalion (Professor Higgins) (Shaftesbury Theatre, 1984, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and Plymouth Theatre, New York, 1987)
• The Apple Cart (Theatre Royal Haymarket, 1986)
• Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (Apollo Theatre, 1989, Shaftesbury Theatre, 1991 and Old Vic, 1999)
• Our Song (Apollo, 1992).

External links

• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• Peter O'Toole at the TCM Movie Database
• Template:Ymovies name
• The Unofficial Peter O'Toole Pages
• "Peter O'Toole as Casanova"
• The Unfinished Epic of Peter O’Toole
• University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
• The Making of Lawrence of Arabia, Digitised BAFTA Journal, Winter 1962-3

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