Peter O'Toole dies at 81: Film legend and Hollywood hellraiser who shot to fame as Lawrence of Arabia had suffered from long illness
By Sam Greenhill and Sara Smyth and Peter LloydTributes were led by Prime Minister David Cameron, who declared that Lawrence Of Arabia was his ‘favourite film’, with O’Toole’s performance ‘stunning’.
The actor’s agent, Steve Kenis, said: ‘He was one of a kind in the very best sense and a giant in his field.’
O’Toole’s daughter, actress Kate O’Toole, said: ‘His family are very appreciative and completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us, during this unhappy time. In due course there will be a memorial filled with song and good cheer, as he would have wished.’
A reformed but unrepentant hell-raiser, O’Toole long suffered from ill health, but continued to amuse and delight those he met. Broadcaster Michael Parkinson said it was hard to be too sad about the news of his passing. ‘Peter didn’t leave much of life unlived, did he? he said, chuckling.
Comedian David Walliams tweeted: ‘He was hugely entertaining. The greatest company. A legend on screen and off.’
Stephen Fry wrote: ‘Oh what terrible news. Farewell Peter O’Toole. I had the honour of directing him in a scene. Monster, scholar, lover of life, genius ...’
Irish President Michael D Higgins said Ireland and the world had lost ‘one of the giants of film and theatre’.
O’Toole’s daughter, actress Kate O’Toole, said: ‘His family are very appreciative and completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us, during this unhappy time. In due course there will be a memorial filled with song and good cheer, as he would have wished.’
A reformed but unrepentant hell-raiser, O’Toole long suffered from ill health, but continued to amuse and delight those he met. Broadcaster Michael Parkinson said it was hard to be too sad about the news of his passing. ‘Peter didn’t leave much of life unlived, did he? he said, chuckling.
Comedian David Walliams tweeted: ‘He was hugely entertaining. The greatest company. A legend on screen and off.’
Stephen Fry wrote: ‘Oh what terrible news. Farewell Peter O’Toole. I had the honour of directing him in a scene. Monster, scholar, lover of life, genius ...’
Irish President Michael D Higgins said Ireland and the world had lost ‘one of the giants of film and theatre’.
The
charismatic actor – whose early life is something of a mystery –
achieved instant stardom as Lawrence Of Arabia and went on to be
nominated eight times for a best-actor Academy Award. However, he ended
up with the unenviable record of being the most nominated actor never to
win.
Following Lawrence Of Arabia, other nominations followed for Becket (1964), The Lion In Winter (1968), Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980) and My Favourite Year (1982).
In 2003 he was awarded an honorary Oscar, but initially refused to accept it on the grounds that he was not yet 80 years old – and might still win it for a movie role.
He duly received his eighth best-actor nomination for Venus, but failed again and finally accepted his honorary award.
The news of his death comes just one year after he formally retired from acting on the eve of his 80th birthday.
He declared it was time to ‘chuck in the sponge’, and said that his career on stage and screen had fulfilled him emotionally and financially – bringing ‘me together with fine people, good companions with whom I’ve shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits’.
He concluded: ‘It’s my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one’s stay.’
Despite this, he emerged from retirement this year to star in Katherine Of Alexandria, which is yet to be released.
O’Toole was raised in northern England and worked briefly as a journalist and then a radioman in the Navy during his National Service. He went on to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where his classmates included Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris.
O’Toole began his acting career as one of the most exciting young talents on the British stage. His 1955 Hamlet, at the Bristol Old Vic, was critically acclaimed.
He also attracted rave reviews in the 1990s in the lead role in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell.
I say:
Following Lawrence Of Arabia, other nominations followed for Becket (1964), The Lion In Winter (1968), Goodbye, Mr Chips (1969), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980) and My Favourite Year (1982).
In 2003 he was awarded an honorary Oscar, but initially refused to accept it on the grounds that he was not yet 80 years old – and might still win it for a movie role.
He duly received his eighth best-actor nomination for Venus, but failed again and finally accepted his honorary award.
The news of his death comes just one year after he formally retired from acting on the eve of his 80th birthday.
He declared it was time to ‘chuck in the sponge’, and said that his career on stage and screen had fulfilled him emotionally and financially – bringing ‘me together with fine people, good companions with whom I’ve shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits’.
He concluded: ‘It’s my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one’s stay.’
Despite this, he emerged from retirement this year to star in Katherine Of Alexandria, which is yet to be released.
O’Toole was raised in northern England and worked briefly as a journalist and then a radioman in the Navy during his National Service. He went on to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where his classmates included Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris.
O’Toole began his acting career as one of the most exciting young talents on the British stage. His 1955 Hamlet, at the Bristol Old Vic, was critically acclaimed.
He also attracted rave reviews in the 1990s in the lead role in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell.
I say:
This is the last of the British lions of cinema. Sadly, he was also my favorite and is another on the long list of should-have-won-the Oscar greats. I remember first encountering the incredible Mr. O'Toole one Saturday afternoon watching tv as a young kid with my mother and grandmother as we watched this bizarre film. The lead actor was at first convinced he was Jesus Christ and later, Jack the Ripper. Towards the end of it he led out the most bloodcurdling scream I've ever heard on film. I vowed to always remember this actor and this film. The film was The Ruling Class from 1972 and goes onto (what I think) is much too short a list of great films for this great actor. For the O'Toole starter there's always Lawrence of Arabia, which is the definition of epic. Check out Beckett (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968), the aforementioned Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980 and my personal favorite), and My Favorite Year (1982) for other incredible O'Toole performances.
This David Letterman appearance from 1995 is the greatest talk show entrance in history:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K561m7Nq7kk
"I believe that's called a stupid pet trick."
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