Peter O'Toole

From Philosopedia

Peter O'Toole (2 August 1932 - )

Peter Seamus O'Toole is the son of an Irish bookmaker father and a Scottish-born nurse mother. Born in Connemara, Ireland, but reared in Leeds, England, as a child he often accompanied his father to the racetrack.

He worked at the Yorkshire Evening News as a copy boy and later as a reporter, then happened on to acting and after appearing in some amateur plays was admitted to the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

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 told Alan Waldman, a multi-award winning Los Angeles freelance writer. “Of course, that's all been stopped. They're sipping gin & tonic in the Dublin pubs now, & a couple of them flashed their pretty ankles at me just the other day.”

Lawrence of Arabia, in which he played the starring role, won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, but although nominated for an Oscar he lost to Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird. In 1999 he received an Emmy for Joan of Arc. In 2003 he received an honorary Oscar.

More than 40 years later, Premiere Magazine rated O'Toole's Lawrence as the best performance in the history of the movies.

"I am a retired Christian," he told New York Times reporter Anita Gates on 25 July 2007 in Dublin, upon finishing his portrayal of 16th century's Pope Paul III in Showtime's series "The Tudors." (Pope Paul had mistresses and children.) Gates wrote, "Six decades after his altar-boy childhood and subsequent loss of faith, Mr. O'Toole said he looked elsewhere for life guidance." "I suggest that an education and reading and facts aren't bad things on which to ponder a few notions," O'Toole told her of his rationalism, adding that he acknowledged a "very strong and very real" spiritual side to his nature. No one can take Jesus away from me, he added, and spoke of his affection for the Sermon on the Mount's "Blessed are the meek, etc."

In 2008, at a March 19th opening of a television show, The Tudors, Season 2,in which O'Toole played the part of Pope Benedict XVI, he was asked by a New York reporter how he feels about the new Pope:

• [Places finger under nose and raises hand in a Hitler salute.] He's winding the clock back nicely, isn't he? He might get back to 1530 if he keeps on going. He doesn't like women, but then again, very few popes do.

O'Toole was married in 1959 to Siân Phillips (b. 14-May-1934), but they divorced in 1979 after having two daughters - Kate, an actress; and Patricia. He cohabited from 1982 to 1988 with a model, Karen Somerville Brown, and they have one son, Lorcan Patrick.

Filmography

Ratatouille (28-Jun-2007) [voice]

One Night with the King (10-Oct-2006)

Venus (2-Sep-2006)

Lassie (16-Sep-2005)

Casanova (13-Mar-2005)

Troy (9-May-2004)

Hitler: The Rise of Evil (18-May-2003)

Bright Young Things (16-May-2003)

The Final Curtain (12-Oct-2002)

Global Heresy (28-Jun-2002)

Joan of Arc (16-May-1999)

Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (17-Mar-1999)

Coming Home (12-Apr-1998)

Phantoms (23-Jan-1998)

FairyTale: A True Story (11-Sep-1997)

Gulliver's Travels (4-Feb-1996)

Heavy Weather (24-Dec-1995)

Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III (27-Feb-1994)

King Ralph (15-Feb-1991)

The Nutcracker Prince (21-Nov-1990) [VOICE]

Wings of Fame (23-Mar-1990)

High Spirits (18-Nov-1988)

The Last Emperor (15-Oct-1987)

Club Paradise (11-Jul-1986)

Creator (20-Sep-1985)

Supergirl (10-Oct-1984)

My Favorite Year (1-Oct-1982)

Masada (5-Apr-1981)

The Stunt Man (27-Jun-1980)

Caligula (14-Aug-1979)

Zulu Dawn (15-May-1979)

Power Play (25-Aug-1978)

Rogue Male (1976)

Man Friday (May-1975)

Rosebud (24-Mar-1975)

Man of La Mancha (11-Dec-1972)

The Ruling Class (13-Sep-1972)

Under Milk Wood (27-Jan-1972)

Murphy's War (13-Jan-1971)

Country Dance (22-Apr-1970)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (5-Nov-1969)

The Lion in Winter (30-Oct-1968)

The Night of the Generals (2-Feb-1967)

The Bible (28-Sep-1966)

How to Steal a Million (13-Jul-1966)

What's New, Pussycat (22-Jun-1965)

Lord Jim (25-Feb-1965)

Becket (11-Mar-1964)

Lawrence of Arabia (10-Dec-1962)

The Savage Innocents (1-Nov-1960)

The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (03-Sep-1960)

Kidnapped (24-Feb-1960)

Theatre Performances

In 1956, he was in King Lear at Bristol Old Vic. He appeared in almost three dozen other works, including twice as Hamlet (1958 at Bristol Old Vic and 1963 at the National Theatre).

In 1987, O'Toole starred as Professor Higgins in Pygmalion on Broadway, which had 113 performances.