Peter O'Toole dies at 81. An acting legend, an actor's actor.
The legendary stage and screen actor, Peter O'Toole, died yesterday at the age of 81. His agent Steve Kenis told the media that O’Toole was at the Wellington Hospital in London. O’Toole is survived by his two daughters, Patricia and Kate, from his marriage to the actress Siân Phillips, and his son with Karen Brown, Lorcan O'Toole.
When O’Toole retired from acting last year he wrote in a statement, “My professional acting life, stage and screen, has brought me public support, emotional fulfillment and material comfort. It has brought me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits. However, it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay. So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."
O’Toole was working on the third volume of his memoirs, despite having once said ”I have no memories I'm prepared to share with you.”
O'Toole began acting after serving in the Royal Navy. He studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He worked as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company and had early stage successes as the lead in Hamlet and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice before moving to television in 1954. His first film role was a bit part in The Day They Robbed the Bank of England in 1959. O'Toole's breakthrough role came in 1962 when he was chosen to play T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Since then he’s played kings, such as in Becket and The Lion in Winter and lunatics, like his role in The Ruling Class. His most recent film was For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada. O'Toole starred in the 1987 Broadway revival of Pygmalion.
O'Toole received Oscar nominations for 1964's Becket, 1968's The Lion in Winter, 1969's Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1972's The Ruling Class (“When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.”), 1980's The Stunt Man and 1982's My Favorite Year and, most recently in 2006 for the British drama Venus, although he has never won the award. He received an Honorary Oscar in 2003. O’Toole has won the BAFTA Award, four Golden Globes, the Emmy and numerous other awards, including, in 2000, the Olivier Award for his performance as Jeff in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell at The Old Vic Theatre, London.
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