A legendary Celt died yesterday at age 81--
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole.
Born in 1932, his mother was a Scottish nurse and his father was an Irish horse racing bookmaker.
Peter is probably best remembered for his brilliant portrayal of T. E. Lawrence(also a Celt) in the 1962 epic film "Lawrence of Arabia", but he took on many other challenging roles: Becket (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968)[my personal choice as his greatest performance], Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982) and Venus (2006). He is one of a select few 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 won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1999 mini-series Joan of Arc. In 2004, he 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 Scottish actor David Tennant, who had to wear blue contact lenses to match his brown eyes to Peter's blue.
Peter was offered a knighthood in 1987, but turned it down for personal and political reasons.
He was nominated eight times for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but did not win any statues, making him the most-nominated actor to never win the award. A pox on you, Academy voters--Peter was FAR better in TLIW in 1968 than the winner, Cliff Robertson(yes, from my own clan)was in "Charly".
Rest in peace, Peter O'Toole--you did us Celts proud.
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole.
Born in 1932, his mother was a Scottish nurse and his father was an Irish horse racing bookmaker.
Peter is probably best remembered for his brilliant portrayal of T. E. Lawrence(also a Celt) in the 1962 epic film "Lawrence of Arabia", but he took on many other challenging roles: Becket (1964), The Lion in Winter (1968)[my personal choice as his greatest performance], Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), The Ruling Class (1972), The Stunt Man (1980), My Favorite Year (1982) and Venus (2006). He is one of a select few 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 won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1999 mini-series Joan of Arc. In 2004, he 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 Scottish actor David Tennant, who had to wear blue contact lenses to match his brown eyes to Peter's blue.
Peter was offered a knighthood in 1987, but turned it down for personal and political reasons.
He was nominated eight times for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, but did not win any statues, making him the most-nominated actor to never win the award. A pox on you, Academy voters--Peter was FAR better in TLIW in 1968 than the winner, Cliff Robertson(yes, from my own clan)was in "Charly".
Rest in peace, Peter O'Toole--you did us Celts proud.
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