Peter O'Toole: Biography

With blue eyes whose brilliance would put the Hope Diamond to shame, Peter O'Toole was one of the leading English actors of the 1960s and 1970s. Blond and flamboyant, with a virile physique and sensitive, poetic-looking face, O'Toole made his name portraying thoughtful, uncertain heroes. Born August 2, 1932, in Connemara, Ireland, O'Toole, the son of a bookie, was raised in Leeds, England. Desiring to become a journalist, he quit school at the age of 14 and then worked his way up from messenger and copy boy to cub reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post.

O'Toole debuted in an amateur stage production at age 17, after which he served two years with the Royal Navy. Following his service, he studied (on a scholarship) at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where his classmates included Albert Finney, Alan Bates, Richard Harris, and Derek Jacobi. O'Toole's professional acting career commenced with the Bristol Old Vic company from 1955 to 1958, during which time he also acted on British television. He won great acclaim for his work in the play The Long, the Short, and the Tall in 1959 and had his screen debut in Kidnapped (1960). He played secondary roles until 1962, when he became an international star for his portrayal of the titular hero of David Lean's epic Lawrence of Arabia; for his performance, he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination, the first of seven nominations altogether. He followed this triumph with Becket (1964) and Lord Jim (1965), which further helped to establish his reputation as a screen star.

O'Toole was one of the biggest box-office attractions in the late '60s and early '70s, but his career was nearly destroyed by drinking problems. After giving up alcohol and undergoing medical treatment, he made a successful comeback with his work in My Favorite Year (1982), for which he received another Best Actor Oscar nomination. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, O'Toole acted in a number of films and television miniseries, notably Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 epic The Last Emperor, Charles Sturridge's Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997), the 1999 made-for-television Joan of Arc, and the same year's Father Damien, in which he starred alongside Derek Jacobi, Kris Kristofferson, and Sam Neill. Notified by the Academy that he was to be the recipient of an honorary Oscar at the 75th annual Academy Awards, O'Toole initially rejected the offer to appear at the ceremony, only to have a chainge of heart at the last minute. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide