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Peter Seamus O'Toole (born August 2, 1932 as Peter James O'Toole) is an Irish actor.

Early life

Although O'Toole has previously given his birthplace as Connemara, County Galway, he has himself suggested that this may not be accurate in the first volume of his memoirs, Loitering with Intent, saying that this was the "family version", and that he may have been born in either Kerry, Dublin, or, perhaps, Leeds, England. To avoid such complications for his children, he has ensured that both his daughter Kate and son Lorcan were born in Dublin. Elder daughter Patricia was born in England, a mistake which O'Toole regretted, famously saying: "Pat was born in Britain, the poor thing."

In her own memoir, Public Places, his former wife Siân Phillips says, "...he may or may not have been born there, but he is a true son of Connemara." His father, Patrick Joseph O'Toole was an Irish bookmaker and his mother, Constance Jane Eliot (née Ferguson), was a Scottish born nurse.

After National Service in Britain as a radioman in the Royal Navy, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1952–1954) on a scholarship after being rejected by the Abbey Theatre's Drama School in Dublin by the then director Ernest Blythe because he couldn't speak Irish.

Career

He began getting work in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company, before making his television debut in 1954 and a very minor film debut in 1959.

O'Toole's major break came when he was chosen to play T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), after Albert Finney turned down the role. His performance introduced him to U.S. audiences and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

After Lawrence of Arabia, O'Toole received six more nominations for the Best Actor Oscar but never won the award in competition. In 2003, the Academy honoured his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award for his lifelong contribution to film. O'Toole initially balked about accepting and wrote the academy a letter saying he was "still in the game" and would like more time to "win the lovely bugger outright". The Academy informed him that they would bestow the award whether he wanted it or not and so in the end, O'Toole relented and reluctantly agreed to appear at the ceremony and pick up his Oscar.

His seven Oscars nomination without winning ties him with Richard Burton in this category of futility. He is also one of a handful of actors to be 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.

He has also appeared in Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre and fulfilled a lifetime ambition when taking to the legendary stage of the Irish capital's Abbey Theatre in 1970 to play in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett alongside the celebrated stage actor Donal McCann.

In 2005 he took a rare television role as the older version of legendary 18^th 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 David Tennant, who had to wear contact lenses to match his brown eyes to O'Toole's blue.

O'Toole won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1999 mini-series Joan of Arc.

In 2004, O'Toole played King Priam in the summer blockbuster Troy.

Personal life

In 1960 he married Welsh actress, Siân Phillips, with whom he had two daughters, Kate O'Toole (an award-winning actress, resident in his home town of Clifden) and Patricia; the couple divorced in 1979. He and his ex-girlfriend, Karen Brown, have a son, Lorcan O'Toole.

Severe illness, that has been attributed both to heavy drinking and to stomach cancer, almost ended his life in the late 1970s. In 1976 he underwent surgery to have his pancreas and a large portion of his stomach removed, making him diabetic. O'Toole recovered and returned to work, although he found it harder to get parts in films, resulting in more work for television and occasional stage roles. However, he gave a star turn in 1987's much-garlanded The Last Emperor. He is currently working on the third installment of Loitering With Intent.

He has resided in Clifden, County Galway, Ireland since 1963 and at the height of his career maintained homes in Dublin, London and Paris (at the Ritz) but now keeps only the London one.

He is a noted fan of rugby and used to attend Five Nations matches with friends and fellow rugby fans Richard Harris and Richard Burton.

Trivia

• The Italian comic book character Alan Ford is graphically inspired by O'Toole.

• His performance as T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia was #1 in Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time.

Academy Award nominations

• 1962 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Lawrence of Arabia
• 1964 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Becket
• 1968 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Lion in Winter
• 1969 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Goodbye, Mr. Chips
• 1972 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Ruling Class
• 1980 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Stunt Man
• 1982 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - My Favorite Year

Selected filmography

• Kidnapped (1960)
• The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
• Becket (1963)
• Lord Jim (1965)
• What's New, Pussycat? (1965)
• How to Steal a Million (1966)
• The Bible: In The Beginning (1967)
• The Night of the Generals (1967)
• Great Catherine (1968)
• The Lion in Winter (1968)
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
• Country Dance (aka Brotherly Love) (1970)
• Murphy's War (1971)
• The Ruling Class (1972)
• Man of La Mancha (1972)
• Under Milk Wood (1973)
• Rosebud (1975)
• Power Play (1978)
• Zulu Dawn (1979)
• Caligula (1979)
• The Stunt Man (1980)
• My Favorite Year (1982)
• Supergirl (1984)
• Creator (1985)
• The Last Emperor (1987)
• High Spirits (1988)
• Wings of Fame (1990)
• King Ralph (1991)
• The Seventh Coin (1992)
• FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
• Phantoms (1998)
• Rock My World (2002)
• The Final Curtain (2002)
• Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)
• Troy (2004)
• Augustus (2004)
• Casanova (2005, television)
• One Night with the King (2006)
• Venus (2006)

Stage appearances

• Pygmalion (1987)
• Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (1989)

External links

• The Unofficial Peter O'Toole Pages
• "Peter O'Toole as Casanova"

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