Here's his IMDB page. I really haven't seen many of his movies. "The Last Emperor." "Lawrence of Arabia." I'm sorry to lose one of the great old actors. I see that he was going to play the role of Symeon in a 2014 movie titled "Mary," based on The New Testament.
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
December 15, 2013
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
50 comments:
In addition to "Lawrence", you should check out "My Favorite Year". A light comedy in which he has a secondary but entertaining role.
This opens up the part for Danny DeVito.
Check out The Stunt Man. O'Toole nails the maniacal director. And don't forget The Lion In Winter. His interaction with Katharine Hepburn is a thing of beauty.
Also don't forget the 1971 film Murphy's War wherein an obsessed O'Toole deals with a Nazi sub Capt in South American river backwaters at the end of WWII. IMHO a minor unheralded jewel..
I third or whatever both My Favorite Year (an obvious take on Erroll Flynn, and Sid Caesar/Carl Reiner, and whatever) and The Lion in Winter but, while we're at the latter, there's also Becket ("always Becket!" snarls the most non-Hepburn Eleanor of Aquitaine you're ever going to see).
--gpm
STUNT MAN
"Venus"!
Awww. I've always liked O'Toole.
"Lion in Winter" with Hepburn
You didn't see Ratatouille? Shame on you... (he was the voice of the restaurant clinic)
A great actor we were privileged to see work in films. He could also do three Shakespeare lead roles at once in Stratford Festival Theater in the 1960 season.
Is it just my subjective vantage due to my relative age, or did people of that generation just look and act older.
O'Toole was 30-31 when he made LoA.
I think that about a lot of actors of that generation, even when I see the movie today when I'm older than they were.
did people of that generation just look and act older.
They certainly were better actors
PS: The real Lawrence was 31 when he captured Aqaba
What is it, Major Lawrence, that attracts you personally to the desert?
It's clean.
Its amazing he made till 81, given his boozing. His friend and fellow alcoholic Burton only lasted till 58, while Oliver Reed died at 64. I guess its all about the genes.
Liked him as an actor, but too many neurotic roles and he lacked the macho quality needed for a great leading man.
I always wished they had made him Professor Dumbledore after Richard Harris died. He would have the twinkle in the eye. Michael Gambon just doesn't.
Too late now. RIP.
Weirdly, I watched the remastered Lawrence of Arabia just last night. It was the first Blu-Ray disk I ever watched. Stunning, not just for Freddie Young's sweeping cinematography, but for the depth of Peter O'Toole's portrayal.
"The Ruling Class" also deserves mention.
virgil xenophon said...
Also don't forget the 1971 film Murphy's War...
One of my favorite films, but very difficult to find anywhere-- not on Netflix, and rarely shown on TV.
Crikey. Here they are singing together, and they look nearly alike.
Would have been better as Dumbledore, fer sher.
"My Favorite Year" was wonderful. He was terrific in everything he did.
Liked the movie he did with Audrey Hepburn and "Lord Jim".
Groundhog Day is 40 days after Christmas, also known as Candelmas, the date of Jesus' presentation at the temple where his parents met Simeon.
Peter Sellers yanks O'Toole's dangly sporran bits in a Casino Royale scene that must have special meaning for gay Scotsmen.
The Lion in Winter is a great choice if you're looking for a heartwarming Christmas movie.
"You're a clown, Lawrence!"
"Well we can't all be lion tamers."
It does help to have some of the best screen writing ever.
Yes, he will be missed.
The historical events and the quirks of the real Lawrence were nothing like the movie. But the movie will be the version that endures......I remember reading that the Arab tribes were drawn to Lawrence not because of his charisma but because of his bribes.......The real Lawrence must have had a demented side. I don't know if he was demented in quite the way O'Toole played him, but O'Toole gave all his characters a fine madness.
"I'm not an actor, I'm a MOVIE STAR!" -- My Favorite Year
Brilliant.
God Rest Mr. O'Toole. His accpetance speech for lifetime achievement at the Oscars was one of the most eloquent and heartfelt I've ever heard.
The Ruling Class. Yet another movie (2001, Oh What a Beautiful War, Garden of the Finzi-Continis) my parents took me as a kid to see because they couldn't find a babysitter.
Maybe I'd get the satire now.
Dean Spanley is one of my favorite Peter O'Toole films. It's very droll, very English and a bit slow. But a wonderful movie for dog-lovers in particular, and O'Toole gives a very touching performance in it.
The opening credits of Lawrence of Arabia list a bunch of stars and then say "Introducing Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence."
Introducing??!!
That had to be the greatest movie debut ever.
We should also be remembering Joan Fontaine and Audrey Totter, the toughest moll ever.
Murphy's War is a great movie.
One of my brothers worked with O'Toole on a TV movie (Heaven and Hell) and said he was a total gentleman, kind to the crew as well as the actors/director. Everyone involved was in awe of him.
@David
Introducing??!!
That had to be the greatest movie debut ever.
Edges out Michael Caine in Zulu.
Orrence?
He was wonderful.
It's also worth noting that Obama cribs the "the trick is not minding that it hurts" opening scene in "Lawrence" for his own autobiography. If you're as cool as O'Toole you can get away with saying stuff like that. If you're Obama, not so much.
"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."
Don't miss his comedies (black and otherwise). He's brilliant:
The Ruling Class
The Stunt Man
My Favorite Year
He and Hepburn are great in The Lion in Winter, but the ponderous direction removes a lot of the snap of the original play.
He likes your lemonade.
The most O'Toole fun, and fun it is, is "What's New, Pussycat?"
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
Heaven is Fine, Beautiful Really -- Great Attention to Detail -- But Where Does One Go For a Drink?
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
I Have Met Up With My Esteemed Compatriot Richard Burton, Who Has Kindly Escorted me to the Part of Heaven Set Aside for Carousers Such As Us. Oliver Reed is There, Richard Harris, even Elizabeth Taylor. Liz Was a Bit of a Surprise at First, But it Shouldn't Have Been, Really: She Could Keep Up With the Best of Us back in the Day.
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
The Two Hardest Adjustments I Have Made in Heaven is Getting Used to There being No Hangovers, and to Richard Burton's Incessant Imitations of Michael Jackson. He Has Had a Lot of Time to Practice, Mind You.
"Look, I know you'll think this is crazy, but, er, when the light hits me from a certain direction, I'm... handsome"
What made this line so great was that in What's New Pussycat, Peter O'Tool was almost unbelievably handsome, in any kind of lighting.
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
I Have Taken Notice in Heaven of the Absence of earthly Grudges - Makes Things Quite Pleasant, Indeed. The Time Oliver and I Were Competing for the Same Bird and He Tapped Me in the Nut Sack? Now it is Only a Funny Story. Told a Bit Too Many Times by Oliver, Perhaps, But Funny.
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
Richard is Still Jealously Protective of Liz, Even Here. I Would Assume There is a Cosmic Sensibility About That: they Can Argue and make Up for Eternity. For Me, There Are Plenty of Fish in the Sea Here in Heaven. I Ask People if Brigitte Bardot is Dead Yet, But No One Seems to Know: it is a Big Place.
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
Jim Morrison Keeps Wanting to be Present in Our Company. Alcohol-Wise, He is a Bit Light in the Loafers. The Younger Generation Never Learned the Art of the Balanced Carousing, Did They? He Stays for Awhile, Until Sinatra Inevitably Escorts Him Away: Too Much Crappy Hippie Poetry, He Says.
The Ghost of Peter O'Toole says:
One of the Great Things About Heaven is That in All of My Carousing Times Where I Blacked Out I Can Now Remember the Rest of the Party. A Neat Trick, That. I Had Some Pretty Splendid Times, Even When I Didn't Know I Was Having Them. A Full Life.
Post a Comment