Peter OToole - Biography

Last Editor: LadyMasquerade25				Peter OToole Biography -   Name : Peter OToole Profession : Actor, Producer, Director Date of birth : 2 August 1932 Place of birth : Connemara, County Galway, Ireland Birth name : Peter Seamus O'Toole Height : 6' 2"

Peter OToole Trivia -

He attended a Catholic school where the nuns beat him to correct his left-handedness. O'Toole & Karen Brown's son's name is Lorcan. From 1952 to 1954 he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as a scholarship student. The title character in the comic strip "Alan Ford", widely popular in Italy, is styled after the physical features of Peter O'Toole Coaching cricket professionally in London. [1997] Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#47). [1995] His daughter Kate O'Toole is a well-respected actress in her own right. Is a supporter of Sunderland football club of the English Premiership. Father was Irish, mother was Scottish. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2000 (1999 season) for Outstanding Achievement Award for his theatrical career. Was friends with fellow Irish actor Richard Harris. After Harris died, his family hoped that O'Toole would replace him as Professor Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). He is only one of four actors to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate films. He was nominated as Best Actor for Henry II in Becket (1964) and for Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968). The others are Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986), Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974). Furthermore, O'Toole is the only one of these four who was nominated for playing the same character (at two different stages in his life) in two totally different films, neither of which was a sequel or prequel to the other. Became an Associate Member of RADA. Both he and his fellow Irish actor (and close friend), the late Richard Harris appeared in versions of 'Gulliver's Travels': Harris played the 1977 film version Gulliver's Travels (1977) and O'Toole played the Emperor of Lilliput in the 1996 TV-film version Gulliver's Travels (1996) (TV), where Ted Danson played Gulliver. Has the played two kings (King Henry II in Becket (1964) and Sir/King Cedric Willingham in King Ralph (1991)), two emperors (Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Caligola (1979) and the Emperor of Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels (1996) (TV), a prince (Prince Meleagre in The Rainbow Thief (1990)), a president (President Paul von Hindenburg in Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) (TV)) and several lords. In 1976 he underwent surgery to remove parts of his stomach and intestine due to his heavy drinking. In the following year he almost died from a blood disorder. These two serious illnesses greatly affected his ability to work at that time. When he was named the recipient of a Special Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2003, he originally intended to turn it down feeling that the lifetime award signaled the end of his career. He wrote the Academy a letter stating that he was "still in the game" and would like more time to "win the lovely bugger outright." It was only after the Academy informed him that they were bestowing the award on him whether he came to collect it or not that he relented.

Peter OToole Detailed Biography -

Peter Seamus O'Toole (born August 2, 1932) is an Irish film and stage actor, who was born and brought up in Leeds, England and has spent most of his life in Great Britain . Although most sources give O'Toole's birthplace as Connemara, County Galway, he himself suggests in the first volume of his memoirs, Loitering with Intent, that this is the "family version", and that he was in fact born in Leeds, England, where he was raised. In her own memoir, Public Places, his former wife Siān Phillips says, "...he may not have been born there, but he is a true son of Connemara." His mother, Constance, was Scottish. After National Service as a radioman in the Royal Navy he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1952 - 1954) on a scholarship. 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. O'Toole has been nominated for seven Oscars without winning; he is tied with Richard Burton with the most acting nominations without winning. He is also one 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. In 1984, he was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award as "Worst Actor" for his role in the Supergirl. In 2005 he took a rare television role 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 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, and 7 other Academy Award nominations.