Peter O'Toole

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Birthday:

2 August 1932, Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK

Birth Name:

Peter Seamus O'Toole

Height:

188 cm

A leading man of prodigious talents, Peter O'Toole was raised in Leeds, England, the son of Constance Jane Eliot (Ferguson), a Scottish nurse, and Patrick Joseph O'Toole, an Irish bookie. As a boy, he decided to become a journalist, beginning as a newspaper copy boy. Although he succeeded in becoming a reporter, he discovered the theater and made his stage debut at 17. He served as a radioman in the Royal Navy for two years, then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris. He spent several years on-stage at the Bristol Old Vic, then made an inconspicuous film debut in 1960. In 1962, O'Toole was chosen by David Lean to play T.E. Lawrence in Lean's masterpiece, Lawrence of Arabia (1962). The part made O'Toole an international superstar. He continued successfully in artistically rich films as well as less artistic but commercially rewarding projects. He received Academy Award nominations (but no Oscar) for seven different films. However, medical problems (originally thought to have been brought on by his drinking but which turned out to be stomach cancer) threatened to destroy his career and life in the 1970s. He survived by giving up alcohol and, after serious medical treatment, returned to films with triumphant performances in The Stunt Man (1980) and My Favorite Year (1982). His youthful beauty lost to time and drink, O'Toole has found meaningful roles increasingly difficult to come by, though he remains one of the greatest actors of his generation. He has two daughters, Pat and Kate O'Toole, from his marriage to actress Siân Phillips. He also has a son, Lorcan O'Toole, by model Karen Brown. He partnered with Jules Buck in "Keep Productions". Show less «

I can't stand light. I hate weather. My idea of heaven is moving from one smoke-filled room to another.

Noël Coward (to O'Toole): "If you'd been any prettier, it would have been Florence of Arabia".

For me, life has either been a wake or a wedding.

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride - my foot!" (on receiving a lifetime achievement at the 75th Academy awards March 23, 2003.)

The only exercise I take is walking behind the coffins of friends who took exercise.

The nicest buttocks in the world are in Ireland. Irish women are always carrying water on their heads, and always carrying their husbands ho...Show more »

The nicest buttocks in the world are in Ireland. Irish women are always carrying water on their heads, and always carrying their husbands home from pubs. Such things are the greatest posture-builders in the world. Show less «

For a young actor it was intimidating. But! You look into the eyes and you see actors know actors. It's like playing jazz. You really have t...Show more »

For a young actor it was intimidating. But! You look into the eyes and you see actors know actors. It's like playing jazz. You really have to go there with your trumpet and compete. Show less «

Books have been written about that so-called renaissance at the Royal Court Theatre. Bollocks. I watched this appalling bunch of strange you...Show more »

Books have been written about that so-called renaissance at the Royal Court Theatre. Bollocks. I watched this appalling bunch of strange young men creeping around, talking pompously. Show less «

I enjoyed it. The only thing that wasn't enjoyable was in the green room. I said, 'Can I have a drink?' 'We have lemon juice, apple juice, s...Show more »

I enjoyed it. The only thing that wasn't enjoyable was in the green room. I said, 'Can I have a drink?' 'We have lemon juice, apple juice, still or sparkling.' I said, 'No, I want a drink. No drink?' I said, 'All right, I'm f**king off. I'll be back.' A man with earphones said, 'No! No!' Eventually this vodka was smuggled in. - On The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) Show less «

[on Ursula Andress] I've had luck with my leading ladies. The real shocker was Ursula Andress, with whom I made What's New Pussycat (1965). ...Show more »

[on Ursula Andress] I've had luck with my leading ladies. The real shocker was Ursula Andress, with whom I made What's New Pussycat (1965). She's a bloody sex symbol and all that, and yet she's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. A real mother hen, looking after everybody. Show less «

[on Katharine Hepburn] I worship that bloody woman. I've never enjoyed working with anyone so much in my whole life, not even Richard Burton...Show more »

[on Katharine Hepburn] I worship that bloody woman. I've never enjoyed working with anyone so much in my whole life, not even Richard Burton. There were no problems, not a one. Show less «

[on Sophia Loren] Sophia is gorgeous, a marvelously put together machine. But she's a grievous card sharp; in Naples, they're born with a pa...Show more »

[on Sophia Loren] Sophia is gorgeous, a marvelously put together machine. But she's a grievous card sharp; in Naples, they're born with a pack of cards. Give her a nudge and she's the funniest woman in the world. A helluva woman! Show less «

Booze is the most outrageous of drugs, which is why I chose it.

[re his Lord Jim (1965) performance] It was a mistake and I made the mistake because I was conservative and played safe. And that way lies f...Show more »

[re his Lord Jim (1965) performance] It was a mistake and I made the mistake because I was conservative and played safe. And that way lies failure. It was a juvenile lead part and I've decided now at 33 that I'll never become another aging juvenile. Show less «

If you can't do something willingly and joyfully, then don't do it. If you give up drinking, don't go moaning about it. Go back on the bottl...Show more »

If you can't do something willingly and joyfully, then don't do it. If you give up drinking, don't go moaning about it. Go back on the bottle. Do. As. Thou. Will. Show less «

The good parts are the people who don't make do. They're the interesting people. Lear doesn't make do.

It's time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films ans stage. The heart for it has gone out of me. It won't come back.

I will not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony.

I will not be a common man because it is my right to be an uncommon man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony.

I hitched to London on a lorry, looking for adventure. I was dropped at Euston Station and was trying to find a hostel. I passed the Royal A...Show more »

I hitched to London on a lorry, looking for adventure. I was dropped at Euston Station and was trying to find a hostel. I passed the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and walked in just to case the joint. Show less «

Fornication, madness, murder, drunkenness, shouting, shrieking, leaping polite conversation and the breaking of bones, such jollities consti...Show more »

Fornication, madness, murder, drunkenness, shouting, shrieking, leaping polite conversation and the breaking of bones, such jollities constitute acceptable behaviour, but no acting allowed. (his house rules for a New Year's Eve party at his Hampstead home) Show less «

Stardom is insidious. It creeps up through the toes. You don't realise what's happening until it reaches your nut. That's when it becomes da...Show more »

Stardom is insidious. It creeps up through the toes. You don't realise what's happening until it reaches your nut. That's when it becomes dangerous. Show less «

[I have long been] happy to grasp the hand of misfortune, dissipation, riotous living and violence.

I'm a professional, and I'll do anything - a poetry reading, television, cinema, anything that allows me to act... [And also because] it's w...Show more »

I'm a professional, and I'll do anything - a poetry reading, television, cinema, anything that allows me to act... [And also because] it's what I do for a living and, besides, I've got bookies to keep. Show less «

It's kind of a performing art - writing. I can't sit down to write unless I'm dressed. I mean dressed well and comfortably. And I have to be...Show more »

It's kind of a performing art - writing. I can't sit down to write unless I'm dressed. I mean dressed well and comfortably. And I have to be shaved and bathed and then the curtain goes up. And if I'm not in my study by 10 or 10:30, forget it. I can't write a word. Show less «

[on Henry II, a king he portrayed in both Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968)] I like the man. He interests me. He never lost a batt...Show more »

[on Henry II, a king he portrayed in both Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968)] I like the man. He interests me. He never lost a battle, and yet he never fought a battle if he could arrange it diplomatically. The last thing he ever wanted was to fight, but when he did, he fought. A man of great wit - funny, a lawgiver - and yet at the same time, frail, human. Now, am I describing me? I don't know. I like to think it is, perhaps, just merely a fabulation but I like to think it. Show less «

[about his time serving in the Royal Navy] At that point His Majesty felt it was vital to the security of the nation that I join the armed f...Show more »

[about his time serving in the Royal Navy] At that point His Majesty felt it was vital to the security of the nation that I join the armed forces [...] I vomited over every cubic foot of the seven seas. Show less «

It's all so political. Keep the director happy. Keep the unit happy. Keep them working well. Because in the end, it's you up there on the sc...Show more »

It's all so political. Keep the director happy. Keep the unit happy. Keep them working well. Because in the end, it's you up there on the screen. Show less «

When I got the part I did what every actor does. I looked in the mirror and realised that this is meat, this is what you have to work with.