Peter O'Toole R.I.P.

[doversoul1]

Lawrence of Arabia would certainly be my first choice for Desert Island DVDs.

R.I.P.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25392876

[ardcarp]

A fine-looking man. Noel Coward once remarked that had he been any prettier, they'd have called the film Florence of Arabia.

[Thropplenoggin]

I see Camoron[sic] didn't waste any time commenting on this:

'His performance in my favourite film, Lawrence of Arabia, was stunning.'

Did PMs always feel the need to comment on every famous death, even non-political ones?

[amateur51]

A fine-looking man. Noel Coward once remarked that had he been any prettier, they'd have called the film Florence of Arabia.

He used to tell the story of his going on-stage in Hamlet on an evening when he knew that Coward was 'in' which meant he was a tad distracted. As he started he heard a 'harrumph'ed cough from the front row and knew imediately who it was, but he soldiered on only to be met by eber-increasing interjections. It was only when he went off that he realised that Coward was trying to draw attention to O'Toole's horn-rimmed spex that he's been too distracted to take off.

i didn't see him on-stage but I enjoyed many of his films, Lawrence of Arabia of course and How to Steal A Million and My Favourite Year.

In later life he was the perfect chat-show guest being a gifted raconteur with so many fascinating and amusing stories to tell.

[vinteuil]

... and a marvellous performance as the aged grump in the 2008 film Dean Spanley.

[slarty]

Sorry, I put this on the other thread.
For Lord Jim, and even more, The Ruling Class.
He brought something special to every film he ever appeared in, even if the movies themselves did not deserve it.

For his great comedic touch and ability to send himself (and Errol Flynn) up, in My Favorite Year.

[amateur51]

... and a marvellous performance as the aged grump in the 2008 film Dean Spanley.

Not heard of this vints so I'll look for it on LoveFILM - many thanks

[Nick Armstrong]

... and a marvellous performance as the aged grump in the 2008 film Dean Spanley.

Yes, yes, yes, yes....



Some majestic bons mots too...

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

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

[pastoralguy]

Very sad news. I have a 16mm print of 'How to steal a million' (alas, quite faded now) which I have screened on a few occasions to much enthusiasm. He and Audrey Hepburn really burn up the screen.

A great loss.

[clive heath]

From a blurb promoting the most recent west-end version

"In 1957, as a 17-year-old drama student at Bristol’s Old Vic Theatre School, Patrick Stewart went to see Waiting for Godot, starring a then unknown actor called Peter O’Toole. It was an unforgettable experience. “When he came on stage, my sense was that the lights brightened,” says Stewart of O’Toole’s charismatic turn as Vladimir, who, with friend and fellow vagrant Estragon, dominates Beckett’s most celebrated play. Stewart left that performance in Bristol determined that one day he would play Vladimir. Half a century later, the man known to millions of TV viewers as Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard has now fulfilled that ambition and is appearing as Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, with Ian McKellen as Estragon."

I was lucky enough to see both shows, the first on a school trip about which I can remember little, and the second here in London which, perhaps because of the geniality and familiarity of the two stars, was maybe less intense.

[Stanley Stewart]

Messrs Stewart and McKellen have been repeating their Beckett roles on Broadway in repertory tandem with Pinter's "No Man's Land". A feat of memory in both productions!

Re, Peter O'Toole, I got around to watching an off-air recording of "Dean Spanley" (2008), earlier today. The film was transmitted on BBC 2, at 07.00 hrs on 30 Nov - a case of the dawn patrol for me and pre-recording did the job. The film was made by the NZ Film Foundation and attracted a four star rating in Radio Times which was well deserved. I can only assume that a theatrical release may have been extremely limited as the title passed me by. O'Toole craftily got a Jeremy Northam, Sam O'Neill "and" Peter O'Toole in the opening credits - upstaging right to the end. He looks rather well and delivers a juicy performance; often seated but tactfully supported when on the move. If there is to be a commemoration season, the BBC would do well to include this title along with a repeat of "Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell" which was recorded 'live' at the Old Vic some years ago. My favourite stage performance was his tour de force in David Mercer's, "Ride a Cock Horse" at the Piccadilly Theatre, circa mid 60s. RIP

[Thropplenoggin]

An interesting clip here.

Charley Rose, an appalling interviewer in my opinion, gets an unexpected response to his fatuous questions from an imperious O'Toole:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNp10xlCd8Y&feature=player_detailpage#t=654

(Video should start at 10'54 when link is clicked - watch until 11'30)

[amateur51]

Charley Rose, an appalling interviewer in my opinion, gets an unexpected response to his fatuous questions from an imperious O'Toole:

Ouch! May I share your opinion please, Throppers?

[Stillhomewardbound]

He was a film god in a time long after they'd stopped making them. Possibly over the top sometimes, but never less than entertaining.

He had me welling with bitter tears in the musical film version of 'Goodbye Mr.Chips' with Petula Clark.

He astonished and shocked in The Ruling Class and was there ever a more poignant and understated performance as in Rogue Male.

The Last Emperor has been mentioned also and great comback performance as it might be called in The Stuntman.

Not forgetting the tremendous double act of him with Katie Hepburn in The Lion In Winter.

While, last night I watched the tour de force that is 'Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell', which is on You Tube in full.

Oh, and someone elsewhere mentioned his key contribution to Ratatouile as the voice of the doyen food critic.

Finally, a chance to indulge with a memory from my own collection of soon never to be published anecdotes with this utterly inconsequential but wry account of my one and only encounter with the great man:

"I never met the man but did end up speaking to him at one point when the phone rang and I was on my own in this house. 'WHO IS THATTT!!' came this lion's roar down the phone. 'Er, Stephen', I meekly replied. "STEPHEN ... my dear boy ... IS YOUR FAAA THERRRR AT HOME!!.' He was speaking from Guyon House, his lovely town house in the heart of Hampstead, but as I was only up the road in Finchley he scarcely had need of the phone. I could have stuck my head out the window and I would have heard him. The upshot of his call was that he was interested in casting an actor friend of my dad's in a play he was doing. Although he had little information about who he was after I was enough of a Sherlock Holmes to know exactly the person in question (Harriet Walter, as it happens) and was able him to provide him with the relevant phone number. 'OH BLESS YOU, DEARRRR BOY! YOU"VE BEEN MOST KIND. DO GIVE MY LOVE TO YOUR PA!!!' GOODTT BYE!!!' "

[Richard Tarleton]

Lovely story SHB.

Perhaps not the time to mention his Macbeth but here it is anyway