Peter O'Toole

Slender, blond, blue-eyed Irish actor who brings passion and intensity to his screen characters, more than a few of whom have been wildeyed visionaries. A graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and an acclaimed Shakespearean actor, O'Toole debuted on film in The Savage Innocents (1959), but shot to stardom in the title role of Lawrence of Arabia (1962), earning an Academy Award nomination to boot. It's possible he'll always be associated with the role of T. E. Lawrence (though, ironically, he was a secondary choice, replacing Albert Finney); his intensely credible portrayal of this desert dreamer is one of the most dynamic in movie history. He's had no trouble moving on, however, to other larger-than-life roles, and has in fact earned another six Oscar nominations for playing King Henry II in both Becket (1964, opposite Richard Burton) and The Lion in Winter (1968, opposite Katharine Hepburn), the shy schoolteacher in the musical Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), a wacked-out British lord who thinks he's Jesus Christ in The Ruling Class (1972), maniacal movie director Eli Cross (inspired, O'Toole said, by David Lean) in The Stunt Man (1980), and washed-up, Errol Flynn-ish movie swashbuckler Alan Swann in the sweetly comic My Favorite Year (1982), With it all, O'Toole has yet to win an Academy Award! An admitted alcoholic, O'Toole squandered his fame (and, some say, his talent) on many projects clearly beneath his abilities. Nonetheless, he remains a compulsively watchable actor whose presence brings color (and some measure of respectability) to any film or TV project in which he appears. In 1985 he lent his voice to a series of animated features about Sherlock Holmes. Among his television ventures: the miniseries "Masada" (1981), a 1983 remake of Svengali with Jodie Foster, a 1984 remake of Kim, Crossing to Freedom (1990), and The Dark Angel (1992). In 1992 he published his first volume of memoirs, "Loitering With Intent," which was greeted with rave reviews.

OTHER FILMS INCLUDE: 1960: Kidnapped, The Day They Robbed the Bank of England 1965: Lord Jim, What's New, Pussycat? 1966: How to Steal a Million, The Bible 1967:Night of the Generals, Casino Royale (just a cameo); 1968: Great Catherine 1969: Brotherly Love 1971: Murphy's War 1972: Man of La Mancha1973: Under Milk Wood 1975: Rosebud 1976: Man Friday 1978: Power Play 1979: Zulu Dawn 1980: Caligula 1984: Supergirl 1985: Creator 1986: Club Paradise 1987: The Last Emperor 1988: High Spirits 1990: Wings of Fame 1991: King Ralph 1993: The Seventh Coin

Copyright © 1994 Leonard Maltin