Peter Seamus O’Toole was an Irish actor, born on August 2, 1932 in Connemara and died on December 14, 20131 in London. Best known for his role as Laurence of Arabia, Peter O’Toole is one of those film legends who will never fade away.
Peter O’Toole was born in Connemara and spent his childhood in County Kerry and Dublin. He soon developed a passion for literature and became a journalist in Leeds, England, for the Yorkshire News.
But in 1949, at the age of 17, he decided to try his luck at theater and the art of comedy.
At the age of 20, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Fascinated by Shakespeare, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 22, performing more than 60 classics, including Hamlet, Othello McBeth and Romeo and Juliet.
It wasn’t until 1960 that he played his first film roles: Robert Stevenson’s “The Kidnapping” of David Balfour, and Nicholas Ray’s “The Devil’s Teeth”.
But the big break came in 1962, with Sam Spiegel and David Lean’s Laurence of Arabia. By the age of 30, he had entered the exclusive club of Hollywood movie monsters.
That same year, he played Henry II, alongside Richard Burton and John Gielgud. Peter O’Toole won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a British Film.
He went on to make a string of Hollywood films, and was nominated for 7 Oscars, but never won them. It wasn’t until 2003, at the age of 71, that he received this award in tribute to his flamboyant career.
He then went on to play a number of small roles (including Pope Paul III in the series “The Tudors”) and published his autobiography before officially retiring from cinema in 2012.
He finally died on December 14, 2013, after a long illness. Praised during his lifetime, he is now one of the greatest Hollywood actors of the 20th century.
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