Few actors were ever so hypnotic, charming, handsome and even snide as Peter O’Toole. One of the most respected thespians of the 20th century, the star of Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Ratatouille passed away on December 14th, 2013 after a lengthy illness. Cinema will never be the same, since the odds are damn good that we will never have another one like him.
Peter O’Toole’s incredible career spanned over 50 years, earning the actor eight Oscar nominations and worldwide acclaim for his talents. He never won that golden man, although he was honored with an honorary Academy Award in 2003 in recognition for the fascinating and iconic characters he brought to life over the past five decades. It was an honor that Peter O’Toole initially turned down, because “I am still in the game and might win the bugger outright.” His theory was proven valid, although ultimately wrong: he was nominated again for Best Actor in 2007, just four years later, for his performance in Roger Michell’s drama Venus.
That snark was characteristic of O’Toole, a member of a cabal of hard-drinking, no-nonsense actors who emerged from the 1960s as a charismatic and disarming movement that popularized sexy and shady cinematic heroes. OToole’s abilities were proven time and again, even in performances like his acclaimed turn as King Henry II in Becket, which he reportedly gave while rather consistently drunk.
Peter O’Toole’s career was defined by rich and complicated leading roles, playing iconic British figures like King Henry II twice (in Becket and The Lion in Winter, Oscar-nominated each time) and T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, one of the great cinematic accomplishments of the 1960s. But although he would give one incredible performance after another in respectable fare like The Stunt Man and My Favorite Year, he was a hard-working actor who didn’t turn down roles in lower-brow motion pictures like Supergirl, King Ralph and Phantoms. And because he was a consummate professional, he was – if nothing else – typically the best part of each and every one of those smaller films.
To locate a classic performance by Peter O’Toole one need only glance at his IMDb page and pick one film out more-or-less at random, but we here at CraveOnline wanted to single out a few of the roles that we will certainly never forget. These are the free-association films, the ones our minds will turn to whenever we think of the great Peter O’Toole, and we will definitely think of him often, and with admiration.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
Peter O'Toole (1932-2013): Our Favorite Films
CraveOnline bids farewell to Peter O'Toole with a short list of his most memorable performances.
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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
David Lean's incredible epic stars Peter O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence, better known to many as Lawrence of Arabia after involving himself in the battles of Aqaba and Damascus during World War I, and dividing his allegience between the U.K. and the Arabic National Council. Lean's enormous scope makes Lawrence of Arabia one of cinema's greatest spectacles, but it's all in service of O'Toole's mysterious, powerful and conflicted performance.
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How to Steal a Million (1966)
Peter O'Toole may be best known for his serious dramatic performances, but he's a dashing leading man in this quippy heist comedy from director William Wyler. Audrey Hepburne stars as the daughter of a forger who needs to steal his masterpiece from a museum before it can be analyzed, and Peter O'Toole plays the befuddled but surprisingly capable cat burglar who helps her pull it off. The centerpiece is one of the most unusual heists in movie history, and the crackling chemistry between O'Toole and his leading lady.
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The Lion in Winter (1968)
One of the greatest all-star acting showcases stars Peter O'Toole as King Henry II (for the second time, after Becket), Katharine Hepburne as Eleanor of Acquitane, John Castle as Richard the Lionheart and Anthony Hopkins (in his feature film debut) as Prince John as the royal family backstabs each other repeatedly to decide which of the two princes will inherit the throne. O'Toole matches the heaviness of his throne with sensitive moments and scenes of shocking cruelty, crafting an unforgettable King of England in the process.
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The Ruling Class (1972)
In one of the most acidic indictments of British aristocracy and social mores, Peter O'Toole stars as Jack Arnold Alexander Tancred Gurney - 14th Earl of Gurney, a.k.a. Jesus Christ. When the institutionalized heir to a prominent title emerges with all his eccentricities intact - he even sleeps on a large wooden cross in the living room - a group of cronies conspire to cure him of his harmless, hilarious madness and transform him into... something far worse. O'Toole's performance and the film itself are witty, mean and meaningful.
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The Stunt Man (1980)
Richard Rush's The Stunt Man may just be the best movie ever made about making movies. Steve Railsback stars as an escaped convict who accidentally stumbles into the frame of director Eli Cross, played with godlike whimsy and sadism by Peter O'Toole, who hires the wanted man as his latest, probably doomed stuntman. The lines between fact, fiction, morality and apathy blur so often that it's sometimes hard to tell whether you're watching The Stunt Man or the movie Cross is making, but it's always captivating thanks in large part to O'Toole's enigmatic performance.
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My Favorite Year (1982)
Oscar-nominated in its time but now largely forgotten, this slight and affable comedy stars Mark Linn-Baker as an aspiring TV comedy writer charged with babysitting alcoholic, unpredictable swashbuckling actor Alan Swann, played with lovable zeal by Peter O'Toole. My Favorite Year dramatizes with glee the old adage that you should never meet your heroes, as Swann confirms, denies and in the end permanently alters our perception of cinema's greatest movie stars. It's loosely based on a true story involving a young Mel Brooks and Errol Flynn, when Flynn appeared on Sid Caesar's "Your Show of Shows."
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Ratatouille (2007)
Peter O'Toole lended his formidable vocal talents to Brad Bird's Ratatouille, a fanciful film about a rat (Patton Oswalt) who aspires to be a professional chef. O'Toole portrays the apparent villain, Anton Ego, a heartless food critic who eventually reveals himself to be a more complex figure than anyone - in the movie or the audience - could have predicted. O'Toole's delivery turns Ego's final monologue into a valid mission statement for critics of all stripes everywhere, so what can we say? It's a personal favorite of ours, nestled in a movie with a lot more to offer than the typical family fare.
