Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
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Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
http://news.yahoo.com/peter-otoole-r...171800317.html
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter O'Toole is retiring from show business, saying he no longer has the heart for it and that it's time to "chuck in the sponge."
O'Toole, who turns 80 on Aug. 2, said in a statement Tuesday that his career on stage and screen fulfilled him emotionally and financially, bringing "me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits."
"However, it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay," he said. "So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."
In retirement, O'Toole said he will focus on the third volume of his memoirs.
An eight-time Academy Award nominee who never won Hollywood's top acting honor, O'Toole shot to screen stardom 50 years ago in the title role of "Lawrence of Arabia," which earned seven Oscars, including best picture and director for David Lean.
O'Toole's grand performance as British adventurer T.E. Lawrence brought him his first best-actor nomination but set him on an unenviable path of Oscar futility. His eight losses without a win is a record among actors.
The honors stacked up quickly as O'Toole received Oscar nominations for 1964's "Becket," 1968's "The Lion in Winter," 1969's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," 1972's "The Ruling Class," 1980's "The Stunt Man" and 1982's "My Favorite Year."
In the latter film, O'Toole played a dissolute actor preoccupied with drink and debauchery, seemingly a tailor-made role for a star known in his early years for epic carousing with such fellow partiers as Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Peter Finch.
O'Toole went into acting after serving in the Royal Navy, studying at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His early stage successes included the lead in "Hamlet" and Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice."
He was among a wily new breed of young British stage actors who soon would rise to Hollywood stardom.
"There was a group of us working-class actors, Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney, everybody, and we changed the way things were," Michael Caine said last weekend in an interview for his latest film, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Caine recalled being O'Toole's understudy in playwright Willis Hall's "The Long and the Short and the Tall," which opened in London in 1959.
"He did an incredible performance and he got 'Lawrence of Arabia,' and then I took it on tour," said two-time Oscar winner Caine.
In 2003, at age 70, O'Toole received an honorary Oscar, often given as a consolation prize for acclaimed actors and filmmakers who never managed to win Hollywood's top award.
The honorary Oscar came 20 years after his seventh nomination, for "My Favorite Year." By then it seemed a safe bet that O'Toole's prospects for another nomination were slim. He was still working regularly, but in smaller roles unlikely to earn awards attention.
O'Toole graciously accepted the honorary award, quipping, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot," as he clutched his Oscar statuette.
O'Toole nearly turned down the award, sending a letter asking that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hold off on the honorary Oscar until he turned 80.
Hoping another Oscar-worthy role would come his way, O'Toole wrote: "I am still in the game and might win the bugger outright."
O'Toole was still in the game. He earned his eighth best-actor nomination for 2006's "Venus," in which he played a lecherous old actor consigned to roles as feeble-minded royals or aged men on their death beds.
"If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again," O'Toole said in a statement on nominations day.
Unfortunately for O'Toole, he failed again. The best-actor prize went to Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."
Still, O'Toole had the esteem of Hollywood from that honorary prize a few years earlier.
"I have my very own Oscar now to be with me until death us do part," O'Toole told the academy crowd that night.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter O'Toole is retiring from show business, saying he no longer has the heart for it and that it's time to "chuck in the sponge."
O'Toole, who turns 80 on Aug. 2, said in a statement Tuesday that his career on stage and screen fulfilled him emotionally and financially, bringing "me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits."
"However, it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay," he said. "So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."
In retirement, O'Toole said he will focus on the third volume of his memoirs.
An eight-time Academy Award nominee who never won Hollywood's top acting honor, O'Toole shot to screen stardom 50 years ago in the title role of "Lawrence of Arabia," which earned seven Oscars, including best picture and director for David Lean.
O'Toole's grand performance as British adventurer T.E. Lawrence brought him his first best-actor nomination but set him on an unenviable path of Oscar futility. His eight losses without a win is a record among actors.
The honors stacked up quickly as O'Toole received Oscar nominations for 1964's "Becket," 1968's "The Lion in Winter," 1969's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," 1972's "The Ruling Class," 1980's "The Stunt Man" and 1982's "My Favorite Year."
In the latter film, O'Toole played a dissolute actor preoccupied with drink and debauchery, seemingly a tailor-made role for a star known in his early years for epic carousing with such fellow partiers as Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Peter Finch.
O'Toole went into acting after serving in the Royal Navy, studying at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His early stage successes included the lead in "Hamlet" and Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice."
He was among a wily new breed of young British stage actors who soon would rise to Hollywood stardom.
"There was a group of us working-class actors, Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney, everybody, and we changed the way things were," Michael Caine said last weekend in an interview for his latest film, "The Dark Knight Rises."
Caine recalled being O'Toole's understudy in playwright Willis Hall's "The Long and the Short and the Tall," which opened in London in 1959.
"He did an incredible performance and he got 'Lawrence of Arabia,' and then I took it on tour," said two-time Oscar winner Caine.
In 2003, at age 70, O'Toole received an honorary Oscar, often given as a consolation prize for acclaimed actors and filmmakers who never managed to win Hollywood's top award.
The honorary Oscar came 20 years after his seventh nomination, for "My Favorite Year." By then it seemed a safe bet that O'Toole's prospects for another nomination were slim. He was still working regularly, but in smaller roles unlikely to earn awards attention.
O'Toole graciously accepted the honorary award, quipping, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot," as he clutched his Oscar statuette.
O'Toole nearly turned down the award, sending a letter asking that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hold off on the honorary Oscar until he turned 80.
Hoping another Oscar-worthy role would come his way, O'Toole wrote: "I am still in the game and might win the bugger outright."
O'Toole was still in the game. He earned his eighth best-actor nomination for 2006's "Venus," in which he played a lecherous old actor consigned to roles as feeble-minded royals or aged men on their death beds.
"If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again," O'Toole said in a statement on nominations day.
Unfortunately for O'Toole, he failed again. The best-actor prize went to Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."
Still, O'Toole had the esteem of Hollywood from that honorary prize a few years earlier.
"I have my very own Oscar now to be with me until death us do part," O'Toole told the academy crowd that night.
#4
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
From the bottom of my soul to the tip of my penis,
like the sun in its brightness, the moon in its glory,
no breeze stirs that doesn't bear my love.
like the sun in its brightness, the moon in its glory,
no breeze stirs that doesn't bear my love.
#6
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
I respect his making the decision rather than waiting for others to make it for him.
What a great career. One of my all-time favorites.
What a great career. One of my all-time favorites.
#7
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
It looks like his last movie might be Mary, Mother of Christ, due out next year. Hopefully it's not another Welcome to Mooseport.
And I was going to say another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but it turns out that Sean Connery has done a voice for an animated film called Sir Billi.
And I was going to say another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but it turns out that Sean Connery has done a voice for an animated film called Sir Billi.
#10
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
It looks like his last movie might be Mary, Mother of Christ, due out next year. Hopefully it's not another Welcome to Mooseport.
And I was going to say another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but it turns out that Sean Connery has done a voice for an animated film called Sir Billi.
And I was going to say another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but it turns out that Sean Connery has done a voice for an animated film called Sir Billi.
#11
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
Thought he already retired.
Regrettably, besides 2 or 3 films, his career after 1972 was embarrassing...what a shame and a waste of talent.
Regrettably, besides 2 or 3 films, his career after 1972 was embarrassing...what a shame and a waste of talent.
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
My Favorite Year (1982, Best Actor nominee)
The Last Emperor (1987, Best Picture winner)
Venus (2006, Best Actor nominee)
Ratatouille (2007)
The Tudors (2008)
How is this in any way embarrassing, a shame, or a waste of talent?
On another note, Cliff Robertson winning the Best Actor award in 1969 over O'Toole's towering performance in The Lion in Winter is one of the most ridiculously absurd mistakes in Oscar history, in my opinion.
#13
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
He really got robbed when he didn't win the Oscar for My Favorite Year. It was a brilliant performance in a great movie.
#15
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
Hell of a career. If he has to bow out, I'm glad it's on his own terms.
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Bf9q3npuKl4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
His reaction after learning that he didn't get the Best Actor award that year:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ryVhaJnhLFE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Last edited by Kmical; 07-11-12 at 09:49 AM.
#18
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
So over a 40 year span, you got 6 titles, one of which is voice work, another a small role in a TV series, and another film which he gave a good performance in a mediocre film....you just proved my point!
You did leave out The Stunt Man however
He should have had a way better career than he did...alcohol and poor choices in films really hurt him.
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
You did leave out The Stunt Man however
#20
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
It wouldn't be embarrassing if those 4 films (ooops I forgot The Tudors and Ratatouille ) were the only ones he worked on..let's say over a 10 year span. The fact that he did that over 40 years along with a bunch of godawful crap makes it very sad. He is a great actor who did not do enough with the god given talent he was blessed with.
So you go right ahead admiring his amazing acting career after 1972. Me. I'd rather admire somebody like Albert Finney, a British actor who came up at the same time as O'Toole but whose resume and continual dedication to his craft would be worth lamenting if he decided to retire.
#21
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
The Stunt Man (1980, Best Actor nominee)
My Favorite Year (1982, Best Actor nominee)
The Last Emperor (1987, Best Picture winner)
Venus (2006, Best Actor nominee)
Ratatouille (2007)
The Tudors (2008)
How is this in any way embarrassing, a shame, or a waste of talent?
On another note, Cliff Robertson winning the Best Actor award in 1969 over O'Toole's towering performance in The Lion in Winter is one of the most ridiculously absurd mistakes in Oscar history, in my opinion.
My Favorite Year (1982, Best Actor nominee)
The Last Emperor (1987, Best Picture winner)
Venus (2006, Best Actor nominee)
Ratatouille (2007)
The Tudors (2008)
How is this in any way embarrassing, a shame, or a waste of talent?
On another note, Cliff Robertson winning the Best Actor award in 1969 over O'Toole's towering performance in The Lion in Winter is one of the most ridiculously absurd mistakes in Oscar history, in my opinion.
And I'll give you LION IN WINTER over CHARLY. O'Toole was definitely robbed.
O'Toole definitely had a great run from 1962-1972 (LAWRENCE to RULING CLASS). One of his most underrated films is NIGHT OF THE GENERALS (1967), where he plays a Nazi general who happens to be a serial killer and his LAWRENCE co-star, Omar Sharif, plays the officer assigned to investigate the killings. And Christopher Plummer plays Rommel! Great stuff.
He was also actually pretty good in FAIRYTALE: A TRUE STORY (1997), in which he played Arthur Conan Doyle opposite Harvey Keitel's Houdini, but it was a profoundly dishonest movie.
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
He is a great actor who did not do enough with the god given talent he was blessed with.
So you go right ahead admiring his amazing acting career after 1972.
Me. I'd rather admire somebody like Albert Finney, a British actor who came up at the same time as O'Toole but whose resume and continual dedication to his craft would be worth lamenting if he decided to retire.
#23
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
You can admire both, I do as well, but when I think of O'Toole, I will always remember him before alcohol and career indifference got the better of him.
#25
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Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen
I agree with those that say O'Toole wasted his talent...very gifted actor and more times than not took the easy route and did parts for $$$ instead of their quality. You know, like Bobby DeNiro's doing these days.