Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Movie Talk
Reload this Page >

Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Movie Talk A Discussion area for everything movie related including films In The Theaters

Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Old 07-10-12, 08:15 PM
  #1  
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sanger, TX
Posts: 3,552
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
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.
Old 07-10-12, 08:36 PM
  #2  
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Formerly known as "Solid Snake PAC"/Denton, Tx
Posts: 39,239
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 4 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

What a legacy. I respect his decision.
Old 07-10-12, 08:49 PM
  #3  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Rex Power Colt-Robot Man's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,033
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

This is terrible news for "Supergirl 2"
Old 07-10-12, 10:17 PM
  #4  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
inri222's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 50,673
Received 182 Likes on 120 Posts
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.
Old 07-10-12, 10:38 PM
  #5  
Moderator
 
Groucho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Posts: 71,383
Received 122 Likes on 84 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

I didn't know he was still alive, so I guess that's good.
Old 07-10-12, 10:40 PM
  #6  
DVD Talk Godfather
 
davidh777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Home of 2013 NFL champion Seahawks
Posts: 52,461
Received 987 Likes on 818 Posts
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.
Old 07-10-12, 11:11 PM
  #7  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Drexl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 16,077
Likes: 0
Received 15 Likes on 13 Posts
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.
Old 07-10-12, 11:15 PM
  #8  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Cardsfan111's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 18,480
Likes: 0
Received 366 Likes on 231 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

It's always nice when someone recognizes when it's time to chuck in the sponge.
Old 07-11-12, 02:16 AM
  #9  
En vacance
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,512
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Anyone with the title role of Lawrence of Arabia can quietly ride off into the sunset.
Old 07-11-12, 03:11 AM
  #10  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Hazel Motes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 7,501
Received 397 Likes on 265 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by Drexl
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.
Damn it, you just stole my post.
Old 07-11-12, 07:19 AM
  #11  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Jaymole's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: N.Y, N.Y
Posts: 10,516
Received 441 Likes on 249 Posts
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.
Old 07-11-12, 07:37 AM
  #12  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 8,487
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by Jaymole
Thought he already retired.

Regrettably, besides 2 or 3 films, his career after 1972 was embarrassing...what a shame and a waste of talent.
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.
Old 07-11-12, 08:07 AM
  #13  
DVD Talk Legend
 
d2cheer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 11,434
Received 257 Likes on 187 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by Groucho
I didn't know he was still alive, so I guess that's good.
I was thinking the same thing. I can't recall seeing him in anything at all in the past 10 years.
Old 07-11-12, 08:19 AM
  #14  
DVD Talk Legend
 
B5Erik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Southern California
Posts: 13,540
Received 457 Likes on 335 Posts
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.
Old 07-11-12, 08:24 AM
  #15  
DVD Talk Hero
 
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 39,238
Received 598 Likes on 462 Posts
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.
Old 07-11-12, 08:31 AM
  #16  
TGM
DVD Talk Legend
 
TGM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 16,964
Received 399 Likes on 248 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

I'm fine with this, but can be please get Gene fucking Hackman back into the game for one last rodeo?
Old 07-11-12, 09:29 AM
  #17  
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
Kmical's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,841
Received 94 Likes on 65 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by MoviePage
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.
Agreed.

<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.
Old 07-11-12, 10:08 AM
  #18  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Jaymole's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: N.Y, N.Y
Posts: 10,516
Received 441 Likes on 249 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by MoviePage
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?


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.
Old 07-11-12, 10:34 AM
  #19  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 8,487
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by Jaymole


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!
6 > "2 or 3." And again I ask, how is that list of work, which includes 3 Academy Award nominations, in any way embarrassing? My Favorite Year is widely considered to be one of his greatest performances, for one thing.

You did leave out The Stunt Man however
...I did?
Old 07-11-12, 10:51 AM
  #20  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Jaymole's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: N.Y, N.Y
Posts: 10,516
Received 441 Likes on 249 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by MoviePage
6 > "2 or 3." And again I ask, how is that list of work, which includes 3 Academy Award nominations, in any way embarrassing? My Favorite Year is widely considered to be one of his greatest performances, for one thing.


...I did?
Sorry, I must have missed you mentioning The Stunt Man...hard to see through my tears of laughter.

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.
Old 07-11-12, 11:16 AM
  #21  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Ash Ketchum's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 12,617
Received 275 Likes on 210 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by MoviePage
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.
I'll give you THE LAST EMPEROR. But not the others. (THE STUNT MAN is one of the single worst Hollywood films I've ever seen on the big screen.)

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.
Old 07-11-12, 12:10 PM
  #22  
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 8,487
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by Jaymole
Sorry, I must have missed you mentioning The Stunt Man...hard to see through my tears of laughter.
I think you're either taking this far too seriously, or you're way too easily amused. Possibly both.

He is a great actor who did not do enough with the god given talent he was blessed with.
He seems content with his own accomplishments, and his reputation among his peers and critics is untarnished as one of the all-time greats. That's good enough for me.

So you go right ahead admiring his amazing acting career after 1972.
Ok? And you have fun thinking that anything about Peter O'Toole's acting career is embarrassing, I guess.

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.
Am I allowed to admire both? Because I do. But I admit that I'm now seriously considering replacing the O'Toole poster in my room with a headshot of Finney, thanks to your carefully considered argument.
Old 07-11-12, 12:31 PM
  #23  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Jaymole's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: N.Y, N.Y
Posts: 10,516
Received 441 Likes on 249 Posts
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

Originally Posted by MoviePage
I think you're either taking this far too seriously, or you're way too easily amused. Possibly both.
I am amused that someone would defend his career after 1972, that''s all


Originally Posted by MoviePage
He seems content with his own accomplishments, and his reputation among his peers and critics is untarnished as one of the all-time greats. That's good enough for me.
I'm happy that he is happy, but that doesn't make his resume after 1972 any better.


Originally Posted by MoviePage
Ok? And you have fun thinking that anything about Peter O'Toole's acting career is embarrassing, I guess.
Yes, after 1972 it is embarrassing...if he was not such a prodigiously talented actor, I wouldn't make that claim.


Originally Posted by MoviePage
Am I allowed to admire both? Because I do. But I admit that I'm now seriously considering replacing the O'Toole poster in my room with a headshot of Finney, thanks to your carefully considered argument.
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.
Old 07-11-12, 01:44 PM
  #24  
En vacance
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,512
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Re: Peter O'Toole is calling it quits for acting on stage and screen

As for never getting the oscar, there's always the bottle.
Old 07-11-12, 02:50 PM
  #25  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Shannon Nutt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 18,354
Received 323 Likes on 241 Posts
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.

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.