British screen great Peter O’Toole died Saturday. He was 81
O’Toole received his first Academy Award nomination for 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia,” his eighth and last for “Venus” in 2006. With that he set the record for most nominations without ever winning, though he had accepted an honorary Oscar in 2003.
He was a hellraiser and counting Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Robert Shaw, Francis Bacon, Trevor Howard, Laurence Harvey and Peter Finch among his drinking companions. He reportedly lost much of his “Lawrence of Arabia” earnings in two nights with Omar Sharif at casinos in Beirut and Casablanca.
Critic David Thompson once wrote, “Peter O’Toole has not always been himself the best guardian of his own interests. He is reckless, courageous and a little crazy, like Orson Welles.”
Welles had thought of O’Toole for starring roles of two of his films and the duo discussed a third project.
Welles considered O’Toole for the role of filmmaker Jake Hannaford in “The Other Side of the Wind,” as well as the starring role in “The Deep.” The two men considered taking on Isak Dinesen’s “A Country Tale,” according to Joseph McBride’s “Whatever Happened to Orson Welles?”
O’Toole hinted to McBride he was reluctant to get involved in a protracted Wellesian project.
Welles and O’Toole had an informative talk about Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” on BBC’s “Monitor” In October 1963. A video of the conversation can be seen below.
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