With the the approaching of the 97th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony next Sunday, March 2nd, I thought it interesting to acknowledge an actor who has been nominated for Oscars many times, but sadly never won. Peter O’Toole enjoyed a 58-year career, scoring eight Oscar nominations, all in the category of Best Lead Actor.
Peter O’Toole was born on August 2nd, 1932 in Leeds, a city in West Yorkshire England. Acting wasn’t initially in the cards as his father, Patrick, was an Irish metal plater, a bookmaker, and a football player. His mother, Constance, was a Scottish Nurse. He felt inspired to become an actor, however, after he saw Akira Kurosawa’s performances in the films Rashomon (1950) and The Seven Samurai (1954).
After school, and service as a signaller in the Royal Navy, O’Toole attended RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) on scholarship from 1952 to 1955. Upon graduation, he almost instantly found work as a theatre actor appearing in Shakespearean and other various productions at Bristol Old Vic. He stayed at “The Vic” for two years, appearing in productions of Hamlet and King Lear, along with the role of Henry Higgins in Pygmalion (the play that later became the musical My Fair Lady.) He landed roles in episodes of British-produced television series’, Armchair Theatre (1956-1974) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950-1959).
Peter O’Toole made his feature film debut in Disney’s Kidnapped (1960), starring opposite James MacArthur, Peter Finch, and Bernard Lee. He was cast in the part of Robin McGregor because director Robert Stevenson was looking for an actor who could play the bagpipes and O’Toole had played the bagpipes in his youth. O’Toole’s “big break” as a leading man didn’t come until two years later, when he was chosen to star as T.E. Lawrence in the epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962). The film was a blockbuster smash, earning ten Oscar nods, including O’Toole’s first for Best Actor. Although Gregory Peck took home the Best Actor Oscar that year for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), “Arabia” won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean. (Sir Alec Guinness starred as Prince Faisal in “Arabia.” Guinness had previously worked with David Lean and “Arabia” producer Sam Spiegel The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), which also won the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, as well as Best Actor for Guinness.)
O’Toole was later re-hired by Sam Spiegel to star in The Night of the Generals (1967), in which he re-teamed with other “Arabia” co-star, Omar Sharif. Although “Generals” was a box-office disappointment, working together on the film led to a close friendship between O’Toole and Sharif, and they remained friends the rest of their lives. O’Toole next starred opposite Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter (1968) earning another Best Actor Oscar Nomination, the same year that Sharif starred opposite Barbara Streisand in Funny Girl (1968). Both Hepburn and Streisand tied for the Best Actress Oscar that year, marking the second time in history two actors have tied for an acting Oscar. (The first being in the year 1932 when Wallace Beery and Frederic March both took home the Best Actor Oscar, Beery The Champ (1931) and Frederic March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931).)
In the ‘70s, he returned to the Bristol Old Vic starring in productions of Uncle Vanya, Plunder, The Apple Cart, and Judgment. In 1982, he scored his sixth Oscar Nomination, starring in The Stunt Man (1981), losing again to Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull (1981). He received his seventh nomination for starring in My Favorite Year (1983) and even reprised the role of Henry Higgins for a British-produced television adaptation of Pygmalion in 1984. The production was later re-adapted for Broadway in 1987 where it ran for 113 performances. His final theatrical appearance was in the play Our Song which he performed at New York’s Apollo Theater in 1992.
Peter O’Toole also had remarkable ventures into the field of voice acting. His first voice-acting roles was uncredited in the Oscar-Winning The Sandpiper (1965), which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, whom O’Toole was also good friends with. (He starred with Burton in the films Becket (1964) and Under the Milk Wood (1972).) O’Toole later voiced Sherlock Holmes in a series of four cartoon television movies of the “Sherlock Holmes,” series produced in Australia. His last feature film to use his voice was Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille (2007), where he voiced the intimidating food critic Anton Ego, who rejects but ultimately believes in Chef Gusteau’s phrase that “anyone can cook.” (“Ratatouille” was written/directed by The Incredibles (2004) director Brad Bird, and just like “Incredibles” “Ratatouille” also took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.)
It is extremely unfortunate that Peter O’Toole never won an Acting Oscar. He was, however, well-deservedly, awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2003. Nonetheless, he is a much admired, beloved actor whose fans have included movie-goers and actors alike. After nearly six-decades in show business, his work is worthy of every film lover’s respect.
