NAME: Peter O'Toole
BORN: 02/08/1932
BIRTH PLACE: Ireland


BIOGRAPHY

The son of a bookie, and a local beauty, O'Toole trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He walked straight out of drama school into the repertory company at Bristol Old Vic. Although the company had no places for young actors at that time, they were so impressed by his audition that space was made.

At the age of only twenty four, he was given the opportunity to star in 'Hamlet'. His appearance the following year, in 'The Long, The Short and The Tall', at the Royal Court in London, won him the London Critic's Award for Best Actor. He then moved to the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford.

However, on a trip to New York, the Hollywood producer Sam Speigel approached him, looking for an actor to star in a new film about T. E. Lawrence.

'Lawrence of Arabia' was a massive undertaking, and took two years, three months to complete. Even forty years on, it is still impressive. The picture won five Academy Awards, although unfortunately not one for O'Toole.

Peter married the actress Sian Phillips in 1959. They have two daughters.

In the forty years that have followed, he has continued to work almost ceaselessly both on screen and in the theatre, but for many people he has never again been able to reach the stunning heights of his performance as Lawrence.

In more recent times O'Toole won critical acclaim for the title role in 'Jeffery Bernard is Unwell', when it was first performed in 1989, and again in the 1999 revival.

He has also found success as a writer, with two volumes of his highly entertaining autobiography, 'Loitering with Intent', already published, and the promise of more to follow.