Peter O’Toole - biography

“Acting has been described as farting about in disguise.”

“Films were never in my budget.  Didn’t occur to me till much later.  I hoped for a long, good life, which I’ve had and I’m having as an actor.  I didn’t expect the rest.”

“I love working with young people, which is to me a big kick.”

“I tell my children to avoid theatre and go into cinema and TV.”

“I’ve been offered so few comedies.  I could count them on one finger.”

“Our old mistakes do come back to haunt us.  Especially with video.”

“Sticking a beard on instead of growing one changes your appearance but not your character.”

“The good parts are the people who don’t make do.  They’re the interesting people.  Lear doesn’t make do.”

“Where do I begin?  I loved working with Kate Hepburn, which was one of the highlights of my life; Working with Richard Burton in Beckett was another great joy.”

“You get so sick of it, the camera crawling about all over you all day long.”

“Even with the best creative people in the world, the odds against turning out a successful film are 10 to 1.”

“I could actually sit through Becket.  Not Lawrence of Arabia.  I kept thinking: ‘That’s where the camel bit my hand’ or ‘Imagine, I was only 27 then.’ And that awful music they put to it.”

“I’ve never been in a horror movie - on purpose - and I am not about to be.”

“There is too much sex on the screen.  I’ve balled and brawled my way around and I’m no prude, but sex is something to be enjoyed not sniggered over or gaped at.”

“We were in the Arabian Desert for nine months.  And I was having the time of my life.  It could have been an archeological expedition, a military expedition.”

“You can’t fool that 70 mm lens.  It’s terrifying what it picks up.  You can see what time someone hobbled to bed.  You can see the germs having a party in his eyeballs.”

“Hollywood is not my cup of tea - nor am I its cup of tea.”

“When did I realize I was God?  Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.”

“I don’t have the bust to be an image.”

“For me, life has been either a wake or a wedding.”

“I can cope.  After all, I’m a fucking movie star.”

“I’m not a philosopher.  Guilty bystander, that’s my role.”

“Life turned out much better than I thought.  I knew after a little while that I could act.”

“My dear sir, it haunted me for the rest of my life.”

“I have no memories I’m prepared to share with you.”

“I don’t go for this auto-cannibalism.  Very damaging.”

“If I’m not at my study by 10:00, 10:30, forget it, I can’t write a word.”

“Writing is a kind of performing art, and I can’t sit down to write unless I’m dressed.  I don’t mean dressed in a suit, but dressed well and comfortably and I have to be shaved and bathed.”

“I loved doing My Favorite Year, which was great fun, and The Ruling Class, which I made with all my chums.”

“I was apprehensive about bringing off this Homer.”

“I wouldn’t mind being a lord.”

“I’m a working stiff, baby, just like everybody else.”

“I’m the most gregarious of men and love good company, but never less alone when alone.”

“It’s my job, it’s what I do, it’s what I’m on earth to do and it’s who I am.”

“It’s very inconvenient because every time I finish, let’s say, a chapter of a book, I think I’m going to ring Richard and then realize: Oh, Christ, I’ve buried him.  I buried him last year.”

“My own favorite is something called Rogue Male.”

“Sobiety’s a real turn on for me.  You can see what you’re doing.”

“There is a legend.  And to protest is daft.”

“We were doing it under the most extraordinary circumstances, but the first out of the tent in the morning would be David Lean.  He said to me on the very first day of shooting, Pete, this is the beginning of a great adventure.”

Peter O’Toole has appeared in the following films:
Kidnapped (1960)
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)
The Savage Innocents (1960)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Becket (1964)
Lord Jim (1965)
What’s New, Pussycat? (1965)
The Sandpiper (1965)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966)
The Night of the Generals (1967)
Casino Royale (1967)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Great Catherine (1968)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
Country Dance (1970)
The Same Skin (1970)
Murphy’s War (1971)
Under Milk Wood (1972)
The Ruling Class (1972)
Man of La Mancha (1972)
Rosebud (1975)
Man Friday (1975)
Foxtrot (1976)
Power Play (1978)
Zulu Dawn (1979)
Caligola (1979)
The Stunt Man (1980)
My Favorite Year (1982)
Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear (1983)
Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet (1983)
Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four (1983)
Supergirl (1984)
Creator (1985)
Club Paradise (1986)
The Last Emperor (1987)
High Spirits (1988)
In una notte di chiaro di luna (1989)
The Rainbow Thief (1990)
Wings of Fame (1990)
The Nutcracker Prince (1990)
King Ralph (1991)
Isabelle Eberhardt (1991)
Rebecca’s Daughters (1992)
The Seventh Coin (1993)
FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
Phantoms (1998)
The Manor (1999)
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999)
Global Heresy (2002)
The Final Curtain (2002)
Bright Young Things (2003)
Troy (2004)
Lassie (2005)
Venus (2006)
One Night with the King (2006)
Ratatouille (2007)
Stardust (2007)
Dean Spanley (2008)
Love and Virtue (2008)
Christmas Cottage (2008)
God’s Spy (2009)
Eager to Die (2010)
Eldorado (2012)