Peter O'Toole: Five Essential Performances

Peter O’Toole, who died on Sunday at age 81, was one of the best actors to reach the silver screen. It wasn’t just those piercing blue eyes, but it was also his delivery of lines and an ability to move easily from rage to calm. Whenever he appeared on screen, filmgoers understood that they were about to see an epic performance.

If there ever was living proof that awards do not matter when it comes to such an art as film, it was O’Toole. He was nominated for an astonishing eight Oscars for Best Actor and never won any of them. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences tried to rectify that by giving him an honorary award in 2003. O’Toole was among the greats who never won a competitive Oscars.

O’Toole has 94 credits to his name, including roles in two upcoming films, although he announced his full-time retirement in 2012. Here is a short top five collection of some of his most acclaimed performances.

Read more on Peter O’Toole here.

[new page = The Last Emperor]

5. The Last Emperor - O’Toole does not have a huge role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 epic, which won the Best Picture Oscar for that year, but he does have a key role. In the film, he plays a Reginald Johnson, a Scotsman who is the tutor to Puyi, the last emperor of China. He is the only major star in this sweeping epic, giving a realistic performance as only he could.

[new page = Becket]

4. Becket - In the first of two films in which he plays King Henry II, 1964’s Becket is one of the best acted films of all time. Richard Burton and O’Toole are at each others throats for the majority of the film after their friendship deteriorates. The film was directed by Peter Glenville and both Burton and O’Toole were nominated for Oscars.

[new page = My Favorite Year]

3. My Favorite Year - In this underrated film, produced by Mel Brooks, O’Toole plays a has-been actor modeled after Errol Flynn. It is told from the point of view of a comedy television writer who gets a chance to work with O’Toole’s character and is tasked with keeping him under control. It’s a testament of O’Toole’s acting ability that he could pull off the comedy effectively here.

[new page = The Lion in Winter]

2. The Lion in Winter - O’Toole gets to play Henry II again, this time older and instead of Burton, he gets to play against Katharine Hepburn. While Hepburn won an Oscar, O’Toole lost out again. But his performance as an older, bigger, larger-than-life king has to be among his best.

[new page = Lawrence of Arabia]

1. Lawrence of Arabia - In 1962, David Lean cast an unknown O’Toole, who had only had small parts in a handful of films up to this point. With Lawrence of Arabia, he became an absolute star. Lean photographed O’Toole to capture his best features, including those blue eyes, but he proved that O’Toole was more than just a handsome face. This is the most nuanced, brilliant performance to not win an Oscar. If Gregory Peck didn’t give his equally iconic performance in To Kill A Mockingbird, O’Toole would have won the Oscar for this, no question.

image: Amazon

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.