Peter O’Toole, Requiescat In Pace

Say a prayer for the soul of a great (lapsed?) Catholic actor who had the unfortunate knack of being in great movies that came out at the same time as other great movies. As a result, see, Peter O’Toole, though nominated by the Academy eight times for Best Actor, was never awarded the Oscar for a performance.

Pity, that.

I loved his work, his frankness, and his fearlessness. He rarely minced words. What do you think of current actors, Mr. O’Toole?

Acting today is s–t. London theater is a graveyard and it’s all because of this whole invention of The Director…. The power [of the actor] has been taken away. There are only three indispensable things: the audience, the actor and the author. The rest is dross.

Directors still hired him, though. And work ethic? He worked constantly up until the day he died. Here’s hoping that future projects that have yet to be released (Katherine of Alexandria, and Mary), are already in the can.

You can read his obituary and celebrations of career practically everywhere, today. I’ll just share the trailers for my favorite films that he starred in, and a bonus trailer too.

#1: My Favorite Year. I was a newbie Marine when this came out, and I first caught it in the barracks on HBO. Loved it then, love it now. He was 50 years old at the time. Roll clip,

#2: Becket. I’ve blogged on this film a time, or two. Roll clip,

Trivia Question Answer: O’Toole was nominated for Best Actor also when he again played the role of Henry II later in Lion In Winter.

Bonus clip! I’ll be honest and mention that I have not watched the entire Showtime series, The Tudors. I saw the episode with St. Thomas More’s execution, only. But hark!

Hmmmm. It’s on Netflix too, you know. Marathon time!