# RIP Peter O'toole **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400 "2013-12-15T18:42:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/21 "2013-12-15T22:45:28Z")
“If you’d been any prettier, it would have been Florence of Arabia”. [RIGHT]— Noel Coward[/RIGHT] ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/22 "2013-12-15T22:48:04Z")
I thought he was dead (when he played King Priam)…in that disastrous "Troy"movies. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/23 "2013-12-15T23:04:00Z")
Truly one of a kind. He lived the a movie star’s life and did it with gusto. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/24 "2013-12-15T23:15:35Z")
My first crush on a film star was Peter O’Toole. I remember riding my bicycle to the theater, I didn’t have a driver’s license yet, in 1970, to see LOA. Back then movies would do return runs through theaters. God, I loved his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/25 "2013-12-15T23:16:31Z")
Sad to see you go, Peter. Lawrence of Arabia is one of my favorite movies, and he seemed to have a great time being Peter O’toole. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/26 "2013-12-15T23:26:36Z")
One of my all-time favorite actors, who I thought was older than 81. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/27 "2013-12-15T23:41:06Z")
I loved him as Henry II in Becket and again in The Lion in Winter. I liked him as King Priam in Troy too. (It’s good to be the king) I’ll miss him too. I was really impressed with him when I saw him on The Actors Studio. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/28 "2013-12-15T23:44:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **“My God, I love being King!”** _ Yes, he was great in _The Lion in Winter_. Held his own with the scene-stealing Kate Hepburn, which was no small thing. I’ve watched that one quite a few times, but not so many times as _Lawrence_. His voice is indelible–so many great lines echo in one’s head. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/29 "2013-12-16T00:30:37Z")
I liked him as the tutor Johnson in _The Last Emperor._ He was always the most powerful character on the screen even when Pu Yi was in the room. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/30 "2013-12-16T01:43:04Z")
He holds the record of most acting Oscar nominations without a win – eight. RIP, Peter. EDIT: Bet they give him a posthumous honorary one come next year. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/31 "2013-12-16T02:05:33Z")
Nah, he already has a “Lifetime” Oscar (2003) so they were ahead of that. But he’ll get an extra-long memorial montage. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/32 "2013-12-16T03:13:35Z")
J’adore, J’adore. First time in a long time I think that I yelled out at the news. Years ago I saw a made for TV called Svengali. With Jodie Foster. And being unsure how to post a link, I will post it as text. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yww1iF_VDNk) “When I make love to a woman, I unwrap her.” So sad, so very sad. ETA-well, it linked. I think. Feel free to correct me. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/33 "2013-12-16T03:18:47Z")
One of my favorite epic drunk stories about himself and Richard Harris was when they woke up in a hotel room in Ireland ala Hangover, having very little recollection of the night before. At some point one of them noticed a debit in his checkbook for a huge amount- I don’t remember the figure but let’s say low six figures. The other had an identical amount listed as a debit in his own checkbook. They finally remembered the night before they were in a bar at closing time, got into an argument with the owner because they didn’t want to leave, and they _bought_ the bar for a ridiculously inflated amount (that neither could comfortably afford) to keep it open. They ended up locating the bar, the owner, and pleaded with him not to cash the checks. It turned out he really did not have any intention of cashing their checks, he just wanted to teach them a lesson for being obnoxious and arrogant. The three (O’Toole, Harris, and the owner) ended up becoming very good friends; O’Toole held a wake for Harris at the pub, and later when the pub owner died Peter delivered his eulogy. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/34 "2013-12-16T03:48:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I liked him as the tutor Johnson in _The Last Emperor._ Peter O’Toole played a guy named Johnson ? ! ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/35 "2013-12-16T04:52:44Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Herb Caen once said, “Peter O’Toole is redundant.” > > RIP, trouper. Strangely, I only heard of Mr. Caen for the first time yesterday, in the Wikipedia article on **[Beatniks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatnik)**. He sounds like a damn fool. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/36 "2013-12-16T11:15:04Z")
O’Toole & Harris were both in **The Bible,** directed by John Huston who drank and brawled his way though six continents and several marriages; as was George C Scott who would buddy up with Lawrence Tierney for epic Hollywood bar crawls/fights; and Ava Gardner who’d stay up for days on end drinking and screwing. [Norma Desmond] "We didn’t need cocaine. We had compromised livers! [Norma Desmond] ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/37 "2013-12-16T17:36:47Z")
I saw Lawrence of Arabia when I was 11, and it transformed me. I demanded to see it again, having fallen madly in love with Peter O’Toole forever after. What a great actor, yes, RIP! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/38 "2013-12-16T18:25:10Z")
Might I also add, living to be 81 after the life he lived, that’s not too bad! ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/39 "2013-12-16T19:31:05Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Herb Caen once said, “Peter O’Toole is redundant.” > RIP, trouper. > [@Claverhouse](#): > > Strangely, I only heard of Mr. Caen for the first time yesterday, in the Wikipedia article on **[Beatniks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatnik)**. > > He sounds like a damn fool. Caen wasn’t commenting on Peter O’Toole the man…he was just making a joke about his name. (What with ‘peter’ and ‘tool’ being names for the same thing, and hence “redundant.”) ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400/40 "2013-12-16T19:49:36Z")
First time I ever saw him was in ‘How to Steal a Million.’ Never mind the film. Toss out Audrey. \*\* _I_\*\* wanted to be in that closet with him. Most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen on a man - including David Tennant’s. Rest in Peace, Mr. O’Toole. You shall be missed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-peter-otoole/676400.md?page=3)