Adieu O’ Toole
Acting was a second nature to versatile actor Peter O’Toole, who could perform well despite his reckless living
Ervell E. Menezes

WHAT an actor he was! Supreme. Unmatched. The early 1960s were indeed Peter O’Toole’s salad years, what with The Lawrence of Arabia, Becket and The Night of the Generals almost in one breath. The first two were before my film critic days, and especially remember those cryptic, even shocking lines, speaking of his wife as "a withered flower in the pages of a hymn-book which duty forced me to wander." Jean Anouilh at his scathing best and as Henry II, he overshadowed Richard Burton’s Becket. One wasn’t yet exposed to such candid lines in those distant days. Both of them shared two talents, acting and drinking, though not necessarily in that order.

He first came into the limelight playing T.E. Lawrence in The Lawrence of Arabia for which he earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination. He was to receive seven more nominations but the Oscar eluded him and he had to rest content with an honorary Oscar in 2003. The only other actors to come close to him were Burton and American Rod Steiger of In the Heat of the Night and No Way to Treat a Lady fame. In The Lawrence of Arabia, he played alongside Omar Sharif and the two were together again in The Night of the Generals and it was amply evident that O’Toole was superior. As Gen. Tanz O’Toole was impeccable, twitch of the eye et al, as he was being investigated by Major Grau and his gay ties with Pvt Hartman (Tom Courtenay). It was tense drama with homosexuality still not exactly out of the cupboard. Courtenay, too, was excellent in one of his earlier roles but went on to earn many more accolades.

The performances of Peter O’ Toole (top) remain unmatched. The Lawrence of Arabia is among his legendary films

But like his British counterpart, Richard Burton, the son of a Welsh miner, it was his theatre background that gave him an advantage over others. On the stage, one has to keep the adrenalin going day in and day out of the performances.

To show his versatility, O’Toole acted with Audrey Hepburn in How to Steal a Million, an excellent comedy. Hepburn, too, had nice things to say about this Irish-born British actor who by then had arrived.

But it was with the other Hepburn, Katherine that he won another Best Actor nomination in The Lion in Winter and there again it was a superb performance. But by now, his hard drinking was beginning to make its presence felt. By then, he was married to actress Sian Phillips and had two girls by her but the marriage did not last long.

Then followed a variety of roles, including playing Sherlock Holmes in TV serials and films like Goodbye Mr Chipps and Man of La Mancha but by then acting had become second nature and he could well perform despite his rather reckless living. O’Toole suffered a long illness before succumbing to it at 81 years but right through his life, he was known for his flamboyance and candour. "If you can’t do something willingly and joyfully, then don’t do it," he once said, "If you give up drinking, don’t go mourning about it: go back on the bottle. Do As Thou Wilt."

It could well be his epitaph.

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