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Permalink Reply by Ryan O'Rourke on December 16, 2013 at 11:24am

I actually haven't watched all that many of O'Toole's films, but he was tremendous in The Last Emperor.  Really enjoyed that film on the whole, and he was perfect for the role he filled.

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Permalink Reply by Gerry Regan on December 16, 2013 at 12:05pm

Had one degree of separation, I think. My mother, who lived then in Paris, shared with me an encounter she had with O'Toole there in the mid-1960s. He saw her there in a cafe or in a public square, approached her and asked her to join him for a drink or somesuch. My mother demurred, noting to me that she knew he was married, then to Sian Phillips. She did find him quite charming.

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AdminPermalink Reply by Joe Gannon on December 16, 2013 at 3:02pm

You got your "O's" mixed up there I think, Gerry. No doubt you meant "O'Toole" and not "O'Neill."

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Permalink Reply by Gerry Regan on December 16, 2013 at 5:49pm

Thank you, Joe. Typing faster than I'm thinking is a habit I'm trying to eliminate.

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Permalink Reply by Alannah Ryane on December 17, 2013 at 9:38am

lol Gerry  I had the same kind of 'encounter' ! 

At a concert in Edmonton Alberta back in '77 Tom Jones sent 'his man there' over to invite me to one of his infamous back stage after show parties.  He didn't know my husband was his promoter at the time.  This is a photo of Tom signing autographs (my husband Ken is on the left) after making everyone wait for 2 hours while he 'entertained' behind closed doors.  There is a woman out there who has a very clear memory of walking out of that room, in a dishevelled state to find about 50 people staring at her lol ...those were the days.  Peter, Tom and Richard Burton were the real wild bunch!

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AdminPermalink Reply by Joe Gannon on December 17, 2013 at 11:59am

"Lawrence of Arabia" is one of the great, classic movies of all time. Although it's a war movie to some extent, there is so much more to it. It's a 4 hour "war" movie that doesn't really have many battle scenes. The "war" is more the one between the Lawrence and his idealistic vision of Arabs fighting for freedom from Turkish colonialism and the British vision of the outcome of the conflict, which is to merely to impose their own colonial system onto the Arabs in place of the Turkish one they are destroying. The Arabs essenially fought the Turks merely to go sideways, rather than forward. Lawrence triumphs against tremendous odds in uniting the various Arab factions, and yet in the end nothing is really accomplished beyond destruction and death, as is so often the case in war. It is an epic film that needs a huge screen to be fully appreciated. If some theater within 100 miles of me would run it, I'd make the drive to see it. Definitely one of the top ten motion pictures of all time.

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Permalink Reply by Ann O'Brien on December 19, 2013 at 11:24pm

Love him so much with Audrey Hepburn in How to Steal a Million.

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GaeilgeoirPermalink Reply by Jane Sherry Gardner on January 31, 2014 at 7:02am

I've several times driven by his beautiful home near Clifden in Galway on An Bothar Speir .. a large, modern, but tasteful structure on the hillside with an immense lawn sweeping down to the ocean.  There is a castle ruin on his front lawn.  He must have spent many peaceful days there ..  I hope so.

I think he was an original personality and enormously talented actor.

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