More reasons to love Peter O’Toole

I happened to catch Peter O’Toole on The Tonight Show last night.  He was there to promote season 2 of The Tudors.  Jay Leno mentioned Lawrence of Arabia and O’Toole’s legendary body of work.  I like Leno because he always seems to respect old school stars like O’Toole and seems to have done his homework on them.  I love it when O’Toole does the talk show circuit because he is BY FAR the best celebrity interview subject ever!  He always has wild, interesting, funny and fascinating stories to tell about his life and career. 

Last night he told a great story about being completely drunk during his legendary desert crossing scene with co-star Omar Sharif.  He laughed and said that one critic wrote that he had a look of “messianic fury” on his face, when in reality he was simply drunk.

O’Toole has an amazing voice and his ability to tell a story is incredible.  If he were reading the phonebook on stage, I would seriously pay money to hear him do so. 

A few years ago I met someone who worked with him on the film Venus.  I told them how fortunate they were to get to work with such a legend.  Alas, they had no idea and had never seen any of his films.  Being the film geek I am, I immediately sent over a long “suggested viewing” list.

I also noticed that today marks the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Lawrence of Arabia director David Lean! 

First Comment:

1. Nice to see you again last night, Karie. ‘Twas a reminder to me to get caught up on your blog.

   I cannot help but wonder if you have heard O’Toole’s commentary track on the DVD release of _Becket_.

   Posted by Jack Maxfield on 07/24 at 05:21 PM