Peter O'Toole has died, at age 81.
He is probably best known for his depiction of T.E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and he was certainly great in that role; however, I will always like him best as the washed-up Errol-Flynn-type character in My Favorite Year.
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He was also Clarence, Earl of Emsworth in a '95 production of Heavy Weather. Which is, incidentally, the best Wodehouse adaptation I have ever seen.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, I forgot about that one! O'Toole simply was Lord Emsworth.
ReplyDeleteOther favorites: The Lion in Winter and Murphy's War.
I've often wondered if O'Toole was instrumental in opening up Britain to the whole Arab/Islam curse.
ReplyDeleteI can now understand why Mr. Lawrenceofarabia was scorned by his peers in the British military.
Nope Anon, the Brits have long had a soft spot for Arabs, to go with their scorn for Jews. Arabs are noble and clean, Jews are dirty and commercial, in British eyes.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, they have always romanticized the Bedouin and other desert nomads. Lawrence was scorned by the regulars because he was, not to put too fine a point on it, a flake. Just like Orde Wingate and plenty of other brilliant but unconventional military types. Oh certain;y they were effective but still... not quite right for the officers' mess, old chap.