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After seven tries, O'Toole gets his Oscar

James Morrison,Arts,Media Correspondent
Sunday 26 January 2003 01:00 GMT
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Peter O'Toole, nominated seven times for a best actor Oscar without ever winning, will at long last be recognised by Hollywood. He is to receive an honorary Oscar at the 75th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in March.

Though he has always been stoical about the fickle nature of fame, O'Toole, now 70, may be tempted to muse that his recognition is not before time.

Explaining the decision to present him with the belated honour, Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said: "O'Toole's performances have ignited the screen for more than four decades.

"He has appeared in some of the most unforgettable roles in the history of the medium. He's seven times been nominated as best actor, which puts him in extremely rarified air for a performer. The board of governors felt it was time for him to hold his own Oscar in his hands."

Mr Pierson went on to describe the "remarkable talents" that had enabled O'Toole to bring to life some of cinema's "most memorable characters".

Born in Connemara, Ireland, in 1932, O'Toole made his stage debut at 17, before being inducted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Although he had to wait until he was 27 before making his big-screen debut, in the 1959 film The Savage Innocents, he achieved huge acclaim as a movie actor. His starring role as the explorer T E Lawrence in David Lean's classic epic Lawrence of Arabia brought him international fame, and he was nominated for Oscars for Becket, its sequel The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man and My Favourite Year.

In recent years, O'Toole has remained prolific, though his film appearances have tended to be confined largely to brief character-based cameos. Arguably his biggest stage achievement was in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, a part which earned him an Olivier award and some of the best reviews of his career.

Along with Richard Burton and his fellow Irishman Richard Harris, O'Toole found notoriety off camera in the 1960s and 1970s as one of the great Hollywood rabble-rousers. He remained especially close to Harris, and reportedly broke down in tears on hearing of the actor's death last year.

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