It’s the end of an acting era — thankfully not by death — as Peter O’Toole announces his retirement from acting. At 80, O’Toole said it was time to “chuck in the sponge” and that he no longer had the heart for it. In a formal statement O’Toole made on August 10, he said, “However, it’s my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one’s stay. So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell.” I don’t know about you, but that statement leaves me anything but dry-eyed.
O’Toole started his career on TV in the UK, but gained overnight stardom in his first film, the classic Lawrence of Arabia. He earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance, and would go on to be nominated seven more times (most recently in 2006) but, sadly, never won the prize. He was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2003 at the age of 70, kind of a consolation prize (and he seriously should have won for her performance as the lush actor, a role seemingly tailor-made for him, in 1982’s My Favorite Year), and almost turned down the honor, telling the Academy to hold off until he was 80. But clutching the statue on that night, he said, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot … I have my very own Oscar now to be with me until death us do part.” When he was nominated again for Venus three years later, his statement was, “If you fail the first time, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again.”
O’Toole’s career began in 1956, and he has appeared in countless roles in movies and on TV (and he’s one of the few great British actors never to appear in a Harry Potter movie). According to his IMDB profile, he has two more films in the works which he will presumably complete, or has completed now that he’s announced his retirement. My favorite performances of his are in My Favorite Year as Alan Swann, the soused, faded movie actor coerced into appearing on a live television variety show in the 1950s, and as Eli Cross, the sadistic film director who will do anything to get the shot in the cult classic The Stunt Man. So, Mr. O’Toole, I say bravo to you on a stellar career, for bringing enjoyment to the people over the last 50 years, and for going out on your own terms.
Below is a list of O’Toole’s best known performances. Take the poll and choose your three favorite roles.
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Jul 10, 2012 @ 19:01 EST5EDT
Lawrence of Arabia, one of the greatest performances ever! That movie seared his blue eyes into my memory. He looked like a spice-eating Fremen from Dune.
A more recent O’Toole performance that I enjoyed was Priam of Troy – especially the scene in which he begs Achilles for the body of his son Hector. He brought the right mix of senility and dignity to the role, as Priam has to be foolish (for listening to bad advice) and yet courageous and noble.