Happy 77th to Peter O'Toole, the last great reprobate!

"For me, life has either been a wake or a wedding."


"Booze is the most outrageous of drugs, which is why I chose it."



"I can't stand light. I hate weather.
My idea of heaven is moving from one smoke-filled room to another."

Here are some of his career highlights, all worth knowing:

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Becket (1964)
Lord Jim (1965)
What's New Pussycat (1965)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
Casino Royale (1967)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
The Ruling Class (1972)
Man of La Mancha (1972)
Zulu Dawn (1979)
Caligula (1979)
The Stunt Man (1980)
Masada (1981)
My Favorite Year (1982)
Creator (1985)
Club Paradise (1986)
High Spirits (1988)
The Rainbow Thief (1990)
Bright Young Things (2003)
Troy (2004)
Venus (2006)
Ratatouille (2007)

When Noel Coward saw his "Lawrence of Arabia" he said to Peter, "If you'd been any prettier they would have had to call it "Florence of Arabia."


Nominated 8 different times for an Academy Award, but never won. Finally in 2003 at the age of 71 the Academy awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award. This is how he described the night:

"I enjoyed it. The only thing that wasn't enjoyable was in the green room. I said, 'Can I have a drink?' 'We have lemon juice, apple juice, still or sparkling.' I said, 'No, I want a drink. No drink?' I said, 'All right, I'm fucking off. I'll be back.' A man with earphones said, 'No! No!' Eventually this vodka was smuggled in."

My hero.