Aug 2, 1932

Connemara, County Galway

He began getting work in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company, before making his television debut in 1954 and a very minor film debut in 1959.<br/><br/>

O'Toole's major break came when he was chosen to play T.E. Lawrence in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962), after Albert Finney turned down the role. His performance introduced him to U.S. audiences and earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.... ... (read more...) <br/><br/>

After Lawrence of Arabia, O'Toole received six more nominations for the Best Actor Oscar but never won the award in competition. In 2003, the Academy honoured his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award for his lifelong contribution to film. O'Toole initially balked about accepting and wrote the academy a letter saying he was "still in the game" and would like more time to "win the lovely bugger outright". The Academy informed him that they would bestow the award whether he wanted it or not and so in the end, O'Toole relented and reluctantly agreed to appear at the ceremony and pick up his Oscar.<br/><br/>

His seven Oscars nomination without winning ties him with Richard Burton in this category of futility. He is also one of a handful of actors to be nominated for playing the same role in two different films; he played King Henry II in both 1964's Becket and 1968's The Lion in Winter.<br/><br/>

He has also appeared in Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre and fulfilled a lifetime ambition when taking to the legendary stage of the Irish capital's Abbey Theatre in 1970 to play in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett alongside the celebrated stage actor Donal McCann.<br/><br/>

In 2005 he took a rare television role as the older version of legendary 18th century Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova in the BBC drama serial Casanova. O'Toole's role was mainly to frame the drama, telling the story of his life to serving maid Edith (Rose Byrne). The younger Casanova seen for most of the action was played by David Tennant, who had to wear contact lenses to match his brown eyes to O'Toole's blue.<br/><br/>

O'Toole won an Emmy Award for his role in the 1999 mini-series Joan of Arc.