Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole was a prolific actor best known for such feature films as Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, My Favorite Year and The Stunt Man. He also appeared in many television productions in Great Britain and the U.S.

Born in Ireland, O'Toole grew up in Leeds, England, and in his late teens began performing in the theater. After two years in the British Navy he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris. He began appearing in British TV in the late 1950s, and made his feature debut in the 1960 Disney adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. In 1962, director David Lean cast O'Toole as T.E. Lawrence in the Oscar-winning epic Lawrence of Arabia, which made the young actor an international star.

In the years that followed, he worked frequently in both film and television. He was nominated for eight Oscars, and won an honorary Oscar in 2003. He was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and won once — for his supporting performance in the 1999 miniseries Joan of Arc.

O'Toole died December 14, 2013, at age 81.