Birth namePeter Seamus O'Toole Birth information2 August 1932, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland BioA leading man of prodigious talents, Irish-born Peter O'Toole was raised in Leeds, England, the son of a bookie. As a boy, he decided to become a journalist, beginning as a newspaper copy boy. Although he succeeded in becoming a reporter, he discovered the theater and made his stage debut at 17. He served as a radioman in the Royal Navy for two years, then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris. He spent several years on-stage at the Bristol Old Vic, then made an inconspicuous film debut in 1960. In 1962, O'Toole was chosen by David Lean to play T.E. Lawrence in Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia (1962). The part made O'Toole an international superstar. He continued successfully in artistically rich films as well as less artistic but commercially rewarding projects. He received Academy Award nominations (but no Oscar) for seven different films. However, medical problems (originally thought to have been brought on by his drinking but which turned out to be stomach cancer) threatened to destroy his career and life in the 1970s. He survived by giving up alcohol and, after serious medical treatment, returned to films with triumphant performances in The Stunt Man (1980) and My Favorite Year (1982). His youthful beauty lost to time and drink, O'Toole has found meaningful roles increasingly difficult to come by, though he remains one of the greatest actors of his generation. He has two daughters, Pat and Kate O'Toole (I), from his marriage to actress Siân Phillips. He also has a son, Lorcan O'Toole (I), by model Karen Brown. He partnered with Jules Buck in Keep Productions.

The winners of the 6th Annual Irish Film and Television Awards have been announced at a gala ceremony held in Dublin's Burlington Hotel tonight, 14th of February 2009. Hunger was named Best Film, also picking up IFTAs for Actor in a Lead Role Film Michael Fassbender, Actor in a Supporting Role Film Liam Cunningham, Original Score David Holmes, Production Design Tom McCullagh and Sound Ronan Hill and Mervyn Moore. 'Hunger' actor Michael Fassbender was also presented with the Irish Film Board Rising Star Award. 'The Tudors' won Best Drama Series / Soap, in addition to Director Film Ciaran Donnelly, Actor in a Supporting Role Television Peter O'Toole, Actress in a Supporting Role Television Maria Doyle Kennedy, Costume Design Joan Bergin and Makeup and Hair Sharon Doyle and Dee Corcoran. Kisses director Lance Daly picked up the Director Film Ifta while Martin McDonagh received the Best Script Film Award for 'In Bruges'.

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There's a better than average chance that Kate Winslet will pick up an Academy Award Sunday night for The Reader. It's neither my favorite performance in that category, nor is it her best work, but at 33, she's already something of an Oscar spinster, having been nominated six times with no trophies to show for it.

Among actresses, Winslet is tied for the most nominations without a win. Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter have six, too, and curiously, all of them were sandwiched in a short amount of time, like Winslet. Kerr amassed six nods between 1949 and 1960, while Ritter did her damage between 1950 and 1962. Kate has lost for Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, Iris, Eternal Sunshine, and Little Children.
The record for no wins, at least among actors, is the legendary Peter O'Toole, who it goes without saying is among the greatest of all time. Eight nominations with no gold. And they
Colin Boyd

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All this week we'll be highlighting some of our favorite scenes from Oscar-winning films and performances leading up to this year's Academy Awards on Sunday night.
There will only ever be one "best actress" for me, and her name is Katherine Hepburn. As everyone knows, she racked up 12 nominations and 4 wins in her legendary career (a record beaten at last by Meryl Streep), and she earned them all without playing a prostitute, feigning mental or physical handicap, or wearing prosthetic make-up. Instead, she won for her performance as one of the most formidable queens European history has ever seen: Eleanor of Aquitaine. Her solo monologue, as featured above, proves why. When I featured this film as a Christmas favorite, one commenter noted that you never know when Eleanor is being honest. In this scene, the brilliant tactician is seemingly all alone, emotionally vulnerable, and shook up by Henry's devotion to the young Alais.
Elisabeth Rappe

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