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You are here: Home / TV & Movies / Movies / Peter O’Toole RIP

Peter O’Toole RIP

by DougJ|  December 15, 20136:05 pm| 165 Comments

This post is in: Movies

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One of my favorite movie stars of all time.

I’m not as old as I sound, and I missed O’Toole’s real heyday. The first two O’Toole movies I saw were “My Favorite Year” — pretty good despite the always annoying Cousin Larry — and “How To Steal A Million” — a stinker my mom and I nevertheless loved since Audrey and O’Toole are just so damn charming. To me, that’s what real movie stars are, not people who put on a hundred pounds or master some crazy accent to wow you, but people who get by on sheer charisma and screen presence. There aren’t many like that today (maybe George Clooney, maybe Meryl Streep, even though she does love the crazy accents).

Update. What’s a fun Peter O’Toole movie to rent on Netflix, one that works on the small screen?

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165Comments

  1. 1.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    December 15, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    Boy so many great movies he was in, I will pick my favorites, Lawrence Of Arabia, Zulu Dawn, The Lion in Winter, The Stunt Man, Beckett and The Last Emperor.

  2. 2.

    shelly

    December 15, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    I know ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Lion In Winter’ will be cited. But I’ve always loved him in ‘My Favorite Year.’

    ‘I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star!’

  3. 3.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:10 pm

    And the competition for the Oscar was staggering.

  4. 4.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    December 15, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Tom Laughlin of Billy Jack has also passed. Did not know he was that old!

  5. 5.

    srv

    December 15, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    Damn. Every time I take a young-one to the 70mm Lawrence, they become a film buff.

  6. 6.

    KyCole

    December 15, 2013 at 6:12 pm

    He was amazing. They don’t make that like him any more.

  7. 7.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:13 pm

    Wow, not the same level but Ray Price died too.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    December 15, 2013 at 6:15 pm

    An amazing actor. He was wonderful in LoA, of course. I also loved him in Lord Jim.

  9. 9.

    Kristine

    December 15, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    Loved The Stunt Man. How to Steal a Million. A Ray Bradbury Theater ep entitled “Banshee,” with Charles Martin Smith.

  10. 10.

    Kristine

    December 15, 2013 at 6:16 pm

    @raven: One of my mom’s favorite singers.

  11. 11.

    Gypsy Howell

    December 15, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    Ooooooorrrrrance!

  12. 12.

    Hill Dweller

    December 15, 2013 at 6:18 pm

    The scenes with O’Toole and Hepburn in the Lion in Winter are the pinnacle of movie acting.

  13. 13.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:19 pm

    @Kristine: I didn’t know Kris wrote “For the Good Times” until just now.

  14. 14.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:20 pm

    @Gypsy Howell: NO PRISONERS!

  15. 15.

    dedc79

    December 15, 2013 at 6:22 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: You left out High Spirits. (I kid, I kid..)

  16. 16.

    Felanius Kootea

    December 15, 2013 at 6:23 pm

    RIP Peter O’Toole. I only ever saw him in Lawrence of Arabia and A Lion in Winter.

  17. 17.

    YellowJournalism

    December 15, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    There’s so many excellent movies that he was involved in. My favorite is Lion in Winter. How anyone could outperform someone so commanding like Katherine Hepburn amazes me.

    Even when he was in the worst junk like High Spirits or even King Ralph (I was young, and I adored John Goodman.), he seemed to have a wry look on his face that elevated the material a bit while acknowledging it was crap. Forget Affleck: “He was the bomb in Phantoms!” The only other actor I recall who can do that is Michael Caine. (Please, God, leave Michael Caine alone for a while more.)

  18. 18.

    Ben Franklin

    December 15, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    The Academy is a pack of Hyenas whose prerogatives center around the biggest money maker or the Artsy-fartsy outlier that gives them some creds. The assholes should have given him at least 3 Oscars. Now they will cover their asses with a posthumous decoration. Fuckwads.

  19. 19.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    “But in 1999 he told an interviewer that his only exercise was now “walking behind the coffins of my friends who took exercise.” “

  20. 20.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:27 pm

    @Ben Franklin: So Peck should not have won it for Mockingbird?

  21. 21.

    maya

    December 15, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    He was also in Bob Guccione’s Caligula as the syphilis wracked Tiberius.
    He probably had fun with that.

  22. 22.

    Violet

    December 15, 2013 at 6:31 pm

    @Hill Dweller: Yes. This. Lion in Winter is wonderful on so many levels. O’Toole was a giant.

    To me, that’s what real movie stars are, not people who put on a hundred pounds or master some crazy accent to wow you, but people who get by on sheer charisma and screen presence. There aren’t many like that today (maybe George Clooney, maybe Meryl Streep, even though she does love the crazy accents).

    I think George Clooney is in that category and Meryl Streep is such an amazing actress. There’s a certain air that the older generation of stars has or had that the younger generation isn’t cultivating. Not sure what that was or is. People like Jack Nicholson just exude charisma and are also good actors. Who has that kind of charisma today?

  23. 23.

    catclub

    December 15, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    @srv: Yes. DO NOT WATCH ON SMALL SCREEN. Large screen only.
    Modified for the giant screens would be neat.

  24. 24.

    Cassidy

    December 15, 2013 at 6:41 pm

    Shit, Keanu reeves has charisma. It doesn’t make him a good actor.

  25. 25.

    catclub

    December 15, 2013 at 6:42 pm

    @Gypsy Howell: Nothing is written.

  26. 26.

    Violet

    December 15, 2013 at 6:42 pm

    @Cassidy: He does? Seems like he’s sort of just there to me.

  27. 27.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    Loved that whole generation of actors – Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Michael Caine, who-else-am-I-forgetting…but then I’m old (sorta). [ETA: ooh, Tom Courtenay…]

    RIP Mr. O’Toole.

  28. 28.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    December 15, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Good Call!

  29. 29.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    @spudgun: Bates was awesome, Far From The Madding Crowd is a fav!

  30. 30.

    PurpleGirl

    December 15, 2013 at 6:49 pm

    My favorite films with O’Toole were Becket and The Lion in Winter. He was great playing Henry ll at two different ages. I liked him in The Last Emperor, too. Other than those films he reminded me of my brother-in-law, whom I detested for his abusive drunkenness. I know not a good reason but true.

  31. 31.

    Cervantes

    December 15, 2013 at 6:52 pm

    I’m not as old as I sound

    A blessing. And a curse.

  32. 32.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 6:55 pm

    @raven: I love Alan Bates – Madding Crowd was wonderful but another fave is King of Hearts.

    OH, and to add to my list: how could I forget Oliver Reed?! So fun in The Three Musketeers!

  33. 33.

    David Koch

    December 15, 2013 at 6:55 pm

    Greatest movie trailer evah

  34. 34.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    December 15, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    @spudgun: Bob Hoskins? Oliver Reed Simon Ward?

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    David Bowie did a wonderful homage to O’Toole’s style in the HBO series Dream On some 20 years ago.

    Still especially savor him in the scene beginning at 6:13.

  36. 36.

    srv

    December 15, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    My heart is always warmed by seeing the Cowboys snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

  37. 37.

    Mike in NC

    December 15, 2013 at 6:59 pm

    Both Oliver Reed and Richard Harris passed away soon after they made “Gladiator”. Giants.

  38. 38.

    gogol's wife

    December 15, 2013 at 7:00 pm

    I can’t believe you said that How To Steal a Million was a stinker. Philistine.

    I loved O’Toole in Rogue Male, which I think was originally a television film. It’s a remake of a Walter Pidgeon movie that’s pretty good too, but the O’Toole one is better.

  39. 39.

    The Sailor

    December 15, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    ” Lil: This is for ladies only!

    Alan Swann: [unzipping fly] So is *this*, ma’am, but every now and then I have to run a little water through it. “

  40. 40.

    Long Tooth

    December 15, 2013 at 7:03 pm

    Now there was the proverbial guy I’d have liked to thrown back (more than a few) beers with. O’Toole was the Keith Richards of actors– it’s amazing he lived as long as he did. He’s my favorite actor of all time, his Lion being numero uno in that pantheon. RIP, O’Toole, and much obliged.

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 7:07 pm

    @spudgun

    Also too, Terence Stamp and Pete Postlethwaite.

  42. 42.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 7:08 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: …and Frank Findlay (if we’re still talking about Musketeers). Fabulous character actor. Had crushes on Oliver Reed and Simon Ward (he was a sexy Lord Buckingham!).

  43. 43.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 7:11 pm

    @NotMax: First saw Terence Stamp in The Collector. Scared the cr*p out of me. Excellent movie, another excellent actor from that generation.

    David Hemmings was younger than all of them, but he’s another one I associate with that time. LOVED me some Hemmings.

    Loved Peter O’Toole the best, though, because he was so elegant.

  44. 44.

    Cervantes

    December 15, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    @Kristine:

    @raven: [Ray Price:] One of my mom’s favorite singers.

    (Ouch.)

    OK, so it was a million years ago — I saw him perform a number of times with his band, “The Cherokee Cowboys” — including Roger Miller and Willie Nelson, both barely out of their teens.

    Here he is in 2006, one more time, for the good times.

  45. 45.

    debbie

    December 15, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    @YellowJournalism:

    “What family doesn’t have its ups and downs?”

  46. 46.

    p.a.

    December 15, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    “All elements of the Legion are to move on Maaassssaaaadaaa.”

  47. 47.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    @spudgun: Terrence was badass in The Limey.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    December 15, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    For those who love O’Toole’s generation: “Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O’Toole, and Oliver Reed.” It was entertaining reading, but I can’t imagine all the hangovers.

    http://www.amazon.com/Hellraisers-Inebriated-Richard-Burton-Harris/dp/B004IK9DXI

  49. 49.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    @raven: Oh my yes!

  50. 50.

    Exurban Mom

    December 15, 2013 at 7:23 pm

    The thing to do is watch any talk show interview with him. The man was a raconteur of the highest order. This one ain’t bad:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K561m7Nq7kk

  51. 51.

    zmulls

    December 15, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    Two of my favorite Peter O’Toole performances are THE STUNT MAN, as the egomaniacal director, and THE RULING CLASS, which is all kinds of demented.

    “People like to believe in things, and Policeman are only people, or so I’m told….”

    And let’s not forget that he was the voice of Anton Ego in RATATOUILLE.

  52. 52.

    shelly

    December 15, 2013 at 7:25 pm

    My Favorite Year” — pretty good despite the always annoying Cousin Larry —

    Actually, this is the one vehicle that I don’t find Baker annoying. The glow on his face in the scene where he’s watching an adoring autograph seeker come up to Swann on the street, is just lovely.

    “Jews know two things: suffering, and where to find great Chinese food.”

  53. 53.

    SarahT

    December 15, 2013 at 7:26 pm

    @spudgun: True story; My father-in-law, a sometime actor, lived with Terence Stamp and David Hemmings in the 1960s. Sadly, he was the well-behaved, unsuccessful roommate. As for Peter O’Toole, god was that man ever sexy. And he certainly knew how to make an entrance: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K561m7Nq7kk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DK561m7Nq7kk

  54. 54.

    smintheus

    December 15, 2013 at 7:28 pm

    The Ruling Class is my favorite O’Toole film. Don’t know if it’s on Netflix, but it’s available on YouTube.

  55. 55.

    Emerald

    December 15, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    Dean Spanley, streaming now on Netflix. Also has Bryan Brown and other good folks, but O’Toole is at his best. Watch it all the way to the end. He is amazing. Just incredibly subtle. The last scene is killer.

    And it’s recent, from 2008.

    It’s a crime O’Toole never won the Oscar. Last time he was nominated, for Venus in 2006, he certainly should have won, (although Forrest Whittaker won and I love the guy, but he isn’t up to O’Toole’s level quite yet). He was nominated eight times, more than anyone else, I believe, without ever winning.

    The world is smaller tonight.

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    December 15, 2013 at 7:30 pm

    @maya:
    I tend to think of it as Tinto Brass’ Caligula, until I recall that Guccione fired Brass for not making it porny enough (and it was plenty porny to begin with).

    @Violet:
    Glamorous actors are fine in the kind of Old Hollywood movies that were all about glamorous people being glamorous. But I prefer the actor who disappears into the character and makes the character instinctively believable to me. Disbelief is harder for me to suspend when I see a celebrity actor on the screen. Unless you’re playing someone who was glamorous in his own right, like T.E. Lawrence or the Mahatma, an actor’s celebrity is distracting.

  57. 57.

    Narcissus

    December 15, 2013 at 7:33 pm

    OT, another fluff piece for the NSA on 60 Minutes.

  58. 58.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 7:35 pm

    @SarahT: That. Was. Wonderful!! And what a great story about your father-in-law.

  59. 59.

    zmulls

    December 15, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    Yes, O’Toole holds the records for most Oscar nominations without winning, with eight.

    He did get an honorary Oscar, but he wanted to win one.

    I would have paid cash money to see him do King Lear.

  60. 60.

    TaMara (BHF)

    December 15, 2013 at 7:37 pm

    @raven: So apparently Ray Price is still with us, but his son tweeted he had died – someone gave him misinformation. This is the statement from his wife.

    I had read your comment then wandered over to facebook and it was all over my feed. He is close to death…

  61. 61.

    SarahT

    December 15, 2013 at 7:38 pm

    @spudgun: I keep trying to pump him for stories but he’s “respectable” now & seems a bit embarassed about those days (apparently, he was only well-behaved compared to Hemmings and Stamp) – pity. But I keep trying ! Glad you enjoyed the clip.

  62. 62.

    The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

    December 15, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    @zmulls:

    That may be a record for acting Oscars, but didn’t Randy Newman get nominated for Best Song like 14 times before winning one?

  63. 63.

    Hill Dweller

    December 15, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    @Narcissus:

    OT, another fluff piece for the NSA on 60 Minutes.

    Never fear, NBC is going to save journalism with hard hitting pieces, like the one on tonight’s broadcast decrying the lack of photographer access to the Obama’s dogs. Ron Fournier was brought in to comment on the story.

  64. 64.

    Judybird

    December 15, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    “The Stuntman”. You never know who’s who and what’s happening.

  65. 65.

    policomic

    December 15, 2013 at 7:43 pm

    If you think How to Steal a Million is “a stinker,” well…let’s you and I not discuss movies.

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 7:44 pm

    @PurpleGirl:

    My favorite films with O’Toole were Becket and The Lion in Winter. He was great playing Henry ll at two different ages.

    I agree. Own both of those on DVD and every now and then I have enjoyed watching them back-to-back. I hope to do that again in the next few days.

    (Not Peter O’Toole-related, but I also like to watch the Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh versions of Henry V back-to-back. So interesting to see how two wonderful actor-directors handle the same material so individually, and are both so much of their times.)

  67. 67.

    skippy

    December 15, 2013 at 7:47 pm

    if you haven’t seen the ruling class, def. check it out.

    bizarre hilarious black comedy where o’toole plays the son of an english nobleman that dies in a cross dressing erotic asphyxiation accident. o’toole’s character, however, is insane, as he imagines himself to be jesus christ incarnate, so the family plots to keep him from his inheritance, by hiring a hooker to play his imaginary lover, violetta, the lady of the camillias. murder, intrigue, communistic butlers, adultery, the varsity rag, gorillas in top hats and other mayhem ensues.

    available on netflix, a little slow going at first, but have patience, it has hilarious lines about classism, sexism, religion and the futility of individualism in society. plus alistair sim, the original and best ebeneezer scrooge, as the bishop!!

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    @SarahT

    What a time it must have been.

    Reminded of the anecdote about the summer house Errol Flynn and David Niven shared, nicknamed named Cirrhosis-by-the-Sea.

  69. 69.

    Ben Franklin

    December 15, 2013 at 7:49 pm

    @raven:

    Whattru, nutz? ‘Lawrence’ was his only defeat? Sheeeetttt….

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 7:50 pm

    @spudgun:

    First saw Terence Stamp in The Collector. Scared the cr*p out of me. Excellent movie, another excellent actor from that generation.

    And Samantha Eggar was breathtaking. What a beauty she was (good actor, too, but never became the superstar I thought she would).

  71. 71.

    Dee Loralei

    December 15, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    I loved him in pretty much everything. Thanks for the many hours of entertainment, Peter!

    Tonight, being the sicko I am, I’m gonna watch Psych: The Musical! Because I know that is gonna be sillier than silly.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    December 15, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    Love The Lion in Winter too.

    But, loved Lawrence of Arabia.

    My college roommate and I were crazy one weekend and spent a Saturday with the double feature of Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago. Talk about a long-ass day of movie watching..LOL

  73. 73.

    Hill Dweller

    December 15, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I saw The Collector for the first time on TCM last month. Stamp did creepy well, and Eggar was both beautiful and a good actress.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    @debbie:

    Henry: “Still like a democratic drawbridge, going down for everybody.”
    Eleanor: “At my age, there’s not much traffic.”

    I love that play, love that film.

  75. 75.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 7:58 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: She certainly was, which was why the ending of that movie was so sad and painful to me.

    Not sure why she didn’t do more – I only remember her from Collector and Doctor Doolittle, which was kind of awful (not a fan of Rex Harrison).

  76. 76.

    NobodySpecial

    December 15, 2013 at 7:59 pm

    Becket is my personal Peter O’Toole favorite.

  77. 77.

    max

    December 15, 2013 at 8:01 pm

    What’s a fun Peter O’Toole movie to rent on Netflix, one that works on the small screen?

    My Favorite Year and The Ruling Classes plus the Lion in WInter should pretty much cover the O’Toole fest.

    @spudgun: Loved that whole generation of actors – Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Michael Caine

    Loved most generations of British actors. They make up the entirety of my favorites.

    Most American actors apparently conceive of the job as being some kind of human wallpaper. Blah.

    max
    [‘Well, this pre-Xmas lull is starting to suck.’]

  78. 78.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 8:02 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: And if you’re a Tom Hiddleston fan, you can add his Henry V to your viewing queue (even though he didn’t direct it like Olivier and Branagh did theirs). Yet another take on the play. I liked it.

  79. 79.

    Cervantes

    December 15, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    @spudgun:

    Loved that whole generation of actors – Alan Bates, Albert Finney, Richard Harris, Michael Caine, who-else-am-I-forgetting…but then I’m old (sorta). [ETA: ooh, Tom Courtenay…]

    Michael Gambon? Ian McKellen? Derek Jacobi? Ben Kingsley? John Hurt?

  80. 80.

    Dee Loralei

    December 15, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    @NobodySpecial: I’m not sure how I missed Becket, but I’ve put it on my Netflix.

    Did no one love the man in “Man of La Mancha”? One of my fav musicals.

  81. 81.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 8:05 pm

    @max: I agree, when it comes to favorite actors (and favorite authors, for that matter!) I am a HUGE anglophile. Can’t really come up with a favorite American actor quickly, off the top of my head, the way I can with British actors.

  82. 82.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    @Cervantes: The first time I saw Ian McKellen was in a movie with David Hemmings called Alfred the Great. I can’t remember exactly, but I think he played a mute and he looked about sixteen (! he wasn’t, of course). Not a great movie, but it was the beginning of my fandom for those two actors.

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 15, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    @gogol’s wife:

    I can’t believe you said that How To Steal a Million was a stinker. Philistine.

    Exactly. It is very good light hearted caper flick. The rest of the stuff DougJ said about it was spot on though.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    @The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge:

    That may be a record for acting Oscars, but didn’t Randy Newman get nominated for Best Song like 14 times before winning one?

    Then there’s Susan Lucci.

  85. 85.

    debbie

    December 15, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Yes! I’d forgotten that exchange. Brilliant writing.

  86. 86.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    @spudgun:

    Thanks, I haven’t seen it and want to. Hank Cinq is my very favourite Shakespeare play. I never tire of seeing various interpretations, filmed or live.

  87. 87.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 8:14 pm

    @NotMax: Also forgot Patrick McGoohan from The Prisoner. Very smooth.

  88. 88.

    zmulls

    December 15, 2013 at 8:15 pm

    Yes, Randy Newman had many nominations before winning. But he eventually won. O’Toole never did.

    Burton had seven nominations and died without winning….but O’Toole got his eighth for VENUS, a really interesting performance. The scenes with Vanessa Redgrave were incredible.

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 8:16 pm

    @spudgun: I actually am a Rex Harrison fan, but somehow Dr. Dolittle never worked for me. Don’t know why, and have never been interested enough to go back and figure it out.

  90. 90.

    SarahT

    December 15, 2013 at 8:18 pm

    Another enjoyable, lesser-known Peter O’Toole movie is “Murphy’s War”. Nothing spectacular but fun, plus his then-wife Sian Phillips co-stars.

  91. 91.

    Lynn Dee

    December 15, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    The Ruling Class. You could watch it on an iphone and it’d still be great.

  92. 92.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    December 15, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    “Creator” isn’t remembered much but it’s another vintage O’Toole performance.

  93. 93.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 8:20 pm

    @Cervantes:

    Michael Gambon? Ian McKellen? Derek Jacobi? Ben Kingsley? John Hurt?

    Jim Broadbent?

  94. 94.

    handsmile

    December 15, 2013 at 8:21 pm

    Great to read all the love here for Peter O’Toole, who deserves (movie stars never really die) nothing less.

    Looking over O’Toole’s filmography, one cannot help but be astonished at the range and quality of his work in the 1960s and early ’70s, though it becomes increasingly patchy after that. From the 1990s onward, moreover, it appears* downright depressing – with the single exception of Venus, a film for which he was perfectly cast. (*I’ve seen perhaps a half-dozen)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_O'Toole_filmography

    DougJ: to answer your specific question on small-screen O’Toole, I’d recommend My Favorite Year, The Ruling Class, Venus, and perhaps Becket,.

    @gogol’s wife:

    Never knew O’Toole made a version of Rogue Male, an underappreciated novel as well! And with Harold Pinter no less! Will be searching this one out, thanks!

    @Cervantes:

    That’s one formidable list! Without too much reflection, I think John Hurt towers above them all. The staggering range of his work!

  95. 95.

    Yatsuno

    December 15, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    @Emerald:

    although Forrest Whittaker won and I love the guy

    That was for The Last King of Scotland, and everyone and their dog knew Forrest would win for nailing Idi Amin down to the last facial tic. O’Toole didn’t win some years he should have, but in 2006 it wasn’t going to happen.

  96. 96.

    DougJ

    December 15, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    @handsmile:

    Thanks

  97. 97.

    DougJ

    December 15, 2013 at 8:24 pm

    @Lynn Dee:

    Thanks

  98. 98.

    Elmo

    December 15, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    I saw Richard Harris in Camelot twice. The first time he was amazing. The second time, I am 99% sure he was drunk. He almost fell off the stage at one point.

    Still loved him, tho.

  99. 99.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    December 15, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    To me, that’s what real movie stars are, not people who put on a hundred pounds or master some crazy accent

    Well not to be pedantic but there are some pretty good existing terms for all this: the latter you’re describing is usually called a character actor, whereas O’Toole is the type called a leading man.

    There are some people like Gary Oldman who can be considered both a character actor and a movie star, and even a leading man, as in the recent Le Carre thing (which I thought was awful, but only a few friends share that view with me). However saying that Peter O’Toole was a movie star and leading man and not a character actor would sort of cover it. I’d just add that there’s nothing wrong with character actors in my book, just a different type.

  100. 100.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 15, 2013 at 8:29 pm

    @handsmile:

    Never knew O’Toole made a version of Rogue Male, an underappreciated novel as well!

    Have you ever read any of Household’s short stories? They are rather good. A lot life in the Balkans between the wars stuff. The collections are pretty much out of print now, but one can occasionally find them.

  101. 101.

    MikeJ

    December 15, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    @Elmo:

    The second time, I am 99% sure he was drunk. He almost fell off the stage at one point.

    I’ve seen Paul Westerberg do that.

  102. 102.

    Tokyokie

    December 15, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    A somewhat obscure Peter O’Toole movie that shows him to good effect and might work well on a small screen (even though it’s 2.35:1 aspect ratio) is Murphy’s War. It’s an eccentric performance, but not a 70mm eccentric performance.

  103. 103.

    Hawes

    December 15, 2013 at 8:35 pm

    Has Albert Finney escaped plaudits? If so, how? Watch The Browning Version. He’s unbelievably good in that.

    O’Toole was phenomenal as Anton Ego. That rich voice worked so well dripping with disdain.

    O’Toole had the one watchable scene in Troy, where he (Priam) comes to Achilles tent and begs for his son Hector’s body. You’re watching this overdone dreck and suddenly O’Toole just acts the living shit out the speech.

    Brilliant to the end in Venus.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 8:36 pm

    No doubt TCM will do a Peter O’Toole night. We will have to do a BJ thread then.

    Lawrence of Arabia was phenomenal; saw it on a big, big screen when they rereleased it, maybe in the late 1980s or early 1990s. O’Toole was a beautiful man, and could have been typecast, but took such unusual roles.

    OK, he was up against tough competition for most of his Oscars.

    BUT: the 1968 Oscar going to Cliff Robertson for Charly, when O’Toole was up for The Lion in Winter. There’s your travesty. (Anyone ever see Charly?)

    The other Oscars seemed tougher, per wiki, anyway.

    1962, Lawrence of Arabia. Gregory Peck won for To Kill a Mockingbird. (FYI: Jack Lemmon up for Days of Wine and Roses, Burt Lancaster for Birdman of Alcatraz.)

    1964, Becket: Rex Harrison won for My Fair Lady.

    1968, Lion in Winter: Cliff Robertson for Charly, P O’T wuz robbed.

    1969, Goodbye Mr. Chips: John Wayne for True Grit.

    1972: The Ruling Class; Marlon Brando for The Godfather (sent Sacheen Littlefeather to decline)

    1980, The Stuntman; Robert DeNiro for Raging Bull

    1982, My Favorite Year; Ben Kingsley for Gandhi

    2006, Venus; Forrest Whitaker won for Last King of Scotland

    Bittersweet:

    In 2003, the Academy honoured him with an Academy Honorary Award for his entire body of work and his lifelong contribution to film. O’Toole initially balked about accepting, and wrote the Academy a letter saying that 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. He told The Charlie Rose Show in January 2007 his children admonished him, saying that it was the highest honour one could receive in the filmmaking industry. O’Toole agreed to appear at the ceremony and receive his Honorary Oscar. It was presented to him by Meryl Streep, who has the most Oscar nominations of any actress.

  105. 105.

    elftx

    December 15, 2013 at 8:37 pm

    Someone on Reddit linked to this and unfortunately (if you watch the whole thing you will understand) it is not the complete interview but still fascinating.

  106. 106.

    Cervantes

    December 15, 2013 at 8:37 pm

    @handsmile:

    That’s one formidable list! Without too much reflection, I think John Hurt towers above them all. The staggering range of his work!

    I first thought of John Gielgud — but I suppose he’s not from the same generation.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    @

    What’s a fun Peter O’Toole movie to rent on Netflix, one that works on the small screen?

    For the sheer fun of watching O’Toole up his shtick to 11, The Stunt Man.

    Wonderfully eccentric film all round, solid cast.

  108. 108.

    handsmile

    December 15, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The only other Geoffrey Household work I’ve read is another early novel of his, The Third Hour. Completely unaware of the short stories and am grateful for your alert and recommendation. I can probably excavate a collection or two from a library here. Thanks!

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    @Elizabelle

    (Anyone ever see Charly?)

    Yes, both then and since then.

    Earnest screen adaptation of Flowers For Algernon.

    IIRC, it certainly stayed at the theaters for a longer run than did The Lion in Winter, which, though marvelous, disappeared from the marquees so fast that most people missed it.

  110. 110.

    handsmile

    December 15, 2013 at 8:47 pm

    @Cervantes:

    True. I believe tonight’s Jeopardy category is “Most Beloved/Supremely-Talented Living British Actor.”

    Dame Dench, obviously, is the correct answer for “…..British Actress” for all questions from $100 to $1,000. Including the “Daily Double.”

  111. 111.

    YellowJournalism

    December 15, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    @Elizabelle: I saw Charly years ago when we were doing Flowers for Algernon for my drama class. It was a good performance, but nowhere NEAR O’Toole’s.

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 8:52 pm

    A film noir shady lady passed away too.

    Audrey Totter.

    Aged 95.

  113. 113.

    Heliopause

    December 15, 2013 at 8:54 pm

    The Ruling Class. Great example of a movie that’s got big problems, kinda sucks in some ways, but has O’Toole at his best.

  114. 114.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 8:54 pm

    @handsmile

    Not even one slot for Helen Mirren?

  115. 115.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 8:55 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Jeez. A bad day, today. Add Joan Fontaine to the list.

  116. 116.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    My goodness.

    Now Joan Fontaine has died. Age 96.

    Rebecca.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    December 15, 2013 at 8:56 pm

    @Heliopause

    The Ruling Class always struck me as one of those films that was a lot more entertaining to make than to watch.

  118. 118.

    Dude in Princeton

    December 15, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    @spudgun: Re Terence Stamp: Check out Soderberg’s The Limey.

  119. 119.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 9:00 pm

    I still say one of the stars who got most stepped on in death was Ray Charles.

    Making his exit the same week as Ronald Reagan, and TVs playing the same clip of the two of them together, like that was an everyday occurrence.

    ETA: I’d take up shooting heroin posthumously if that ever happened to me.

  120. 120.

    handsmile

    December 15, 2013 at 9:01 pm

    @NotMax:

    Aarrggh! How right you are! That will teach me to be all categorical!

    That line from The Long Good Friday delivered by one of Hoskins’ henchmen to Mirren: “I want to lick every inch of your body” is one I’ve fully understood (and dreamed of).

    [Must to dinner. Will be checking back later.]

  121. 121.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    December 15, 2013 at 9:04 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    If so, that means that Olivia de Havilland has won their lifelong feud. Yes, she’s still alive and was one year older than Fontaine.

    Favorite Fontaine movie: “Letter from an Unknown Woman.” Strangely hard to find on video or DVD for many years (my copy is from South Korea), but I think Critereon finally did an edition a few years ago.

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 9:06 pm

    FYWP, my comment disappeared..

    I think I was saying something to the effect (re Joan Fontaine’s death) that I have to wonder how much longer her big sister, Olivia de Havilland, will remain with us. OdH is, AFAIK, the last remaining named actor from Gone With the Wind still alive. She is 97 or so years old.

  123. 123.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 9:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): @SiubhanDuinne:

    Do either of you remember what the feud was about?

  124. 124.

    spudgun

    December 15, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    @Hawes: Albert Finney, are you kidding? :-) I mentioned him up above – HUGE fan! Tom Jones, Two For the Road, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Scrooge, Murder on the Orient Express…and that’s just some of his earlier stuff.

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 9:12 pm

    @YellowJournalism:
    @NotMax:

    That’s right. Flowers for Algernon. The academy goofs sometimes.

  126. 126.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I still say one of the stars who got most stepped on in death was Ray Charles.

    In the literary world, both C. S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died on November 22, 1963.

    Either one of them would have been headline news, and globally mourned, had Lee Harvey Oswald not had other ideas that day.

  127. 127.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 9:14 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Yeah, and what did Stalin ever compose?

    The Montagues and the Capulets is one of my favorite. Ever.

  128. 128.

    SiubhanDuinne

    December 15, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Mnem is the expert here. My recollection is that it was a combination of both of them going after the same roles (including Melanie Hamilton Wilkes and the unnamed protagonist of Rebecca), competing for Oscars, and occasionally going after the same man (Howard Hughes?)

    Not an expert on that lifelong battle. It makes me sad, though. Shit, didn’t even Ann Landers and Dear Abby finally make up before they died?

  129. 129.

    hoppipolla

    December 15, 2013 at 9:20 pm

    The Stunt Man, The Stunt Man, and The Stunt Man.

  130. 130.

    raven

    December 15, 2013 at 9:23 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: And one of my best friends died on Nov 22, 1968.

  131. 131.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    December 15, 2013 at 9:26 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    As far as I know, it was nothing in particular. They disliked each other as children and then became professional rivals. The breaking point was apparently when they went head-to-head for Best Actress for the 1941 Oscars and Fontaine won (for “Suspicion”). DeHavilland was never able to forgive Fontaine for that (and, knowing Fontaine, there was probably a huge amount of gloating and flaunting the award).

  132. 132.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Yup, thanks, it was sibling rivalry, encouraged by their stage mother, per WaPost, which had a pretty juicy writeup.

    The two sisters had to be separated by an entire room during a 1979 Oscar winners’ reunion. A year earlier, she had told the Hollywood Reporter, “I married first, won the Oscar before Olivia did, and if I die first, she’ll undoubtedly be livid because I beat her to it!”

  133. 133.

    Splitting Image

    December 15, 2013 at 9:31 pm

    What’s a fun Peter O’Toole movie to rent on Netflix, one that works on the small screen?

    I’d go with “What’s New Pussycat?” Not quite a classic, but it has Woody Allen and Peter Sellers going for it along with O’Toole. Not to mention every sixties starlet the producers could get their hands on, including Ursula Andress, Paula Prentiss, and Capucine.

  134. 134.

    Elizabelle

    December 15, 2013 at 9:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    WaPost: Gosh. Most of their drama was offscreen.

    Six years later, she earned her only Oscar, opposite Cary Grant in “Suspicion” as a rich bride uncertain whether her ne’er-do-well bridegroom is a murderer. That same year, she was pitted against her sister for the most prestigious honor in Hollywood. De Havilland was Oscar nominated for her dramatic leading role in “Hold Back the Dawn.”

    In her memoir, “No Bed of Roses,” Ms. Fontaine described the tension of the awards ceremony.

    “I froze,” she wrote. “I stared across the table, where Olivia was sitting. ‘Get up there!’ she whispered commandingly. Now what had I done? All the animus we’d felt towards each other as children, the savage wrestling matches, the time Olivia fractured my collarbone, all came rushing back in kaleidoscopic imagery. My paralysis was total. I felt Olivia would spring across the table and grab me by the hair.”

    The relationship grew more strained when de Havilland won the best actress Oscar for “To Each His Own” (1946). Ms. Fontaine recalled that when she walked over to congratulate her sister at the awards fete, “She took one look at me, ignored my hand, clutched her Oscar and wheeled away.”

    All this and nieces of a famous aviation pioneer too. Raised in Japan for a while.

  135. 135.

    Anniecat45

    December 15, 2013 at 9:57 pm

    O’Toole was terrific as the Roman general in Masada in the early 1980s, and The Stunt Man was great too.

  136. 136.

    gogol's wife

    December 15, 2013 at 10:13 pm

    Joan Fontaine — The Constant Nymph! Suspicion!

  137. 137.

    Jamey

    December 15, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    @The Sailor: “I’m not doing the MUSCATEL SKETCH!” Brilliant movie–and I’ll go on record as saying that it was great BECAUSE of Mark Linn Baker, and not in spite of him…

  138. 138.

    Jamey

    December 15, 2013 at 10:18 pm

    @MikeJ: I was at the Ritz show when Bob Stinson did that.

  139. 139.

    YellowJournalism

    December 15, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    Joan Fontaine is dead now, too?! What the fuck is up with today?!

    I first “met” her in the Orson Welles adaptation of Jane Eyre and loved her performances ever since then. The feud with her siater is epic and worthy of its own movie. love them both. This sucks.

  140. 140.

    seaboogie

    December 15, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    I saw Peter O’Toole perform live twice in Uncle Vanya at the Royal Alexandra theatre in Toronto. When I was 16/17 a friend and I got season’s tickets for the theatre for about $60 for the season – way up in the nosebleed seats. My friend misplaced the tickets for that show, but since we knew our regular seat numbers we decided to show up anyway with our story. When the usher found the seats occupied, we were given an empty box seat to enjoy the show from. Heady stuff to be so near to such a charismatic actor.

    When my friend returned home, she found the tickets and realized that she had confused the date and our seat numbers. Our tix were for 2 weeks later, and we went again to watch him from our usual position. Also saw Jack Lemmon in Tribute – another amazing actor. Plus we got to see The Wiz, per a thread earlier this week, and Chicago. Plenty of culcha for a young teen!

  141. 141.

    PaulW

    December 15, 2013 at 11:20 pm

    First movie I saw him in was My Favorite Year. Everything else was pretty much catch-up. In hindsight the movie was a bit too cutesy but it’s still fun to watch.

    Loved Lion In Winter. Whole acting cast excelled in it.

    What the hell is wrong with Hollywood that Peter O’Toole has no acting Oscars and Nicolas Cage one?

  142. 142.

    The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

    December 15, 2013 at 11:33 pm

    What the hell is wrong with Hollywood that Peter O’Toole has no acting Oscars and Nicolas Cage one?

    I agree he was totally robbed for The Lion in Winter.

    That list Elizabelle gave at 104, though…that would be a hell of a decision.

    1962, Lawrence of Arabia. Gregory Peck won for To Kill a Mockingbird. (FYI: Jack Lemmon up for Days of Wine and Roses, Burt Lancaster for Birdman of Alcatraz.)

    By that time, what Gregory Peck was doing was really a Gregory Peck impression. Shouldn’t have been too hard.

    I’m probably going to get flamed for this, but it’s between O’Toole and Lemmon to me, and I think I would have given it to Lemmon.

    <ducks>

  143. 143.

    jay Noble

    December 16, 2013 at 12:08 am

    For small screen, “Creator” is a very good choice and timely in that it ponders “the Big Picture” love, life and death. Supporting cast of young Vincent Spano, Virginia Madsen and Mariel Hemingway. With David Ogden Stiers along for the ride.

    Am glad someone mentioned “Man of LaMancha”, but I don’t think it would play as well small screen. Sophia deserves a big screen.

  144. 144.

    NotMax

    December 16, 2013 at 12:13 am

    @jay Noble

    Also too, as it was made for the small screen, Svengali, with O’Toole and Jodie Foster, is one to keep in mind.

    Mentioned this in another thread, but forgot to put it here:

    A properly dotty compilation of Peter O’Toole scenes from a P. G. Wodehouse vehicle.

  145. 145.

    Johannes

    December 16, 2013 at 12:16 am

    @zmulls: two of his very best. Good picks.

  146. 146.

    Johannes

    December 16, 2013 at 12:18 am

    @jay Noble: Creator is much better than I thought it would be, and POT carries it by sheer charisma. A lot of fun, though not out of the top drawer.

  147. 147.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 16, 2013 at 12:19 am

    @NotMax:

    A properly dotty compilation of Peter O’Toole scenes from a P. G. Wodehouse vehicle.

    Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

  148. 148.

    Radio One

    December 16, 2013 at 12:20 am

    the biggest thing that made Laurence of Arabia work was the music.

  149. 149.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 16, 2013 at 12:52 am

    @Radio One: Not the cinematography?

  150. 150.

    cckids

    December 16, 2013 at 1:04 am

    Been gone all day, so missed this, but I’ve always believed that Peter O’Toole should have been Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies. I never liked Richard Harris’ take on it – he didn’t have that manic air that Rowling wrote. O’Toole had that plus that gravitas in spades.

  151. 151.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 16, 2013 at 1:17 am

    @cckids: OTOH the O’Toole/Harris storytelling on Lettermna in the 80s was brilliant. One or the other would be on the show and tell a brilliant story about acting and partying in the 50s and 60s that was vaguely embarrassing about the other. A year or so later the other would be on the shoe and retaliate. “… and it was all on Richard’s tab. He could never go back to Brighton. Hahaha” ::smoke::

  152. 152.

    Tehanu

    December 16, 2013 at 1:57 am

    @spudgun:
    omg, another Frank Finlay fan! He was the most brilliant Iago I ever saw, and he far outclassed his Othello (Larry Olivier at his hokiest, in blackface yet) and more than held his own with Maggie Smith as Desdemona.

    As for Peter O’Toole, what is there to say? He was my favorite actor of all even in some of the turkeys. (And How to Steal a Million was not a stinker!) What I’d love to see is his meeting in the afterlife with the original Henry II — I wonder who’d drink whom under the table?

  153. 153.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 16, 2013 at 2:02 am

    @Tehanu: O’Toole was physically wrong for the part of Henry II. Henry was of medium height for the upper classes of the time and stocky. Call it 5’7″ and 150 lbs. OTOH I think he got the character as right as is possible.

  154. 154.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 16, 2013 at 2:06 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Also Becket was of Norman ancestry and probably taller and and thinner than Henry. It has always annoyed me a bit about the movie Becket.

  155. 155.

    The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge

    December 16, 2013 at 2:24 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Well, while we’re on Richard Burton movies, the one thing we know for sure about Cleopatra VII’s appearance is that she was a redhead.

  156. 156.

    Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom

    December 16, 2013 at 4:12 am

    @Anniecat45: I love “Masada” with a passion. O’Toole commanded every scene he was in and his scenes with Peter Strauss rocked. “Masada” and “The Stuntman” are my favorites, but nothing the man did was bad. He even managed to shine in that wretched dreck known as “Caligula”. Gods, I’m going to miss him. First Madiba, now my all time favorite actor. *Sigh*

  157. 157.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    December 16, 2013 at 6:38 am

    Throwing in some more love for Creator. It has all the problems of your typical 80s movie but the cast and writing make it work anyway with O’Toole doing the heavy lifting when needed.

  158. 158.

    Murph

    December 16, 2013 at 9:09 am

    This book, mentioned earlier in the thread, is borderline must-reading. O’Toole was a god amongst so many insects.

    http://bullmurph.com/2010/04/01/they-lived-this-way-because-nobody-else-could/

  159. 159.

    daWreck

    December 16, 2013 at 9:48 am

    Night of the Generals.

  160. 160.

    NCSteve

    December 16, 2013 at 9:53 am

    Definitely the Lion in Winter. Most heartwarming Christmas movie, ever!

    Okay, not at all heartwarming really, but it’s amazing how a movie that dark can leave you smiling like you just watched a Fred Astaire movie when it’s over. It’s the damnedest thing. You’re just kind of dazzled by the slyly self-aware snappy witty dialogue, like a 12th century West Wing, and, above all, by the performances and that amazing cast.

  161. 161.

    gbailey

    December 16, 2013 at 10:38 am

    I loved My Favorite Year. In keeping with your comments about movie stars, my favorite line in the movie: “I am not an actor! I am a movie star!

  162. 162.

    JustRuss

    December 16, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    @handsmile: Forgot about Rogue Male, good film, but rather bleak. I saw The Stuntman as an adolescent, just old enough to get what was going on, that was one twisted film. O’Toole was great in it. And his melt down at the end of My Favorite Year is just epically fun.

  163. 163.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 16, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    I present, Lawrence of Purrabia

  164. 164.

    Trooptrap Tripetrope

    December 16, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    O’Toole had a wonderfully bizarre and completely unexplained cameo in the 1967 version of Casino Royale:

    Peter O’Toole: Excuse me, are you Richard Burton?

    Peter Sellers: No, I’m Peter O’Toole!

    Peter O’Toole: Then you’re the finest man that ever breathed.

  165. 165.

    Jado

    December 17, 2013 at 10:17 am

    @MoeLarryAndJesus:

    I second “Creator”. It’s wonderful, and David Ogden Stiers is awesome as well

    “I tell you Sid, that one of these days we’ll look in to our microscope and find ourselves staring right into God’s eyes, and the first one who blinks is going to lose his testicles.”

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