I wished they did a musical together - it would been fantastic if they ever hooked up ... Man, that's would be understatement of the year back in those days. Speaking of Rita Hayworth and Betty Grable ...
I am very sorry taht Peter O'Toole has died. I was lucky enough in 1989 to see him live on stage in Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell in London. It goes without saying he was fabulous. It was basically about a drunk journalist (type casting maybe) almost a one man play but not quite. There were four other actors, two men and two women who played every other role (all the people Jeffrey Barnard met ). One was an English character actor whose face was well known but not so much his name.Throughout the play he and Peter O'Toole were doing their best to break each other up laughing. They managed to hold it together but the two female actors could not to O''Toole's obvious joy. It was a wild play so they did not lose the plot of the play or anything. It just made for a magic night, even when one of the props misfired and O'Toole dropped his "drunk" Jeffrey Barnard voice to use his own "beautiful" tones to join in the laughter and the joke with the audience.
It was a very special night. That picture of him brought the memories back
dee
[b]But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams[/b]. (William Butler Yeats )
[b]How did I get to Hollywood? By train.[/b] (John Ford)
Thank you, Tinker, for your recollections of Peter O'Toole. He was indeed quite a character, who I believe lived his life his way. May he rest in peace.
O'Toole's performance of Jeffrey Barnard is Unwell is preserved on video and is available on Region 2 (UK) DVD. It's required watching for any O'Toole fan IMHO. Also helps if you read some of Barnard's work and about his life before seeing the video.
One of my favorite O'Toole performances is William Wyler's How to Steal a Million. He's the world's most elegant police officer, Audrey Hepburn is the daughter of a notorious art forger, and these two extraordinarily beautiful people play cat and mouse so entrancingly while falling in love. I wish that movie were on Blu-ray.
Another favorite performance is in a movie called Country Dance (aka Brotherly Love). He is devastating as an alcoholic minor aristocrat going mad for love of a woman he can't have -- his sister, played by Susanna York. Sadly this has never even been released on DVD.
My real-life memory of him is seeing him walk into a TCM film festival party and shaking hands with Mickey Rooney. Odd couple indeed but both legends.