Peter O Toole

Portrayed a veteran English actor in director Roger Michell s Venus ; received Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nominations for Best Actor

Appeared in a rare television role as the older version of legendary 18th century Italian adventurer Giacomo Casanova in the BBC drama serial Casanova

Cast as Greek king Priam in director Wolfgang Petersen s epic Troy

Awarded Honorary Oscar for his film work; requests that the Academy defer the award until his 80th birthday because he doesn t want to be perceived as out of the acting game; Academy proceeded with award, O Toole agreed to collect

Cast in director Steven Fry s ensemble drama Bright Young Things

Co-starred in the television mini-series Hitler: The Rise of Evil ; received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Appeared with Joan Plowright and Alicia Silverstone in the straight-to-video Rock My World

Had leading role as an unscrupulous TV game show host in The Final Curtain

Guest-starred opposite Richard Dreyfuss on the latter s short-lived TV series The Education of Max Bickford

Portrayed Bishop Cauchon in the CBS miniseries Joan of Arc ; received Emmy Award

Returned to the London stage in revival of Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell , the production prompted by the 1998 death of Bernard (a sometime columnist and drunken Soho veteran and friend); filmed for British TV

Starred as Timothy Flyte in the film adaptation of Dean Koontz s Phantoms

Played Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Fairytale--A True Story

Acted the part of the Emperor of Lilliput in the NBC miniseries Gulliver s Travels

Reunited with former RADA chums Richard Briers, Ronald Fraser and Bryan Pringle in the P G Wodehouse story Heavy Weathers on Masterpiece Theatre (PBS)

Mounted a camel for the first time in 34 years and rode onstage when David Letterman hosted The Late Show (CBS) from London

Wrote first part ( The Child ) of his three-part autobiography Loitering With Intent

Again acted with Sharif in The Rainbow Thief , released in the USA on video in 1996

Underlined his reputation as one of the last great British stage actors with his performance in Keith Waterhouse s Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell

Portrayed Reginald Johnston, tutor to the young Pu Yi, in Bernardo Bertolucci s award-winning The Last Emperor

Starred on Broadway as Professor Higgins in Pygmalion

First time as Henry Higgins in Showtime presentation of Pygmalion

Picked up seventh Best Actor Oscar nomination as alcoholic film star Alan Swann in My Favorite Year

American TV debut as the Roman general leading the siege at Masada ; earned an Emmy nomination for his work in the ABC miniseries

Delivered a mesmerizing performance as the Christ-like director Eli Cross in The Stunt Man , filmed in 1978 but put on shelf so as not to conflict with that year s Hooper , starring Burt Reynolds as a stunt man; received sixth Academy Award nomination as Best Actor

Savaged for his portrayal of Macbeth on the London stage, receiving reviews like His performance suggests that he is taking some kind of personal revenge on the play ( The Observer ); unfazed by the critics, completed the 14 week run, playing to mostly full houses thanks to the bad publicity

Starred in the BBC-TV movie Rogue Male (cast included Alistair Sim and Harold Pinter)

Reportedly gave up drinking after an operation on his stomach in which part of his intestines were removed

Rejoined the Bristol Old Vic to play the title role in Uncle Vanya

Starred in two more projects involving music, the hilarious, irreverent black comedy The Ruling Class (for which he earned an Oscar nod) and the abysmal adaptation of the popular musical The Man of La Mancha

Took a sabbatical from acting; lived on family property in the west of Ireland

Displayed his singing ability (or lack of it) opposite Petula Clark in Goodbye, Mr. Chips ; earned fourth Best Actor Oscar nominaton for his sensitive portrayal of the somewhat prissy and martinetish teacher; then-wife Sian Phillips stole all her scenes as the arch Ursula Mossbank

Garnered third Best Actor Academy Award nomination as Henry II in The Lion in Winter , opposite Katharine Hepburn

Reteamed with Lawrence co-star Omar Sharif in Night of the Generals

First of two Oscar-nominated turns as Henry II in Becket

Starred in the title role of the National Theatre Company s inaugural production of Hamlet

Rode to fame on the back of a camel, playing the title role of David Lean s Lawrence of Arabia ; picked up first of seven Best Actor Academy Award nominations and subsequently referred to Lean as the biggest single influence in his adult life

Joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, Stratford-on-Avon

Film acting debut in Kidnapped (released in USA, 1960)

Formed Keep Films with producer Jules Buck

Gained recognition for performance as a barrack-room lawyer in the London stage production of The Long and the Short and the Tall ; part had been written for Finney, but when appendicitis felled him during rehearsals, O Toole took over; it was announced that he would repeat the role in the film, but it went to Laurence Harvey instead

London stage debut in Major Barbara with the Bristol Old Vic

Joined Bristol Old Vic company; first appeared in The Matchmaker ; stayed three years and performed in 73 roles

Appeared with Albert Finney in RADA production of As You Like It

Made amateur stage debut with Leeds Civic Theatre at age 17

Set to co-star with Stephen Rea and Janet McTeer in the romantic drama Romeo and Me, a love story set during World War II (lensed 2004)

At 14, joined the Yorkshire Evening News , working first as messenger and copy boy, then reporter

First job was wrapping cartons in a warehouse

Raised in Leeds; family subsequently moved to London

Spent two years with Royal Navy as a seaman and decoder on a submarine

Will join season 2 of the Showtime series, The Tudors as Pope Paul III