Yeah, yeah, Peter O'Toole was T.E. Lawrence — "El Awrence" as Omar Sharif had it — in Lawrence of Arabia. But while David Lean's windswept epic marked the beginning of his story, it was hardly the end. Here are five films you should catch if you want to see why O'Toole was regarded as one of his generation's most flamboyantly versatile performers:
My Favorite Year (1982) — O'Toole's reputation as a heavy drinker, his flair for comedy and his history of broad, nonnaturalistic acting made him a natural to play a sodden matinee idol (loosely based on Errol Flynn) whose looming appearance on a live TV variety show has his handler (Mark Linn-Baker) terrified.
Venus (2006) — His face now lined and craggy, O'Toole is in glorious form as a lecherous old character actor, now reduced to playing dotty ancients and men on their deathbeds. But his taste for nubile young women is undimmed, and when the titular teen comes into his life, it's turned upside down.
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