Just for the heck of it I've added a page to Facebook for The Unofficial Peter O'Toole Pages. Feel free to go there and add stuff, post comments, links, etc.. to be added to the website!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Unofficial-Peter-OToole-Pages/
Cheers,
Hamish
Thanks to Gina for sending me a link to a photo of Peter taken during the filming of "Cristiada", currently in production in Mexico.
Here's a link to the Facebook Group for Cristiada as well.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cristiada/313576978430#!/pages/Cristiada/313576978430?v=info
Our favourite actor, Peter O'Toole, turns 78 today. Congratulations Peter!
While his schedule hasn't been exactly *busy* for the past few years, he continues to contribute great roles to 1-2 films a year, as well as television appearances. In the next year Peter is slated to appear in the following:
Eldorado (Narrator) - completed
Cristiada - filming
Katherine of Alexandria - filming
Mary Mother of Christ - in production
You can see more details about these films at imdb.com.
Peter O'Toole joins the cast of NewLand films' epic "Cristiada", filming now in various locations around Mexico. The film is set during the 1926-29 Cristero War, the uprising that took place after the Mexican government's constitution in 1917 imposed anti-clerical provisions to remove the Catholic Church’s influence and secularize the country.
O'Toole will be working with a star-studded cast, including actors Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria and Nestor Carbonell.
Veteran Irish actor Peter O’Toole (Venus, Goodbye Mr. Chips) and Geraldine Chaplin (Doctor Zhivago, Chaplin) will headline ‘Jennifer and the Swan Boat’, a new feature film from Palancar Company Ltd which will explore the unlikely friendship between a former ballet star and a gifted albeit mute orphan.
O’Toole will play a former ballet star who strikes up a friendship with an orphan before tutoring her to stardom. The film will be principally set in Paris’ Opera House where Geraldine Chaplin’s Marianne manages the ballet company. Casting is still underway to find the actress who will play the part of the young ballet dancing orphan.
The film is set to shoot in March 2011 for eight weeks in Paris’ Opera House, the city itself and the bordering areas. Three-time Academy Award winner Michel LeGrand (The Thomas Crown Affair) will score the film and Claude Bessy, former prima ballerina of the Paris Opera Ballet, will play herself and choreograph the dance sequences. The other cast members involved include Larrio Ekson (Aurore), Brigitte Maoti (Tony Zoreil), Daniel Downing and Jeanne Manson.
Michael Beyer (All in One Hand: The Pianist Paul Wittgenstein) will direct the film which is written by David Amory Lown (The Man Who Couldn’t Sleep) who also produces alongside Patricia Twohill Lown who tells IFTN that the funding for the film has come from Région Ile-de-France and private sources. The film’s director of photography and the film’s release date are TBC.
With regards Peter O’Toole’s role in the film producer Twohill Lown is full of praise for the Irish actor, telling us “when Peter read the script, he immediately fell in love with it. As you can imagine, Peter O'Toole does not need to audition - David did not have him in mind when he wrote it, but he is a perfect fit.”
Both David Amory Lown and Patricia Twohill Lown will be in attendance at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival to discuss ‘Jennifer and the Swan Boat’.
http://www.iftn.ie/actors/actorsnews/?act1=record&only=1&aid=73&rid=4283043&tpl=archnews&force=1
Hope everyone had a nice holiday - I have two winners to announce in the Hellraisers book contest: Gina and Judith!
I'd like to thank the publishers, St. Martin's Press, once again for providing the books for the contest.
Happy New Year everyone!
Hey everyone! As promised, we have a little Hellraisers-related contest for you over the holidays.
I have a copy of Robert Seller's Hellraisers:The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole and Oliver Reed, (courtesy of St. Martin's Press) to give away to the first two readers who email me after 4pm Eastern Standard Time (EST) with the correct answer to the following question:
What are the names of Peter's children?
One book per winner, contest is limited to postal addresses in North America (Canada or the US please). You will be notified if you win and I will post the names of the winners here.
Contact me via bigdaddyhame AT gmail DOT com, after 4pm Eastern Standard Time.
Good luck!
Robert Sellers' book, "Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, and Oliver Reed" has been released in North America, finally. I've got a copy on order, I hope to post a capsule review shortly. Stay tuned for a Hellraisers-related contest in the next couple of weeks as well!
Also, the tiscali site has a rather extended biography of O'Toole posted - check it out. http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biography/artist/peter-o-toole/biography/185?page=1
"a story of disguise and forbidden love,
set against the building of the railroad"
Peter stars as the character Relic in a Canadian-produced miniseries, 'Iron Road', which debuts tomorrow night (Sunday August 9, 2009) on CBC television.
Relic is "an alcoholic recruiting agent who teaches English to the kid, Little Tiger, and tries to dissuade him from his dream of going across the ocean to build a railroad."
Peter turns 77 today. Best to you, sir!
Readers of the site should feel welcome to extend their wishes to Peter via our guestbook.
A quick check over at IMDB shows that Peter O'Toole is on-staff for two films in production: God's Spy (2009-announced) and Mary Mother of Christ is now in production (see entry below).
Peter plays Simeon in Mary Mother of Christ, along with Jessica Lange, Al Pacino and Jonathan Rhys-Myers.
Not much in the casting details dept for God's Spy other than that Josh Lucas is in it, and the plot synopsis is "A Jesuit priest working undercover as a Wall Street trader becomes caught up in a political and financial conspiracy involving the Vatican Bank, the CIA, the Mafia, and Masonic Lodge P2" - sounds intriguing! More details as they come to light.
Nice capsule review of Dean Spanley for the DVD release, here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/apr/24/dvdreviews-drama
...and at the Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/entertainment/dean_spanley/5193888/Dean-Spanley---review-for-DVD-release.html
“I HAVE heard it said that remarkable events often have ordinary beginnings. Never was this more true than of my Thursday.”
This opening line to Dean Spanley is actually a very accurate description of this film’s pace and narrative.
Directed by Toa Fraser, Dean Spanley is set in 1904 and stars Jeremy Northam as Henslowe Fisk, who decides to take his ailing father (Peter O’Toole) to a lecture on reincarnation, where they meet an enthusiastic Australian named Wrather (Bryan Brown).
Whilst attending the lecture, they become fascinated with Dean Spanley (Sam Neill) and when they meet again, they ask him to dinner, enticing him with a rare Hungarian wine named Imperial Tokay.
Over the course of the dinner, Spanley begins to recount what appear to be strange recollections of a past life. However, as his stories unfold, it becomes clear that Spanley and Fisk may share a closer connection than either of them realised.
It’s best to see Dean Spanley knowing as little about it as possible, since giving away any detail would ruin the film’s surprises.
The fantastically witty script takes a decidedly unexpected turn towards the end and that the payoff is both funny and emotionally moving.
Neill is exciting in the lead role (one of his best in years), delivering a performance that borders on the absurd, to the point where you can’t quite believe what you’re hearing.
Northam anchors the film with a typically solid performance, while there’s scene-stealing support from Brown and yet another powerfully moving performance from O’Toole.
Whilst watching Dean Spanley, you’re constantly waiting for something to happen, but you won’t quite believe it when it does.
To that end, the script crackles with great dialogue and layers in several lines and moments that will reward further viewings.
In short, Dean Spanley is funny, clever and generally moving. It’s also totally unlike any film you may have seen for quite some time.
http://www.times.co.nz/cms/arts/film/2009/02/dean_spanley.php
Only two days after it was revealed that Al Pacino is to play King Lear in a new big-screen version of the play, Variety reports he is also in talks to play King Herod in the biblical tale Mary, Mother of Christ.
The project looks set to attract a high-profile cast, with Jessica Lange also considering the role of Anna the Prophetess. Peter O'Toole has already signed to play the elder, Symeon, while Jonathan Rhys Meyers will play both Gabriel and Lucifer.
Camille Belle, last seen battling anachronistic sabre-toothed tigers in Roland Emmerich's 10,000 BC, will take the title role. Argentine director Alejandro Agresti, who shot 2002's Valentin and 2006's The Lake House, is directing the film, which starts production in Morocco in May.
Film-makers such as Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ) have found huge success in recent years by producing films which capture the hearts and minds of religiously minded middle America, and Mary, Mother of Christ appears to be aimed at a similar target audience; studio MGM is planning to release the film in time for Good Friday, 2010.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/06/pacino-in-talks-for-mary-mother-of-christ
Fans will be interested to know that LIFE Magazine and Google have teamed up to put the magazine's image archive, dating back to 1750, online for the first time. 20% of the archive is online now so I thought I would head over and see if they had any Peter O'Toole images. Sure enough, they do!
Link to Peter O'Toole Images at Google's LIFE Magazine archive
Lots to see. 4 pages so far. Enjoy!
OK! So, in the spirit of the season, and due to the generosity of Lionsgate Films, I am pleased to announce a little contest! I have four brand-new, shrinkwrapped copies of the DVD release, "Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage" to give away.
Nothing comes for free so entries need to include an answer to the following question:
"What sport has Peter O'Toole coached in his spare time?" - he may not currently be doing so but we know he has in the past!
The first FOUR correct entries will win a DVD of "Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage".
****** THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!
THANK YOU FOR PLAYING! Our winners: Brenda, Jamie, Connie and Greg!
Phew!
O'Toole fans will be glad to hear that his 2008 film, "Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage" is being released on DVD next week.
"A look at the inspiration behind Thomas Kinkade's painting The Christmas Cottage, and how the artist was motivated to begin his career after discovering his mother was in danger of losing their family home."
Peter stars in the film as Glen Wessler, the artist who inspired Kinkade to create his famous painting.
Stay tuned for a contest to be announced soon!
Thanks to Craig for sending this in.
So unfortunately Peter did not attend the TIFF screening of his latest film, "Dean Spanley" - the local publicist for the film cited his health - he is reluctant to travel in general, let alone for a media run.
That said, notices for the film are good and people are once again touting "Oscar nom for O'Toole" in the supporting actor category. He's (as usual) the best thing about the film.
Some reviews:
I just realized that my birthday message for Peter (back on August 2nd) was rerouted to another blog I post to. Silly me! Anyway August 2nd was Peter's 76th birthday. Happy belated, Peter!
Also, I notice in an announcement released yesterday that Peter is listed as an attendee at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. I haven't been able to determine which of his upcoming films he will be in town to promote but when I do I'll post it here.
http://www.tiff08.ca/press/pressreleases/default.aspx?newsId=583 for more details.
UPDATE: Ok. So Peter will be in town to promote the film "Dean Spanley", which is one of the 11 gala films being presented. Peter plays Fisk Senior in the film, directed by Toa Fraser.