Peter O'Toole, 1932-2013

Legendary performer and alcohol aficionado Peter O’Toole, “an Irish bookmaker’s son with a hell-raising streak whose performance in the 1962 epic film ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ earned him overnight fame and established him as one of his generation’s most charismatic actors,” died this weekend. Knowing all that I do about the subjectivity of taste and the vast differences of opinion and appreciation for forms and styles of art I am disinclined to make grand, sweeping statements about the cinema, but I do want to mention that Lawrence of Arabia is one of the ten greatest films of all time and if you have never seen it you cannot consider yourself in any sense of the word educated when it comes to the subject of film, and it would be pointless to even argue this assertion because you would be both comically and tragically wrong. You should also try to get your hands on My Favorite Year if that one passed you by. And The Ruling Class. Maybe Beckett, which is streaming on Netflix right now. But for sure Lawrence and My Favorite Year. O’Toole was 81.