By Lubna Abdel-Aziz The phenomenal dramatic power of Peter O'Toole is forever present in our hearts, our memory and our psyche. Still, the news that he is appearing in a new film is not only causing our hearts to jingle and jangle this holiday season, but it is also creating a lot of noise and Oscar buzz, by all the little critics of Hollywood, and all the little leprechauns of his native Ireland. The film is Venus (dir Roger Mitchell), and throughout this terrestrial world, all devotée earthlings can hardly wait to fly to Venus. Once you have seen Peter O'Toole perform, you become an addict for life. Since his appearance in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), one of the choicest roles in the whole history of picture making, Peter has been identified with Lawrence for generations. It is a performance that seared our hearts and marked us for life with the recognition of the genius of this Irish performer named Peter Seamus O'Toole. As for the film itself, it remains very popular with public and critics alike to this present day. Its visual style has influenced major directors for generations including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorcese, and Sam Peckinpah. It is without a doubt a masterpiece of world cinema, high among "the best" critical lists. Among its major accomplishments, for us, is the re-birth of our own star, on the international screen firmament -- Omar Sharif. Since his appearance as Sharif Ali Ibn El-Kharish, he went on to greater heights in Doctor Zhivago, and never looked back. O'Toole was born, 2 August 1932 as Peter James (Seamus) O'Toole in Connemara, County Galway, or so the story goes. His father Patrick, was an Irish bookmaker, his mother Constance, a Scottish nurse. He was six years old when he fell in love with the theatre at a performance of Rose Marie. He attended the Royal Acadmey of Dramatic Arts in 1952, and after years of hard work he began gaining experience as a Shakespearian actor at the Bristol Old Vic Company, among others. He became the youngest man ever to attain star status at the Royal Shakespearian Theatre, at Stratford Upon Avon. He had appeared in three British films before his first major breakthrough as T.E. Lawrence in 1962. Producer Sam Spiegel, and director David Lean, a winning duo ( Bridge on the River Kwai) had just been turned down by Albert Finney who was first offered the legendary role. Spiegel remembered seeing the youthful, lanky, powerhouse on London's West End production of The Long and the Short and the Tall, and in a nutshell, the legend begins. His first Acadmey nomination in Lawrence was followed by six others, notably Becket, the film version of the Jean Anouilh play, as King Henry II of England, and Lion in Winter where he reprised the role of King Henry. Night of the Generals re- united bosom buddies from the days of Lawrence, Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole. Coy and reticent, I have personally shied away from personal anecdotes; this however cries for mention. I first met Peter O'Toole in the late sixties at the house of a mutual friend at London's West End, Lady Gloria Nugent, and her husband, venerable stage and screen actor Jack MacGowran (1918 -- 1973, The Quiet Man ). In attendance were the cream of the artsy crop. Richard Burton (1925 -- 1984) held court as he recounted story after fascinating story about 'La Liz' while the audience was all eyes and ears, which included Poet Laureate John Masefield (1878 -- 1967) and Sir Michel Redgrave (1908 -- 1985), father of the acting dynasty. In the corner of the huge living room however, Peter O'Toole and I found that we had something else, or rather someone else, in common -- namely Omar Sharif. He talked, I listened. Richard Burton may have turned heads and stirred hearts, but it was Peter O'Toole who left you breathless. We saw each other again during my London sojourn, and destiny held another rendezvous for us when we both worked at Shepperton Studios outside London. We discovered we had another thing in common. We both hated to see rushes, that is the viewing of the previous day's shoot. While everyone rushed to rushes, Peter and I would meet at the studio restaurant, and talk of all else except "the work." Now O'Toole is back on the big screen, larger than life, in a new role as 'a dirty old man.' All fellow fans and fellow thespians rejoice! The film Venus revolves around Maurice (Peter O'Toole), an elderly actor and womaniser who finds himself attracted to his friend's very young great niece (Jodie Whittaker). O'Toole fans are hoping that Venus will finally win him Best Actor Oscar, the elusive gold statuette that has evaded him in his previous seven nominations. Feeling utterly ashamed, the Academy of Motion Pictures finally awarded the singular actor a Life Achievement Award in 2003. While he at first declined the honour hoping, he said, to get another opportunity to win one for himself, he later accepted, thrilling his fans with his appearance at Oscar's Gala. God gave him the heart of a lion, the agility of a cougar, and the seductiveness of a lynx. Some of his 40 films may have been forgettable, but his performance never was. He owns a passion so vast, so limitless, with an infinite capacity to suffer, to love, to pray, embracing all of God's gifts with all his might. It is an intoxicating mix that, once tasted, leaves us thirsty for more. There is no definition, long, wide, deep, or broad enough to describe the gifts of Peter O'Toole, nor can he ever be compared to another. He is unique in his talent, and his expression of it. All of his 190cms build, throbs with passion, creativity, and positive energy that permeates the screen straight to our hearts, there to stay. Prince of stage, screen, and at whatever gathering he chooses to show up, he is also prince of our hearts for as long as we shall live. Princes are the lamps that light this world The Tale of Gengi, (Lady) Murasaki Shikibu (circa 978 -- 1031)
