University Of Texas-Austin Acquires Archive Of Famed Actor Peter O'Toole

AUSTIN, TX – The Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin has obtained the archive of British theater and film actor Peter O’Toole, officials said Friday.

O'Toole, who died in 2013, is widely considered one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. After eight Academy Award nominations for his roles in “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “Becket” (1964), “The Lion in Winter” (1968), “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” (1969), “The Ruling Class” (1972), “The Stunt Man” (1980), “My Favorite Year” (1982) and “Venus” (2006), O’Toole received an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his lifetime body of work in film in 2002.

In addition to his film work, O’Toole was also a distinguished stage actor who performed in the theater from the 1950s through 1999.

The extensive archive contains theater and film scripts along with O’Toole’s writings, including drafts, notes and working material for his multi-volume memoir “Loitering with Intent," university officials said.

“It is with a respect for the past and an eye to the future that I recognize the importance of making my father’s archive accessible and preserving it for future generations,” said Kate O’Toole, the late actor's daughter. “Thanks to the nature of film, my father’s work has already been immortalized. The Ransom Center now provides a world-class home for the private thoughts, conversations, notes and stories that illuminate such a long and distinguished career.”

The collection is described as being rich with correspondence offering insight into the relationships and workings of the theater and film communities of which he was a member. Correspondents include Michael Blakemore, Marlon Brando, Michael Caine, John Gielgud, Peter Hall, Katherine Hepburn, Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Irons, Spike Milligan, Paul Newman, Trevor Nunn, Laurence Olivier, Harold Pinter and Kevin Spacey, among many others, officials noted.

The archive includes a rich photographic record documenting all periods of O’Toole’s personal and professional life, university officials noted. These include diaries and notebooks, theater and film programs and memorabilia, audio recordings of his rehearsing lines and reciting poetry, awards, and a selection of iconic props and costume pieces, including his sword from the National Theater’s inaugural production of “Hamlet” directed by Laurence Olivier.

Officials said drafts of O’Toole’s unfinished third memoir dealing with his career on stage and screen yield a valuable unpublished source for scholars, following upon his earlier memoirs “Loitering with Intent: The Child” (1992) and “Loitering with Intent: The Apprentice” (1997).

“Peter O’Toole was one of the most talented actors of stage and screen on either side of the Atlantic,” said Eric Colleary, Cline Curator of Theatre and Performing Arts at the Ransom Center. “People might be surprised to see his incredible talent with words in performance extended to dozens of published and unpublished writing projects represented in the archives. He was a brilliant writer, and his two published memoirs aside, this is an aspect of Peter O’Toole the world hasn’t yet seen.”

Born in 1932, O’Toole began his career in theater as a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1952 to 1954. He received early recognition as an actor with the Bristol Old Vic, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theater. His success in David Lean’s 1962 film “Lawrence of Arabia” made him a household name and international star.

School officials said the archive also will enable researchers and artists to interpret the entire breadth of his complex life and multifaceted career.

The materials join other collections at the Ransom Center that document the works of stage and screen performers, including Stella Adler; Robert De Niro; Edith Evans; Anne Jackson; George Bernard Shaw; Eli Wallach; Donald Wolfit, who appeared alongside O’Toole in several of his films; and strong holdings of British stage actors Henry Irving and Edmund Kean, whose life and works O’Toole studied and admired. The Ransom Center also holds a collection of T. E. Lawrence materials.

O’Toole is among that elite group of distinguished British actors honored with a memorial plaque in St. Paul’s Church, “the actors’ church,” in London’s Covent Garden, school officials noted. Once it's processed and catalogued, the archive will be accessible the the public, officials added.

>>> Image: A studio photo of Elizabeth Taylor, Peter O’Toole, and Richard Burton (standing) on set of the 1964 film Becket, courtesy of Harry Ransom Center.