Peter O’Toole Oscar nominations record, Digi Mart USA News: With a career built on about a hundred films, a string of Oscar nominations and several decades at the top of Hollywood, this actor can be proud, or not, of another rare achievement.
Among actors nominated several times for an Oscar before finally winning, Leonardo DiCaprio waited five nominations before being named Best Actor for his performance in The Revenant in 2016. Al Pacino was also honored in 1993 for Scent of a Woman after eight nominations.
But one cinema giant never had that chance: Peter O’Toole.
Peter O’Toole died in 2013 at the age of 81, after more than sixty years in the business. He is best remembered for his role in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia, released in 1962.
The classic, rated 4.3 out of 5 by AlloCiné viewers (based on 12,833 ratings and 337 published reviews), earned him his first Oscar nomination. Although he left empty-handed, he won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor.
At the time, the actor was 30 years old, and it was the start of a long pursuit of the golden statuette. Just three years later, the Irishman returned to the Academy’s favor with another epic historical film, Becket by Peter Glenville.
O’Toole played King Henry II of England in this adaptation of Jean Anouilh’s play. Despite a new Oscar nomination (out of twelve for the film), he lost the award to Rex Harrison for My Fair Lady.
Over the years, nominations followed without a true victory. After his first two nominations, O’Toole had six more chances to win Best Actor, each ending in disappointment.
He was nominated in 1969 for The Lion in Winter, and the following year for Goodbye, Mr. Chips.
Further nominations came for Becket, The Ruling Class in 1973, The Stunt Man in 1981, My Favorite Year in 1983, and finally Venus in 2007. Each time, the statuette went to another actor: Cliff Robertson, John Wayne, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Ben Kingsley, or Forest Whitaker.
It was a curse for Peter O’Toole, who nonetheless repeatedly demonstrated immense talent on screen, a historic record for an actor.
This long series of near misses ended with an honorary Oscar in 2003. The symbolic award recognized his entire career and contribution to cinema.
Accepting it, Peter O’Toole alluded to all those missed opportunities: “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride […] My Oscar will stay with me until death do us part.” He died ten years later.
