Actor Peter O'Toole, who starred in the 1962 classic Lawrence of Arabia, has died aged 81 in London after a long illness.
Peter O'Toole accepts the honorary Oscar from actress Meryl Streep. Photo: AFP
The Irish-born star began on the stage in Bristol and London aged 17, but his big break was when Sir David Lean cast him in the film as British adventurer T.E. Lawrence.
It earned him the first of eight Oscar nominations, with others coming for such films as Becket, The Lion in Winter and Goodbye, Mr Chips.
A mesmerising and versatile actor, O'Toole played roles ranging from King Henry II in Becket to an alcoholic journalist in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.
He received an honorary Oscar in 2003, which he initially refused to accept, the BBC reports.
In a letter he asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to delay the award until he was 80, saying he was "still in the game and might win the bugger outright".
The actor's agent said O'Toole, who had survived a bout of stomach cancer in the 1970s, died in a London hospital on Saturday.
