With his blonde hair and Irish-blue eyes, long, thin face and lilting voice, Peter O'Toole is one of the most distinctive stars on the international film scene today. And over a 28-year film career, the star's luster has hardly dimmed.
His first leading role as 'Lawrence of Arabia' in 1962 made him an instant star. The role was 'magnificent,' he said, but of his appearance on film, 'I looked like a dissipated schoolgirl.'
Certainly, he has used the full range of his talent in movies with some of the screen's biggest stars -- Katharine Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Richard Burton -- and best directors -- David Lean, John Huston, Bernardo Bertolucci.
While he has played his share of introspective, proper characters - most notably last year's performance in 'The Last Emperor' -- his new movie, 'High Spirits,' is more in the vein of broad comedy.
'I'm always looking for something different,' O'Toole said in an interview from London, 'especially from the last thing I did.
'I love playing comedy. And this was full of friends,' he said, noting veteran Irish actor Donal McCann, Steve Guttenberg ('a modest man'), Peter Gallagher, Jennifer Tilly ('a very clever actress') and Daryl Hannah ('a very nice girl').
O'Toole, 58, said the script was 'immediately likeable.'
'It's in the tradition of those old films of the 1930s and 1940s, like 'The Ghost Goes West' (a 1936 British fantasy-comedy),' he said. 'They had such an affection, such a simplicity. And nothing ghoulish.'
In 'High Spirits,' O'Toole plays Peter Plunkett, the charming but inept heir to Castle Plunkett. He drinks like a fish, commands the loyalty of the villagers, but can't pay the bills and seems likely to lose the castle to greedy developers.
Only when his dead ancestors decide to take matters into their own hands doesfate -- and the unlikely romances between humans and ghosts - take a turn for the better.
Like his charming drunk character in 'My Favorite Year,' O'Toole plays Plunkett to the hilt, giving the falling-down inebriate the grace of a ballet dancer.
'Well, I do love dancing,' he said. 'But I was never a hoofer by profession.' Of his proficiency at playing drunks, he said, 'It took years of rehearsal.'
O'Toole grew up in Leeds, where his father made his living as a racetrack bookmaker. At 14, he quit school and began working for the Yorkshire Evening Post as a messenger and copy boy, eventually graduating to cub reporter. At 17 he gave up journalism and made his stage debut as an amateur at the Leeds Civic Theatre.
His professional acting career began in 1955 with the Bristol Old Vic company, where he stayed until 1958.
Cast and crew spent four months in Ireland shooting 'High Spirits' and O'Toole described it as a 'happy situation.'
'It was very cold,' he said. 'And we were thrust together. It was just a happy accident.'
At one break in the filming, he accompanied Guttenberg and Gallagher to a rugby match in England. 'I think Steve might have been a little confused, but Peter got right into it. He seemed relieved to find an audience in England that was encouraged to shout and carry on.'
'There are many project' O'Toole said he would like to do, but added, 'I have only dreams of my next job.'
However, 'I've always believed that direction is the responsibility of older performers, and I have some notions about that,' he conceded. 'I can promise you, there are a couple of things.'
