Peter O’Toole retires from acting

Acting icon Peter O’Toole has taken his final bow.

The 79-year-old star of Lawrence of Arabia and countless other classics offered the following words as his farewell:

Dear All

It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: it won’t come back.

My professional acting life, stage and screen, has brought me public support, emotional fulfillment and material comfort. It has brought me together with fine people, good companions with whom I’ve shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.

However, it’s my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one’s stay. So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell.

Ever

Peter O’Toole

O’Toole was nominated for eight Oscars over the course of his expansive career, for the pictures Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye Mr. Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man, My Favourite Year, and Venus. He was awarded an Honourary Academy Award in 2003.

Though now officially retired from acting, his legacy will no doubt continue for as long as there is cinema. Just recently, in Ridley Scott‘s sci-fi flick Prometheus, an android played by Michael Fassbender was seen to model himself after O’Toole. So, if that film’s futuristic predictions come true, he’ll be around a lot longer than the rest of us.

Discuss: Sad to see such a talent retire?