16 December 2013

O'Toole On The Ould Sod by Gay Talese

Peter O'Toole, Esquire Magazine, August 1963, Photo by Brian Seed

"When my father would come home from the track after a good day," said Peter O'Toole, leaning against the bar, "the whole room would light up; it was fairyland. But when he lost, it was black.  In our house, it was always either a wake...or a wedding."

My Esquire, purchased from the double maduro - double corona chomping used magazine vendor on the upper west side, is yellowed and crumbly. Gay's profile of O'Toole, and it reeks of beer, cigarettes, whiskey and how I like to think I'd handle that kind of success at 31, can be read here.  It's a pisser of a story.





8 comments:

Smitty said...

Brilliant, simply brilliant. Thank you for sharing.

Mason said...

Both Talese and O'Toole are truly one of a kind. Second time I've read that this week.

Anonymous said...

Talese is such a great writer.Thanks for sharing.

Friday Belt for the Holidays???

--Matthew

Main Line Sportsman said...

Horse player and drinker...my kind of guy!
I still remember seeing Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen one year when it was re-released. Quinn yelling" No prisoners" was our childhood war-cry forever.

tintin said...

Smitty - There's another Talese piece that is outstanding. We talked about it when I was able to interview him thanks to Antonio Ciongoli. I'll put it up soon. I told Gay I thought it was the best thing I had ever read and explained why. It's never been republished. Talese said he'd have to take a look at it again. I was so proud.

Mason- Shit, I thought I was first.

Matthew- The Friday Belt packed on 20+ pounds and caused untold grief on Thursday mights with aches and pain Friday morning. It just wasn't worth it. But we'll see. I do have an idea…

I watched Lawrence, or "Rence" as I was fond of calling it, at least 40x one Summer. I was writing my 1st screenplay about the British spy, Major Andre, and confessed to a writer friend that I was stealing the structure from LOA. He said everybody did it 'cause no one noticed. What amazed me, was that viewing after viewing, it never got old.

Anonymous said...

That 1963 shot is excellent. It tells more about the man and his origins than any art directed shot would today, all the while retaining a sense of mystery. No small feat.

A photo such as this of an actor/celebrity would almost certainly not get shot today, let alone published. Perhaps it was just before he got famous and the photographer had greater leeway with an unknown.

-DB

Alice Olive said...

I came to O'Toole via Audrey in How to Steal a Million. He was, to me, impeccably dressed. And those eyes. They never lost their intensity.

Makaga said...

Some friends are working on a Major ANdre film right now. Looks funny,

http://vimeo.com/79040464