Legendary Actor Peter O'Toole Dead at 81

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By Neha Prakash2013-12-15 20:54:43 UTC

Actor Peter O'Toole, best known for playing the eponymous role in 1962's Lawrence of Arabia, died Sunday at Wellington Hospital in London following a long illness. He was 81.

O'Toole was nominated for eight Academy Awards in the best-actor category for films, including The Stunt Man, The Ruling Class and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. He never won, but did receive an honorary Oscar in 2003, after initially turning it down in 2002, according to multiple reports. At the time, O'Toole asked the Academy to defer the award until he was 80 because he "still in the game and might win the lovely bugger outright."

O'Toole started his acceptance speech by saying, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride, my foot."

See also: 10 Actors Who Appeared on Screen After Their Deaths

The Irish-born actor retired from acting last year. "I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell," he said, according to the BBC.

However, it was announced last month that O'Toole had come out of retirement to play Cornelius Gallus, a palace orator, in Katherine of Alexandria, a film about ancient Rome. The movie is scheduled for release next year.

Both "Peter O'Toole" and "Lawrence of Arabia" were trending on Twitter following news of the actor's death. Many users took to the microblogging platform to mourn O'Toole's passing.

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Image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Topics: actors, Celebrites, Deaths, Entertainment, Film, obituary