Malcolm McDowell on Peter O'Toole: Caligula, catacombs and chicken gizzards

The actor and O'Toole played warring Roman emperors in Caligula, during which shoot the elder star revealed his taste for Etruscan jewellery … and a wicked sense of humour• News: Peter O'Toole dies aged 81• Peter O'Toole: a career in clipsThe first time I met Peter O'Toole was in 1965. As a junior member of the the Royal Shakespeare, I was invited to a bring-a-bottle party in Hampstead. We were all having a wonderful time when, suddenly, there was a sort of hush that came over the room, everyone looked around and there was this extraordinary looking man who had just come in … with his flaxen hair, his jeans tucked into his high boots, looking every inch a Greek God, and there he was: the great Peter O'Toole.It was many years later that we did the infamous Caligula together. Why I loved him so much is that he never took anything, especially that film, too seriously. In fact his very first words to John Gielgud on the set were: "Hello, Johnny! What is a knight of the realm doing in a porno movie!?" We all had a good laugh about that.I do recall one particular night shoot… We were called to the set at four o'clock in the afternoon. As usual, nothing was ready. They'd built a set of Tiberius's grotto, on three acres, and were assembling all of the extras and background. The producers worriedly asked if I would go into Peter's trailer (he was playing Tiberius) and go through the lines with him, which we did few times.And then he told me the most remarkable story – whet...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - December 17, 2013 Category: Science Authors: Malcolm McDowell Tags: theguardian.com Blogposts News Archaeology Peter O'Toole Film Science Source Type: news