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Loitering with Intent #2
Loitering with Intent: The Apprentice
Covering his time as a drama student at RADA, the author writes about his student days in London in the 1950s, a time which coincided with significant moments in British theatre. Among the recollections are seeing Richard Burton in "King John" at the Old Vic, remembers Dame Sybil Thorndyke giving him elocution lessons and describing ballet lessons shared with fellow actor, Albert Finney.
256 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 1996
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293 people want to read
About the author
Peter O'Toole
12Ìýbooks14ÌýfollowersTrained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA).
Eight-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor and recipient (2003) of the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award.
Nominated for the Academy Award for his performances in "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "Becket" (1964), "The Lion in Winter" (1965), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "The Ruling Class" (1972), "The Stunt Man" (1980), "My Favorite Year" (1982), and "Venus" (2006).
He received the British Academy of Film and Televison Arts (BAFTA) Award for his performances in "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Becket."
He received the Golden Globe for his performaces in "Becket," "The Lion in Winter," and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."
Recipient of the Emmy Award (1999) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his performance in "Joan of Arc."
He was awarded many additional awards for his performances on stage and screen.
Eight-time Academy Award nominee for Best Actor and recipient (2003) of the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award.
Nominated for the Academy Award for his performances in "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), "Becket" (1964), "The Lion in Winter" (1965), "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" (1969), "The Ruling Class" (1972), "The Stunt Man" (1980), "My Favorite Year" (1982), and "Venus" (2006).
He received the British Academy of Film and Televison Arts (BAFTA) Award for his performances in "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Becket."
He received the Golden Globe for his performaces in "Becket," "The Lion in Winter," and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."
Recipient of the Emmy Award (1999) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his performance in "Joan of Arc."
He was awarded many additional awards for his performances on stage and screen.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 21, 2010
The autobiography of my favorite actor. The use of language is brilliant, as one would expect. A generously written warts-and-all portrait, with plenty of theatrical trivia and hilarious stories of what some might call a 'misspent' youth, yet I found it not your typical wastrel ramblings but what I would call the fond memories of a serious student with great talent.
January 2, 2009
Autobiography of actor Peter O'Toole. It's AWESOME. His command of the language is amazing and his delivery...just like he talks...boozy, erudite, wry...it's the funniest thing I've read.
August 3, 2010
Funny: I've seen hardly any of his films, but I've loved both books of his memoirs. Of the two, this one is the denser read, with lots of jumping around, characters with evolving nicknames, and many cheeky digressions. Yet it's so entertaining and charismatic that we don't begrudge O'Toole anything, not even his only covering up to the end of his first year studying acting over two books. More please.
October 30, 2011
Probably one of the best memoirs I ever read (along with its earlier volume), though I can understand why it might split opinion. After all it dares to be Joycean, literate and even wistful at times. It was a joy to read, as much for the language as the content.
December 1, 2012
He writes the way he speaks, and I love it, even if I am fairly certain he's tipping a glass back while he's doing it. He is one of our greatest examples of how to make the English language sing. I could not follow him on all of his diversions, but it was a fun romp nevertheless.
July 24, 2024
Short, snappy, funny sentences mingles with tales of an open-minded youth, and of his hero Mr Kean, in this, his second and last go at the written word. His first year at RADA is packed with life. You do come away from his, and his friends' stories, feeling a tad envious. I look around today and most of what happens in this book - and happened to him throughout his very unique existence - would not happen to someone growing up today, due to the current lack of spontaneity that there is in our modern world, and how withdrawn we are now from one another. On the other side of the coin, there are only a few O'Toole's that have ever lived, and so his uniqueness is primarily spurred on, not by his surroundings or the time that he lived in, but by himself, and his own special character. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a laugh, and a glimpse into a very interesting place in our history. As O'Toole's good friend, a Mr Richard Harris, put it: "We were children of the war. We had seen too much death. We wanted to grab life with both hands and shake it, before it slipped away."
August 21, 2020
At first the language is intoxicating, later tiring. The book has no chapters, so it seems the reader's mind has no rest. What doubles this feeling is the 'memory flea' feeling of jumping from place to place without chronology or concern for the reader. Somehow we jump from 1945 and Hiroshima to Peter Cook's death in 1995. Yer wot?
August 29, 2019
i consider it a minor tragedy i never got to go drinking with peter o'toole. maybe on the other side.
February 1, 2014
Loitering with Intent, the Apprentice, the second of Peter O’Toole’s memoir set, would make just as much sense to me were it written in Chinese. It brims over like spilled ale with long rambling sentences, semi-lucid anecdotes about his days as a rabble-rousing acting student, and mentions of those long forgotten. None of the blurry photos are identified, which annoyed the hell out of me and made me think this was purely a vanity piece to generate money for O’Toole and accepted by the publisher for his name recognition rather than coherence.
However, if one can see past O’Toole Shakespearean language, at which he excels, confusing British idioms, and insider jokes, his witty asides and thrilling comebacks are a treat. Sort of like reading Jonathan Gash (the Lovejoy books) it takes time to get into the flow of the writing. In this case I simply didn’t have the time. Sorry, Pete.
December 12, 2007
The so-called first volume of his autobiography. Hilarious and wonderful reading for anyone interseted in the theatre and films. Understandably this still great actor's entire career is overshadowed by his Oscar winning performance in the classic Lawrence of Arabia, still a great film after all these years. I need at least a full 3 hours of it nce or twice a year
December 17, 2013
Peter O'Toole is a delight to read. His 2 volume autobiography is truly the best auto bio I've ever read. I couldn't put either volume down once I started reading. A brilliant, extremely gifted and phenomenal actor, these books prove he was also a great writer.
Highly recommend. I can read these again and again.
Highly recommend. I can read these again and again.
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July 31, 2014i cant really claim i read this because i totally didnt. i tried, and i think not for the first time, and failed. its like poetry, his writing style, which is not how i like to read. each sentence is like a mini poem. which is lovely, but not relaxing or fun for me. so i didnt rate it. because i didnt read it. and im only writing this and noting it to remind me that its not a good choice for me.
September 3, 2012
His wit and intellect leap off the page. This series of books was a joy to read, even if some of the slang took a while to figure out. Some of his stories made me cry and some I laughed with until tears streamed down my face.
September 22, 2011
Don't even think of reading this book. What a freakin' mess.
March 10, 2013
o'toole is a fascinating character & great story teller. I hope he finally comes thru with the third book.
March 28, 2014
There are more digressions here than in 'the early years', hence a longer book; but a very enjoyable read nonetheless. Too bad he didn't get part III done.
December 21, 2014
Like his first memoir, I absolutely loved this one. The language and narrative he uses is terrific. Plainly-speaking, Mr. O'Toole was a wonderful raconteur.
September 5, 2012
Very entertaining
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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