Peter O’Toole

Peter O’Toole RIP: once a Sunderland fan, always a class act

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By Jake
By Jake

Sad to hear the news tonight of Peter O’Toole‘s death in London at the age of 81 after a long illness. As well as being a superb actor – eight Oscar nominations, the most anyone has ever received without winning an Academy award – he was once a Sunderland supporter, as we were able to explain a couple of years ago. That story will now be repeated but let me first quote the words of his agent, Steve Kenis, who features in that tale: “He was one of a kind in the very best sense and a giant in his field.” I should add that I found out about this unhappy news via the excellent medium of Ready to Go

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Peter O’Toole, a hell-raising dad and a lost Sunderland passion

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Readers who find this a familiar tale are asked to bear with me. I need to check whether the link to the redesigned site is working in all the ways it should; posting something – anything – is one way of doing that. New readers may find what follows interesting …

A few years ago, I thought I’d cracked it for my series of Celebrity Supporter interviews for Wear Down South. Missing out on Gina McKee, Dave Stewart and – bizarrely given his initial enthusiasm – Glenn Hugill had been disappointing, but an exclusive interview with Peter O’Toole beckoned.

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Peter O’Toole, Joe Roc and a love letter to Sunderland

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joe roc

Owen Lennox, the highly respected Sunderland-born artist and author, was moved by the recent piece on Peter O’Toole’s Sunderland links to write about his own researches into Wearside history – and pass on an intriguing thought about the old war cry “Ha`way, Ha`way!” …

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Reading at Salut!Sunderland that Peter O’Toole’s father was a Sunderland supporter sparked a reference to, O’Toole the bookie, I’d uncovered while researching a novel I had published in 2007.

There was no reason for me to make the connection between the bookie and the actor in the same way there was no reason for me to make the connection between Dempsey’s rag shop in the Sheepfolds, and Jack of the same name, World Champion Heavyweight Boxer. There is little evidence to suggest that O’Toole senior watched Sunderland but we do know of one famous person who did, the man who painted The Last Minute-Now Or Never.

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Peter O’Toole and a lost Sunderland passion

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Eight years ago, I thought I’d cracked it for my series of Celebrity Supporter interviews for Wear Down South. Missing out on Gina McKee, Dave Stewart and – bizarrely given his initial enthusiasm – Glenn Hugill had been disappointing, but an exclusive interview with Peter O’Toole beckoned …

Peter O’Toole‘s connection with Sunderland AFC was, for a very long time, a mystery to me.

I’d heard the rumours, been told of the chatshow asides and wondered about the truth. Couldn’t recall seeing him in the away end anywhere, and didn’t bump into him on rare forays into executive dining areas.

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