Born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, Peter O'Toole states he was born in Connemara, Ireland, others say Leeds, where he grew up. He was the son of a wandering bookmaker, following the horses and moving about quite a bit. He attended Catholic school in Leeds, learned to read at an early age, and began getting into scrapes and fights as a teenager. He quit school at 14, and hoping to become a journalist he worked his way up from messenger/copy boy to cub reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. He discovered theatre and made his stage debut at 17. After serving two years in the Royal Navy, he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. His television debut was in a 1955 episode of The Scarlet Pimpernel, his big screen debut in the 1960 film Kidnapped.
Peter O'Toole died of complications from stomach cancer at the age of 81, his ashes returned to Connemara, Ireland.
