FILE - This 1965 file photo released by 20th Century Fox shows actor Peter O'Toole in a scene from "How to Steal a Million Dollars and Live Happily Ever After." In a statement released Tuesday, July 10, 2012, the 79-year-old actor said he would retire from films and stage. “The heart of it has gone out of me,” he said, adding, “it won't come back.” O'Toole won acclaim as a Shakespearian actor before rocketing to fame in “Lawrence of Arabia.” His last of eight Oscar nominations was in 2007 for the film “Venus.” (AP Photo/Twentieth Century-Fox)
July 10, 2012 - 1:31 PM
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Peter O'Toole is retiring from show business, saying he no longer has the heart for it and that it's time to "chuck in the sponge."
O'Toole, who turns 80 on Aug. 2, said in a statement Tuesday that his career on stage and screen fulfilled him emotionally and financially and put him in the company of fine people.
But the eight-time Oscar nominee says the time is right to quit and that he's bidding the actor's life a dry-eyed farewell.
O'Toole shot to screen stardom 50 years ago in the title role of "Lawrence of Arabia," which brought him his first Oscar nomination. Among actors, he holds the record for Oscar futility, never winning on any of his eight nominations.
He received an honorary Oscar in 2003, though.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012