Entertainment / Peter O'Toole Peter O'Toole Dead at 81 'Lawrence of Arabia' star retired from acting in 2012 By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff Posted Dec 15, 2013 12:20 PM CST Copied In this 1961 file photo, actor Peter O'Toole is shown in the title role in the film "Lawrence of Arabia.” (AP Photo/Columbia Pictures, file) Actor Peter O'Toole, the legend of stage and screen perhaps best known for Lawrence of Arabia, has died at the age of 81, his agent confirms to the BBC. The Brit was nominated eight times for an Oscar but was win-less in his lifetime, though he did begrudgingly accept an honorary Academy Award in 2003. In 2012, the then-79-year-old announced his retirement from acting, saying that, "It's time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from stage and screen. The heart for it has gone out of me; it won't come back." (More Peter O'Toole stories.) Report an error