The legendary stage and screen actor, Peter O'Toole, died yesterday at the age of 81. His agent Steve Kenis told the media that O'Toole was at the Wellington Hospital in London. Peter O'Toole's Agent said O'Toole had been suffering from a long illness. Toole survived stomach cancer in the 1970s. 

Kenis said in a statement "Peter O'Toole's family announced today that very sadly Peter died yesterday, peacefully in hospital. He had been ill for some time." 

O'Toole is survived by his two daughters, Patricia and Kate O'Toole, from his marriage to the actress Siân Phillips, and his son, Lorcan O'Toole, from his marriage  with Karen Brown. Kate O'Toole thanked the public but asked for her family to be allowed to grieve in private. In a statement she said the family would organize a memorial service "filled with song and good cheer" in due course.

O'Toole served in the Royal Navy before he started acting. He studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Peter O'Toole was born in 1932 in Connemara, Ireland, but grew up in England. Years of heavy drinking and chain-smoking took their toll on his health. He worked as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company and had early stage successes as the lead in Hamlet and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice before moving to television in 1954. His first film role was a bit part in "The Day They Robbed the Bank of England" in 1959. O'Toole's breakthrough role came in 1962 when he was chosen to play T. E. Lawrence in David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia." He played in the films "Becket" and "The Lion in Winter" In 1972, he played both Miguel de Cervantes and his Don Quixote in "Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha." O'Toole played a mad englishman in "The Ruling Class." O'Toole co-starred in the Pixar animated film "Ratatouille."  His most recent film was "For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada." O'Toole starred in the 1987 Broadway revival of "Pygmalion."

O'Toole holds the record for most Oscar nominations without ever winning.  O'Toole received Oscar nominations for 1964's "Becket," 1968's The Lion in Winter, 1969's Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 1972's "The Ruling Class," 1980's "The Stunt Man" and 1982's "My Favorite Year" and, most recently in 2006 for the British drama "Venus," although he has never won the award. He received an Honorary Oscar in 2003. O'Toole has won the BAFTA Award, four Golden Globes, the Emmy and numerous other awards, including, in 2000, the Olivier Award for his performance as Jeff in "Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell" at The Old Vic Theatre, London. O'Toole played Pope Paul III in the Showtime series "The Tudors."

When O'Toole retired from acting last year he wrote in a statement, "My professional acting life, stage and screen, has brought me public support, emotional fulfillment and material comfort. It has brought me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits.   However, it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay. So I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."