# What is Peter O'Toole's best performance?

> O'Toole played kings, madmen and fading matinee idols, and earned eight Oscar nominations without ever winning one. Decide which of those near-misses deserved the statue most.

*By YPB Team · Published October 26, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-peter-otooles-best-performance*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Maurice (Venus)** — score 1000/1000
   A late-career 2006 role as an aging actor drawn to a young woman, which brought his eighth and final Oscar nomination.
2. **T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)** — score 999/1000
   O'Toole's star-making 1962 turn as the enigmatic British officer leading the Arab Revolt, earning his first Oscar nomination.
3. **Arthur Chipping (Goodbye, Mr. Chips)** — score 999/1000
   A tender 1969 musical turn as a shy public-school schoolmaster across decades, rewarded with a Golden Globe.
4. **Henry II (The Lion in Winter)** — score 958/1000
   A ferocious 1968 performance as the aging Plantagenet king sparring with Katharine Hepburn's Eleanor over the succession.
5. **Eli Cross (The Stunt Man)** — score 958/1000
   A gleefully manipulative 1980 performance as a godlike film director who hides a fugitive among his stunt crew.
6. **Alan Swann (My Favorite Year)** — score 789/1000
   A 1982 comedy role as a boozy Errol Flynn-style swashbuckler guesting on live 1950s television.
7. **Jim (Lord Jim)** — score 684/1000
   Richard Brooks's 1965 Joseph Conrad adaptation, with O'Toole as a disgraced sailor seeking redemption in Southeast Asia.
8. **Reginald Johnston (The Last Emperor)** — score 560/1000
   His 1987 supporting role as the Scottish tutor to Puyi in Bernardo Bertolucci's Best Picture winner.
9. **Jack Gurney (The Ruling Class)** — score 559/1000
   A wild 1972 black-comedy role as a paranoid schizophrenic earl who believes he is God, Oscar-nominated.
10. **Henry II (Becket)** — score 410/1000
   His first take on Henry II, a 1964 duel of wills with Richard Burton's Thomas Becket that won him a Golden Globe.
11. **Simon Dermott (How to Steal a Million)** — score 410/1000
   A breezy 1966 caper role opposite Audrey Hepburn as a society burglar helping steal a fake statue.
12. **Priam (Troy)** — score 410/1000
   A dignified 2004 supporting turn as the Trojan king who begs Achilles for the body of his son Hector.
13. **Don Quixote (Man of La Mancha)** — score 410/1000
   The 1972 musical adaptation with O'Toole playing both Cervantes and his deluded knight-errant.
14. **Anton Ego (Ratatouille)** — score 0/1000
   The 2007 Pixar voice role as a cadaverous food critic whose closing review became one of animation's great monologues.
15. **General Tanz (The Night of the Generals)** — score 0/1000
   A chilling 1967 role as a fastidious Nazi general suspected of murder, reuniting him with Omar Sharif.

Tags: movies, actors, classics, performances, peter o'toole