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Actor Peter O'Toole, who starred in Sir David Lean's 1962 film classic Lawrence of Arabia, died on Saturday aged 81, his agent has said.
He was being treated at London's Wellington hospital after a long illness, his agent added.
O'Toole's daughter Kate said the family was overwhelmed "by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us".
He received an honorary Oscar in 2003, having initially turned it down.
In a letter the actor asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to delay it until he was 80, saying he was "still in the game and might win the bugger outright".
O'Toole's agent said he was "one of a kind in the very best sense and a giant in his field".
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "My thoughts are with Peter O'Toole's family and friends. His performance in my favourite film, Lawrence of Arabia, was stunning."
The Irish-born star got his big break when Sir David cast him as British adventurer T E Lawrence.
Lawrence of Arabia earned him the first of eight Oscar nominations, with others coming for such films as Becket, The Lion in Winter and Goodbye, Mr Chips.
Other performances included leading Shakespearean parts, comic roles in adaptations of PG Wodehouse and his famed starring role in Keith Waterhouse's stage play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell.
O'Toole also had a reputation for riotous behaviour following bouts of drinking, but in the mid-70s he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and was warned by medics that more alcohol would prove fatal.
He had yards of his intestinal tubing - "most of my plumbing" - removed and he gave up drinking.
"If you can't do something willingly and joyfully, then don't do it,'' he once said. "If you give up drinking, don't go moaning about it; go back on the bottle. Do. As. Thou. Wilt."
Last July, after a career spanning 50 years and at the age of 79, O'Toole said he was retiring from the stage and screen.
"I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell," he said.
"The heart for it has gone out of me. It won't come back".
However, last month it was announced he was being lined up for a role as a Roman orator in Katherine of Alexandria, a film scheduled for release next year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25393557
RIP
He was being treated at London's Wellington hospital after a long illness, his agent added.
O'Toole's daughter Kate said the family was overwhelmed "by the outpouring of real love and affection being expressed towards him, and to us".
He received an honorary Oscar in 2003, having initially turned it down.
In a letter the actor asked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to delay it until he was 80, saying he was "still in the game and might win the bugger outright".
O'Toole's agent said he was "one of a kind in the very best sense and a giant in his field".
Prime Minister David Cameron said: "My thoughts are with Peter O'Toole's family and friends. His performance in my favourite film, Lawrence of Arabia, was stunning."
The Irish-born star got his big break when Sir David cast him as British adventurer T E Lawrence.
Lawrence of Arabia earned him the first of eight Oscar nominations, with others coming for such films as Becket, The Lion in Winter and Goodbye, Mr Chips.
Other performances included leading Shakespearean parts, comic roles in adaptations of PG Wodehouse and his famed starring role in Keith Waterhouse's stage play Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell.
O'Toole also had a reputation for riotous behaviour following bouts of drinking, but in the mid-70s he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and was warned by medics that more alcohol would prove fatal.
He had yards of his intestinal tubing - "most of my plumbing" - removed and he gave up drinking.
"If you can't do something willingly and joyfully, then don't do it,'' he once said. "If you give up drinking, don't go moaning about it; go back on the bottle. Do. As. Thou. Wilt."
Last July, after a career spanning 50 years and at the age of 79, O'Toole said he was retiring from the stage and screen.
"I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell," he said.
"The heart for it has gone out of me. It won't come back".
However, last month it was announced he was being lined up for a role as a Roman orator in Katherine of Alexandria, a film scheduled for release next year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25393557
RIP
