Peter O’Toole has passed away today, aged 81. Amongst the many characters he played was the lead role in Keith Waterhouse’s Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, based on the Spectator’s Low Life column.
O’Toole was easily Jeffrey’s favourite of the actors to play him – Tom Conti, he thought, seemed to disapprove of all the drinking but O’Toole ‘made it his play’. Below is our review of his performance, by Christopher Edwards dated 20 October 1989.
Readers of The Spectator will need no explanation about the contents of this production, based as it is upon the weekly column of our own Low Life correspondent. When I recently tried to arrange an interview with Jeffrey Bernard for Drama magazine, I was told the best way of reaching him on the telephone was to ring the Coach and Horses pub just after 11 o’clock (in the morning).
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