The Author
Stage, film and television actress Siân Phillips is probably best known for her role in I, Claudius, and for her marriage to the late actor Peter O’Toole.
The Book
In this second volume of her autobiography Siân recalls her marriage to Peter O’Toole, her failed third marriage, and her life beyond.
Review
Life with Peter O’Toole was always going to be a ride. Even before Siân met him, he was known for his ‘hell-raiser’ life. He was one of the new breed of actors that were not going to be like the previous generation of actors.
The recollections of her married life — the travelling, their acting careers, and life in general — certainly felt like an eye opener to both of their lives. Was O’Toole really the hell-raiser he was said to be? If so, there seems to be little evidence it in this autobiography. There are some understandable points of the difficult marriage she had. Yes, he certainly had a drinking problem, but with an insider view, she describes a man who loved his wife and children, and was dedicated to his craft of acting.
After her marriage to O’Toole disintegrated, she embarked on another relationship, which led to a long and acrimonious divorce from O’Toole. The effects of the bitter divorce is clearly seen in Public Places as he is never referenced by her as Peter, only as ‘O’Toole’. The new relationship led to another marriage, and another failure. After this, Siân never had another relationship.
After her very enjoyable first autobiography, I feel that the second is a little disappointing. There were times during her marital confessions when it was difficult to feel sympathy with her situation. Yes, life was obviously hard with O’Toole; his drunken behaviour would try anybody. Their communication skills with each other definitely left something to be desired, and they never seemed to have really learned from that. And yet, when she defends the reasons for her own actions, or inactions, it does feel like ‘six of one and half a dozen of the other’, although Siân freely admits this in the foreword. Still, it is a candid insight into her life, and worth reading.
This article was originally published on Medium.
Charlotte Clark 