All right, we’re back as expected today with a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our very own Michael Coate.

But first, we wanted to take a moment this afternoon to acknowledge a bit of sad breaking news: The legendary film and stage actor Peter O’Toole has died.  He passed away yesterday at the age of 81.  Cinephiles will of course know him from his performance as T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, but other favorite film roles include such titles as Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Stunt Man, The Last Emperor and My Favorite Year.  Younger readers may best recall him for voicing a character in Pixar’s Ratatouille.  If you’re one of them, I envy you – it means you have so many great O’Toole films yet to discover.  In fact, I think a fresh viewing of Lawrence just might be in order in O’Toole’s memory.  Our hats off to him.  You can read more here at The New York Times.  [Read on here...]