THE ACTOR Peter O’Toole and director John Huston have been associated with County Galway for more than six decades.
O’Toole was born in Connemara in 1932 and regularly visits Ireland while American film director John Huston moved to St Cleran’s House in east Galway in 1954 and became an Irish citizen a decade later. Both men instilled in their children a pride in their Galway heritage.
“I’m half Welsh and half Irish but I’m not drawn to Wales in the same way that I’m drawn to Ireland,” O’Toole’s daughter Kate tells me. “I suppose the fact that I live here and not there speaks for itself.
“I first came to Galway in 1963 and back then it was a very rainy grey place. The only place you could go was to Lydon’s Coffee House for prawns marie rose. Although since then it has become a much more vibrant place thanks to Druid, Macnas, and the film fleadh.”
Kate was born in Stratford-upon-Avon but her father was so keen for her to become an Irish citizen that he immediately registered her arrival with Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs overseas births.
As the daughter of Peter O’Toole and Welsh actress Siân Phillips, Kate was almost destined for a life on the stage. She studied drama at Yale School and was named ‘Best Actress’ by the British Arts Council in 2001.
Many of Kate’s childhood summers were spent in Galway in the company of the Huston children.
“Angelica was that little bit older than us and she’d already left home so I didn’t really know her,” says Kate. “Allegra used to stay with us in Clifden and then I’d stay with the Hustons in St Cleran’s.
“She left Galway when she was about six, when her mother died, and we sort of lost touch. We reconnected through the making of The Dead in the late 1980s and we’ve been firm friends ever since.”
The Dead is a James Joyce short story based on the teenage love affair between his wife Nora Barnacle and a boy named Michael Furey in Galway. In 1987 an adapted screenplay of the story by Tony Huston was directed by his father John. The film starred Angelica Huston as Gretta Conroy and Kate O’Toole as Miss Furlong.
“It was the last film John Huston made before he died,” O’Toole says. “He used to talk about the fact that he’d be gone before it was even released. He’d joke: ‘I don’t want any black armbands or miserable faces at the premiere! It was a very special project for him and for us all because of the Galway connection.”
This coming year Kate will work with the Huston family again on the short film written and produced by Allegra entitled Good Luck Mr Gorski. It centres around the events leading up to Neil Armstrong’s moon walk in 1969 and the positive impact it had on his next door neighbour Mr Gorski.
“This is Allegra’s pet project,” Kate says. “She’s always wanted to fund and make it herself and I’ve fallen into the role of executive producer. My father did one film called The Bible with John Huston at the end of the 1960s. So I think it’s fair to say that this is the first Huston/O’Toole film since then. It’s very exciting to be a part of.”
The short film has a budget of $40,000 and a number of fund-raising events are being held around the world.
On Tuesday November 28 at 7pm at The Crane Bar there will be a raffle with prizes worth more than €5,000 - including a week at a five star apartment in Marbella. Tickets are on sale from Charlie Byrne’s bookshop and The Crane. After the draw Allegra Huston, Tony Huston, and Kate O’Toole will give a reading.
See www.goodluc kmrgorski.com
