O'Toole Revives Jeffrey Bernard in West End

British stage and screen veteran Peter O'Toole is due to return to the West End stage to revive his role in Keith Waterhouse's Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, the biodrama based on the low-life column of Spectator writer and lifelong Soho drinker Bernard. Final dates have not yet been confirmed but, provisionally, the production will open at the Old Vic in late July for a limited eight-week run.

O'Toole created the title role for the 1989 premiere of Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell when it became a hit at the Apollo. It was successfully revived at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1991. O'Toole, himself a famed drinker, became a friend of Bernard's in the 1950s. And, though Bernard died in 1997, producers say that the script will not be altered.

The role will be O'Toole's first on stage in seven years, and many theatrical insiders are speculating that, at 67, it may be his last. The actor is, reportedly, also keen to have a documentary-style film made of the stage production.

O'Toole is well-known for his film roles in epics such as Lawrence of Arabia and Becket. On stage, Bernard is considered his signature role although he is also remembered for a disastrous Macbeth, staged at the Old Vic in 1980.

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