Orion Books has acquired from Peter Cox at Redhammer Management world rights in PETER O’TOOLE: HELLRAISER, the definitive biography of legendary actor Peter O’Toole, written by Carolyn Soutar.

Peter O’Toole has dominated the world of movies, theatre and front pages for almost 50 years. In 2007, he received his seventh Oscar nomination, for his role in Venus. “Carolyn worked as Peter’s stage manager,” says Orion's Ian Marshall, “and saw him professionally and personally during the 1980s. After her successful biographies of Dave Allen and Rudolf Nureyev, both of whom she also worked with, Carolyn has pioneered a unique and very intimate style of biography: one that works extremely well with subjects such as O’Toole, Nureyev and Allen.”

Based on her own experiences and interviews with those who know him, HELL RAISER tracks O’Toole’s astonishing journey from his humble beginnings as the son of a bookmaker in Leeds to his movies and life in 2007.

“It is the first major biography of O’Toole in over a decade,” says Redhammer’s Peter Cox. “Carolyn’s book will demolish a number of myths and show true insight into this extraordinary man. Working with someone over a period of time, as Carolyn has done, not only shows you their private side, but takes you backstage to meet the people he has worked with. No one else could write such a deeply revealing biography as this.”