caro8680:

Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn in The lion in winter.

O’Toole and Hepburn adored each other—and clashed with each other—much as Eleanor and her king did in this story of royal family intrigue. Kate was typically bossy—“Peter, stop towering over me.” “Peter, come and sit down.” “Peter, don’t be silly.”

O’Toole would mutter under his breath that she was a “droning old bag,” and say publicly that “she is terrifying. It is sheer masochism working with her. She has been sent by some dark fate to nag and torment me.” But he also admitted, “Meeting Kate was the great experience of my life… If it had been twenty-five years before, I would have broken Spencer Tracy’s fingers to get her!”

Interviewed on the set, Hepburn gave a picture of conciliation, despite O’Toole’s misgivings. “We are going to get on very well. He is Irish and makes me laugh. In any case I am on to him and he is on to me.”