O'TOOLE LONELY AFTER DEATHS OF NINE FRIENDS

Veteran actor PETER O'TOOLE is suffering from a heartbreaking spell of loneliness after a number of his closest friends have died in the past year. The 75-year-old VENUS star, who sprung back from a hip replacement surgery to attend the Oscars on Sunday (25FEB07), has admitted he is "lonely with no chums". He says: "Nine of my friends died in one year. "I do have one chum still left, a shaky old thing who said to me recently, 'When I die, I want you to drink hot gin and pee on my grave.'"