I heard that he had to take a break due to injuries suffered at the Battle of Wakefield.
"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

The pig.
Marlon, Claudia & Dimby the cats 1989-2010. Clio the cat, July 1997 - 1 May 2016.

Sir Tom .. has rejected things like Jesus of Nazerth, Troy and A Private Function among others
I guess he was offered the role of Julie Christie's handmaiden in
Troy
.
But who or what would he have played in
Private Function
?

Even great actors have to pay bills every now and then. I always wondered why Ralph Fiennes did "Maid in Manhattan" with Jennifer Lopez. shudder

Nothing wrong with an actor being selective about films. Courtney does work in other mediums such as tv and theatre.
Its that man again!!

My sentiments exactly.
"Haven't they replaced you with a coin-operated machine yet?"

Funny how he seems very selective about his film projects, turning down most offers yet he agreed to do Leonard Part 6.

I think he did every Alan Aykbourn play in the west end - the pinnacle of an actor's career.

From reading interviews with Sir Tom he has rejected something like 99 percent of the films and TV parts offered things like Jesus of Nazerth, Troy and A Private Function among others

I read a biography of him in the book 'An Autobiography of British Cinema' which stated that he became disenchanted with the filmmaking process, especially on Doctor Zhivago where in his own words he did three weeks of work in six months.
A mid-1990s quote is quite revealing: "Perhaps I should have done one or two more films earlier and not just lost touch quite as I did I didn't like the parts I had and I just longed to work in the theatre, and so that's what I did."

thanks

He was tired of making films, so he went back to theatre and stayed there until he made The Dresser. There were a couple of TV appearances but the rest was stage, stage, stage.