O’Toole hopes to win ’the lovely bugger’ - Jan 23 2007
Peter O’Toole nearly didn’t accept his honorary Oscar in 2003 on the grounds that he was "still in the game and might win the lovely bugger outright".

He had a change of heart and on the night declared himself "honoured and delighted".

But the actor is still hoping for a win - this is his eighth best actor nomination.

"If you fail the first time try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. Yoicks!" he said.

His first nomination was for his most famous role, in the 1962 classic Lawrence Of Arabia.

There followed nominations for Becket (1965), The Lion In Winter (1969), Goodbye, Mr Chips (1970), The Ruling Class (1973), The Stunt Man (1981) and My Favourite Year (1983).

Born in Connemara, Co Galway, the star moved to England with his family as a young boy and settled in Leeds.

He studied at Rada with contemporaries Albert Finney, Alan Bates and Richard Harris.

Lawrence Of Arabia was one of his first film roles and earned him worldwide acclaim.

He was known as a hellraiser until a bout of pancreatitis brought on by heavy drinking put him in hospital in 1975.

One of his best known roles was playing the legendary bon viveur in Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell, revived in 1999 at the Old Vic.

Peter returned to TV in 2005 in the BBC’s Casanova.

read more about the Oscars 2007


Venus veterans hope to be on Planet Oscar - Jan 23 2007
Two screen veterans are keeping their fingers crossed for an Oscar nomination following their latest film’s premiere.

Peter O’Toole, Richard Griffiths and Leslie Phillips attended the premiere of Venus last night at London’s King’s Road.

In the movie Peter, 74, and Leslie, 82, play veteran English actors who have never hit the big time.

Lawrence Of Arabia star Peter has been nominated for a best actor Bafta for the role and Leslie is up for best supporting actor.

The pair are also keeping their fingers crossed for an Oscar nomination for the film when they are announced today.

Venus also features a newcomer, Jodie Whittaker, 24, who makes her big screen debut and recently appeared in the one-off return of TV show This Life.

Directed by Roger Michell and written by Hanif Kureishi, it reunites the same team behind TV series The Buddha Of Suburbia and the film The Mother.

Last night Peter joked: "It’s wonderful working with young people.

"When you find someone like Jodie who is not only young but able you want to grab it and eat it."

Leslie said: "I’ve made something like 30 films and this comes up very high in my estimation."

He said of his co-star Peter: "He’s a devil. He loves to send you up. He had a tent on set and he wouldn’t invite me in it, only Jodie."

Venus opens on Friday.

That ’lovely bugger’? - January 07
Peter O’Toole could walk away with his long awaited Oscar if his current accolades are anything to go by.  The acclaimed actor attempted to refuse his honorary Oscar because he felt that it put him out of the race for the big one.  However his most recent role, in Venus, sees O’Toole back at the top of his game at the age of 74 and has earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

And, as any watcher of awards ceremonies knows, a Golden Globe nom usually signals an Academy nod to follow...

O’Toole’s new role - June 04
Peter O’Toole has joined the cast of Romeo and Me.