Bet on Peter to win Best Actor Oscar for 2006!
"18 March 2006O'TOOLE OF THE TRADEBack acting legend for NEXT YEAR'S OscarDerek McgovernYOU know how in TV whodunnits you always ignore the obvious suspect because he's, well, too obvious? Well it's like that in betting too.The more obvious a team or a horse or a Pop Idol, the more you try to find one to beat it.For instance France looked absolute certainties at the start of the Six Nations but I bet not too many of us backed them. Brave Inca had even stronger claims in Tuesday's Champion Hurdle but our money instead went on Mac's Joy or Hardy Eustace or Asian Maze. And even now there will be punters out there looking to oppose Barcelona in the Champions League while deep down recognising the futility of such actions.Of course what's obvious to punters is obvious to bookies too so the odds in all three cases above almost demanded that we look elsewhere. But today I give you an obvious winner - at far-from-obvious odds.Less than a fortnight ago Hills took a bet of £100 at 33-1 for Peter O'Toole to win a Best Actor Oscar next year.Now one thing punters don't do is back O'Toole at the Oscars. He's the Jimmy White of the Academy - he chokes so much on the big night that he'd be ideal for lead role in The Boston Strangler. But something about this bet made perfect sense. Picture perfect sense.AdvertisementFalk AdSolutionO'Toole, you see, is a constant source of embarrassment to Academy voters who cannot believe they have twice honoured Tom Hanks yet largely ignored one of the greatest actors in movie history.To salve their conscience, three years ago they offered him one of those honorary awards they give every year to the oldest duffer they can think of - Teddy Sheringham's in line for one next year. To his credit O'Toole declined, saying (in reference to a proper Oscar): "I'm still in the game. I might yet win the lovely bugger outright." Seven times O'Toole has been nominated for Best Actor. Seven times he's had to force a smile - the kind the Miss World runner-up bestows on the winner - while another name was called. With that kind of practice no wonder he's a great actor.To luckless O'Toole the five words "And the Oscar goes to..." must engender the same kind of feelings other blokes get when they hear "I'm pregnant - and it's yours." Word on the street is that the Academy are so desperate to give the great man an Oscar he could play the Tin Man in a remake of Wizard Of Oz and still get the nod.Well it just so happens that O'Toole is playing arguably the part of his life - his first lead role in 20 years - in the soon-to-be-released Venus. In it he plays an ageing actor smitten by a much younger woman. And he's in virtually every scene.Hills say they suspect the £100 bet was placed by an insider on the movie - but it could very well have been struck by O'Toole himself.The 73-year-old spent years of his boyhood at the races as the son of an Irish bookie. He played inveterate gambler and Sporting Life columnist Jeffrey Bernard on the London stage a few years ago. And the Cheltenham Festival is one of the highlights of his year, along with the Six Nations Championship.He said recently: "When my father came home from the track after a good day the whole room would light up' it was fairyland. But when he lost, it was black. In our house, it was always either a wake or a wedding."Somehow you suspect if anyone from the Venus team is backing O'Toole to win Best Actor Oscar, it's O'Toole.Henry Fonda, after a zillion superb performances, finally won his first Best Actor Oscar as an old man for On Golden Pond. O'Toole in my book is nailed on to become another successful OAP (Oscar-awarded pensioner). It's obvious, isn't it?"