Give the gong to a god-like talent from Venus

SO Peter O’Toole wryly contemplates his eighth Oscar nomination. For my part, I am of an age and was sufficiently star-struck to have followed his career play-by-play and film-by-film from the 1950s.

I remember reading Kenneth Tynan’s Observer review of O’Toole’s 1959 stage performance in Willis Hall’s The Long and the Short and the Tall: “In the case of Mr O’Toole I sense a technical authority that may, given discipline and purpose, presage greatness”.

Magnificent and stunningly contrasting movie roles followed with Lawrence of Arabia and Becket. A parallel theatrical career saw him in the title role of Hamlet and playing Shylock in the Merchant of Venice — the latter prompting the Daily Express critic to ask: “Is this the next Olivier?”