US:Veteran Irish actor Peter O'Toole has received a nomination for best actor from the US Screen Actors' Guild (SAG) for his part in the film Venus, in which he plays an elderly man smitten by a younger woman.
The guild's awards are often seen as a pointer for the Oscars.
O'Toole (74) has been nominated unsuccessfully seven times for an Oscar (first in 1962 for Lawrence of Arabia). He faces stiff competition in the guild's best actor category from Forest Whitaker as former dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness, Leonardo DiCaprio as a diamond smuggler in Blood Diamond, and Ryan Gosling as a school teacher in Half Nelson.
SAG's nominees for best actress include three British women, Helen Mirren in The Queen, Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal and Kate Winslet in Little Children.
Unlike the Oscars, SAG also gives out awards for TV shows.
Among the leading nominees in that arena was the cast of Mafia drama The Sopranos, which earned nominations in three categories including best ensemble acting in a TV drama. Joining it on the list for best acting in a drama were the casts of Grey's Anatomy, 24, Deadwood and Boston Legal.
The SAG winners will be named on January 28th. - (Reuters)