The winner, at long last, is Peter O’Toole

Actor Peter O’Toole, who racked up seven Academy Award nominations between 1962 and 1982 but came away empty-handed every time, is finally going to get an Oscar.

O’Toole, 70, will receive an honorary award at the Oscar ceremony on March 23, saluting him for what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences describes as “remarkable talents [that] have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters.”

“He’s seven times been nominated as best actor, which puts him in extremely rarified air for a performer,” said academy president Frank Pierson. “The board of governors felt it was time for him to hold his own Oscar in his hands.”

O’Toole’s acting nominations came for “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “Becket” (1964), “The Lion in Winter” (1968), “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” (1969), “The Ruling Class” (1972), “The Stunt Man” (1980) and “My Favorite Year” (1982).

-- Lee Margulies