It may not be the most prolific - or PC - award out there, but what the heck, it makes a change from Globes, Oscars, Emmy's and Tony's. This year's Pipesmoker of the Year Award was today given to actor Joss Ackland, who recieved his gold pipe-shaped trophy from film critic Barry Norman (1987's title-holder) at a lunch held at London's Savoy hotel.
72 year-old Ackland is a veteran of both stage and screen, with a career spanning decades. On screen he has played two Godfathers, Jock Delves Broughton, Goering, Aristotle Onassis, Matisse and has killed Charles Dance, James Belushi, Christopher Lambert (twice), Patsy Kensit, Kristin Scott Thomas, lost two submarines, shot Mel Gibson, blew Danny Glover off his toilet, and walked from Lands End to John O'Groats.
He joins other notable pipe-smokers Sir Harold Wilson, Eric Morecombe, Magnus Magnusson, Edward Fox, Ian Botham and Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who have all received the honour since the awards began in 1964.