NOT FOND OF FONDA
Ken Hoffman relives his costly celebrity gambling fail
Aug 26, 2019, 2:32 pm
Photo via: Peter Fonda/Facebook
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.
Actor Peter Fonda, co-writer and star of the groundbreaking counterculture film Easy Rider, died last week. He was 79.
Here's my Peter Fonda story and the night I took the worst gambling "bad beat" of my life.
In 1998, Fonda was nominated for a movie called Ulee's Gold. I never saw this movie, I still have no idea what it's about, but I kept hearing about Fonda racking up important acting awards:
Golden Globes: "Best Performance by and Actor in a Motion Picture."
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics: "Best Actor."
National Society of Film Critics: "Best Actor."New York Film Critics: "Best Actor."
Society of Texas Film Critics: "Best Actor."
On and on, Fonda was sweeping every acting award in sight for Ulee's Gold.
Fond of Fonda in Vegas
Around that time, I checked the Las Vegas odds for the upcoming Academy Awards. Internet gambling was starting to hit big and I happened to have an account with an Irish bookmaking site.
The nominees for Best Actor were: Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting, Jack Nicholson for As Good as it Gets, Dustin Hoffman for Wag the Dog, Robert Duvall for The Apostle, and Peter Fonda for Ulee's Gold.
I thought for sure that Fonda would be the overwhelming favorite to win the Oscar. After all, he was sweeping all the acting awards in the runup to the Academy Awards. But whoa, Fonda was only the third choice among the Vegas oddsmakers at 8-1.
Easy Rider; easy money
Are you kidding? This is the lock of the millennium. I was going to load up on Peter Fonda to win Best Actor. Easy money. A printing press. A key to Fort Knox.
But first … I'm in the media and I used to sit two desks over from Joe Leydon at the old Houston Post. Joe absolutely lived and breathed movies. These days he teaches film studies at UH and HCC and reviews movies for Variety. I trusted his knowledge of the industry. I called Joe and asked him, "Who's going to win Best Actor at the Oscars?" Like every other film critic in America, he was all over Peter Fonda's performance in Ulee's Gold. I double asked him, "Are you sure?"
Continue on CultureMap to learn how Peter Fonda inspired a Beatles song and more.
Astros blank Cardinals behind big nights from Meyers and Brown
Apr 16, 2025, 8:20 am
Nolan Arenado homered and Brendan Donovan went 4 for 4, helping Sonny Gray and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros 8-3 on Monday night.
Arenado also doubled twice and scored two runs in the opener of a three-game series. Donovan extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Gray (3-0) pitched seven scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, struck out four and walked one.
The Cardinals have won Gray's last eight home starts dating to last season.
Astros left-hander Framber Valdez (1-2) was tagged for seven runs — six earned — in four-plus innings. Five of the 10 hits he allowed were doubles.
Arenado hit a solo drive off Luis Contreras in the eighth. It was his second homer of the season.
The Cardinals broke it open with three runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
Pedro Pagés hit a two-run double to make it 3-0 in the fourth. Nolan Gorman's sacrifice fly extended the lead to 7-0 in the fifth.
Donovan scored twice and drove in a run. He is batting an NL-high .391.
Houston's Jeremy Peña hit a three-run homer off Roddery Muñoz with two outs in the ninth.
Key moment
Arenado drove in the first run in the fifth. He fouled off four straight offerings in a 10-pitch at-bat before ripping an RBI double to left.
Key stat
Gray set the tone when he retired Jose Altuve, Isaac Paredes and Yordan Alvarez in order in the first inning. The Astros’ only hit off Gray through five was catcher Yainer Diaz’s infield single in the second.
Up next
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown (1-1, 2.00 ERA) starts on Tuesday night. Right-hander Erick Fedde (1-1, 4.50 ERA) makes his fourth start for the Cardinals.