With the Oscars right around the corner I thought it would be fun to put together an Academy Award list. Because there are so many Oscar lists out there I wanted to do a unique list in a hopefully fun and entertaining format. This bottom to top list (10 to 1 with a bonus of 0) will have the number representing the number of achievements and lists those achievements accordingly. So I guess you could say it’s a list within a list. All accomplishments on this list are prior to the results of the 82nd Academy Awards scheduled for March 7, 2010.
Achievement: Ten Oscar Winners that Have Appeared in 3 Oscar Winning Best Picture Films
1. Donald Crisp Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) , The Life of Emile Zola (1937) and How Green Was My Valley (1941)
2. Clark Gable, It Happened One Night (1934) , Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and Gone With the Wind (1939)
3. John Gielgud Around the World in 80 Days (1956) , Chariots of Fire (1981) and Gandhi (1982)
4. Hugh Griffith, Ben-Hur (1959) , Tom Jones (1963) and Oliver! (1968)
5. Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy (1969) , Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988)
6. Diane Keaton The Godfather (1972) , The Godfather Part II (1974) and Annie Hall (1977)
7. Shirley MacLaine, Around the World in 80 Days (1956) , The Apartment (1960) and Terms of Endearment (1983)
8. Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter (1978) , Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Out of Africa (1985)
9. Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy (1989) , Unforgiven (1992) , Million Dollar Baby (2004)
10. Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) , Terms of Endearment (1983) , The Departed
Interesting Fact: In the film Million Dollar Baby Morgan Freeman was originally approached to play the lead role of Frankie Dunn. But even before Clint Eastwood took on the directing and starring role he decided to take the part of Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris.
Achievement: Nine Actors to Win a Tony Award and an Oscar for the Same Role
1. José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac (1947/1950)
2. Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba (1950/1953)
3. Yul Brynner in The King and I (1952/1956)
4. Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady (1957/1964)
5. Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker (1960/1962)
6. Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons (1962/1966)
7. Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses (1965/1968)
8. Joel Grey in Cabaret (1967/1973)
9. Lila Kedrova, and did it the other way around. She won an Oscar for Zorba the Greek, in 1964 and 20 years later won a Tony for the same role in Zorba in 1984.
Interesting Fact: In the film The King and I, three musical numbers were filmed and then deleted from the movie. They were: “My Lord and Master” (a ballad sung by Tuptim shortly after her arrival in the palace) – “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” (a soliloquy for Anna, in which she comically expresses her anger towards the King) – “I Have Dreamed” (another duet for Tuptim and Lun Tha) – It was felt that “My Lord and Master” and “I Have Dreamed” didn’t do much to advance the plot, and the number “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” would make Anna sound too whiny and nagging.
Achievement: Eight Times Actors Have Been Nominated Posthumously
1. Jeanne Eagels, The Letter (Nominated Best for Actress) 1928/9
2. James Dean, East of Eden (Nominated for Best Actor) 1955
3. James Dean, Giant (Nominated for Best Actor) 1956
4. Spencer Tracy, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Nominated Best Actor) 1967
5. Peter Finch, Network (Won for Best Actor) 1976
6. Ralph Richardson, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan (Nominated for Supporting Actor) 1984
7. Massimo Troisi, Il Postino (Nominated for Best Actor) 1995
8. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (Won for Supporting Actor) 2008
Interesting Fact: In preparation for his role as The Joker, Heath Ledger hid away in a hotel room for about six weeks. Ledger delved deep into the psychology of the character. Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker’s appearance was primarily based off of the look of punk rocker Sid Vicious combined with the psychotic mannerisms of Malcolm McDowell’s character, Alex De Large, from A Clockwork Orange.
Achievement: Seven Oscar Nominations for a Non-Speaking Role
1. Jane Wyman, Johnny Belinda (Won for Best Actress) (1948)
2. Patty Duke, The Miracle Worker (Won for Best Supporting Actress) (1962)
3. John Mills, Ryan’s Daughter (Won for Best Supporting Actor) (1970)
4. Marlee Matlin, Children of A Lesser God (Won for Best Actress) (1986)
5. Holly Hunter The Piano (Won for Best Actress) (1993)
6. Samantha Morton, Sweet and Lowdown (Nominated for Best Supporting Actress) (1999)
7. Rinko Kikuchi, Babel (Nominated for Best Supporting Actress) (2006)
Interesting Fact: In the film The Miracle Worker, for the dining room scene, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke wore padding beneath their clothes to prevent serious bruising during the intense physical skirmish. The nine-minute sequence required three cameras and took five days to film. You can watch the scene here.
Achievement: Six Winning Oscars for Performing in a Spoken Language Other Than English
1. Sophia Loren, Two Women (Italian) 1960
2. Robert DeNiro, The Godfather Part II (Italian) 1974
3. Roberto Benigni, Life Is Beautiful (Italian) 1997
4. Benicio del Toro, Traffic, (Spanish) 2000
5. Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose (French) 2007
6. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Spanish) 2008
Interesting Fact: With Penelope Cruz winning an Oscar for her role as Maria Elena in the film Vicky Cristina Barcelona it continues a trend of young actresses winning Best Supporting Actress Oscars in Woody Allen films. Previous winners were Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite (1995) and Dianne Wiest in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994) .
Achievement: Five Actors Winning Back to Back Oscars
1. Luise Rainer: Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Best Actress for The Good Earth (1937)
2. Spencer Tracy: Best Actor for Captains Courageous (1937) and Best Actor for Boys Town (1938)
3. Katharine Hepburn: Best Actress for Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner (1967) and Best Actress for A Lion in Winter (1968)
4. Jason Robards: Best Supporting Actor for All the President’s Men (1976) and Best Supporting Actor for Julia (1977)
5. Tom Hanks: Best Actor, Philadelphia (1993) and Best Actor for Forrest Gump (1994)
Interesting Fact: Not only is Luise Rainer (Pictured above) the first woman to win two Academy Awards and the first person to win them back to back she is also the oldest living Oscar winner. Rainer was born of Jewish parents in Dusseldorf, Germany and made three German movies. Because of the rise of the Nazis in her home country, she accepted a contract from M-G-M in 1935and departed with her parents to Hollywood. She now lives in London and on January 12, 2010 she celebrated her 100th birthday. You can watch a 100 year birthday tribute here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVCWkOh_KHY
Achievement: Four Woman Nominated for Best Director
I found this hard to believe because there have been so many talented woman directors over the years. No woman has won an Oscar for Best Director and only four have been nominated.
1. Lina Wertmuller for Seven Beauties (1976)
2. Jane Campion for The Piano (1993)
3. Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003)
4. Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
Note: The Hurt Locker was first released theatrically in Italy in 2008. It was then released in the United States in 2009 and will be eligible for the upcoming Academy Awards. So Kathryn Bigelow could be the first woman to win an Oscar for Directing.
Interesting Fact: Lina Wertmüller’s films are highly reflective of her own political commitments, with the main characters either dedicated anarchists, communists, feminists (or all) .
Achievement: Three films winning for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Writing
In the Biz this is known as “The Big Five” or the “Oscar Grand Slam”.
1. It Happened One Night (1934) Director: Frank Capra Actor: Clark Gable Actress: Claudette Colbert Writing Adaptation: Robert Riskin
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Director: Miloš Forman Actor: Jack Nicholson Actress: Louise Fletcher Writing Adapted Screenplay: Laurence Hauben and Bo Goldman
3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Director: Jonathan Demme, Actor: Anthony Hopkins Actress: Jodie Foster, Writing Adapted Screenplay: Ted Tally
Interesting Fact: Clark Gable gave his Oscar for It Happened One Night to a child who admired it, telling him it was the winning of the statue that had mattered, not owning it. The child returned the Oscar to the Gable family after Clark’s death in 1960.
Achievement: Two Directors that Directed Themselves to an Acting Oscar
1. Laurence Olivier, Director of and Best Actor for Hamlet (1948)
2. Roberto Benigni, Director of and Best Actor for Life Is Beautiful (1998)
Neither Olivier or Benigni were awarded the Oscar for Best Director
Interesting Fact: In the film Hamlet, Olivier played the voice of Hamlet’s father’s ghost himself by recording the dialog and playing it back at a reduced speed, giving it a macabre quality. You can hear the voice at 2 minutes and 49 second into this clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu46pOY0itc
Achievement: One Actor Winning 4 Oscars
Katharine Hepburn holds the current record for the most acting Academy Awards won by an individual. The movies are: Morning Glory (1933) Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) The Lion in Winter (1968) On Golden Pond (1981) All 4 Oscars are for best actress. You can see all four of her Oscars here.
Interesting Fact: Another one and only achievement is the only actor to win an Oscar for playing a real-life actor who has received an Oscar. Ironically it is Cate Blanchett for winning Best Supporting actress in the 2004 film The Aviator, in which she played Katharine Hepburn.
Achievement: Zero Science Fiction Films Winning Best Picture
Sci-fi movies have never been a big favorite for the Academy. District 9 and Avatar are both up for best Picture for this year’s academy awards and a win from one of the two would mark the first best picture Oscar for a science fiction film. There have only been a few nominated science-fiction films for best picture in the past, including A Clockwork Orange (1971) , Star Wars (1977) and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) .
Interesting Fact: There are several legends attributed to the “Oscar” nickname. Betty Davis claimed to have dubbed the statue with the name because its backside reminded her of Harmon Oscar Nelson, her husband. Another story claims the Academy’s first librarian, Margaret Herrick, named the award because it reminded her of her uncle Oscar. Columnist Sidney Skolsky lays claims to making a vaudeville reference when he coined the name in the press. The Academy began officially calling the award Oscar in 1939.
@DoubleT (59):
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks.
Depending how you look at it, one science fiction movie DID win for Best Picture. In 1932 (or was it ’31?) the Best Picture award was shared by The Champ and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (with Fredric March). Most people consider J&K a horror movie, but it WAS science that changed the good doctor.
And yes, A Clockwork Orange is science fiction. It takes place in the future and that’s enough to qualify it.
Avatar is sure to win an oscar, it was soooo boring I fell asleep half way through it.
I LOVE THE FORMAT OF THIS LIST. I REALLY HOPE I SEE MORE LIKE THIS.
Great list blogball! very interesting and informative.
@John Sherman (62): Not so much that it took place in the future… (as you can have science stagnate along the way for unknown reasons), but because it presented the horrifying fictional ‘Ludovico Technique’.
yo dawg, we herd you liek lists. so, we put a list in yo list so you can gain knowledge while you gain knowledge.
You can ruffle your feathers on this one well done.
Nice job Blogball, Excellent!
Horror and film noir are two other genres which have never won an Oscar for Best Picture.
There could be a list of people that could be added to number 2- self directing. People that directed themselves, and got the director award but missed the acting. Mel Gibson in the amazing Braveheart, Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven. I’m sure there are more but those are the only two that jump to mind.
And avatar sucks.
They’ll probably give Bigelow the Oscar this year just so everyone can say “finally a woman has won an academy award!”.
The Oscars is all political… I mean last year Mickey Rourke was clearly robbed by that Sean Penn prick because he played a queer.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I really appreciate it. I actually had the idea to do a list in this format a while ago but couldn’t find a vehicle for it. I thought of something like survivors of famous catastrophes 10 down to 1 but it proved to be very difficult. With all of the different categories and combinations in the academy awards I was able to pull it off. I also had to make sure all of these facts were solid because I know there would be many fact checkers out there waiting to comment on any misinformation. (So far so good) And I haven’t given up on the survivor thing yet
@Blogball (73):
Usually I don’t like these Oscar lists at all. This one is the only exception. I really learnt something new today. Thank you and kudos.
I like the list, but the last entry seems kind of tagged on.
I’m kinda hoping people have realised that Avatar isnt so great at this point and with the larger spread of oscar voters something else will beat out Avatar in the big catergories.
Hurt Locker and District 9 were far better films and i think even UP should not be shut out.
Another fact that could have been included would have been;
Only one person has won a nobel peace prize and an oscar and that is George Bernard Shaw
That’s really kinda sad that no science fiction movie has ever won an Oscar. There are definitely some older sci-fi movies I would consider deserving of an award. 2001, for example. Unfortunately, I don’t think that District 9 really deserves one. It started out with an interesting concept, but I don’t think it was well executed. I haven’t seen Avatar yet, so I don’t know what to think about that one.
@Glass (70):
I guess that Silence of the Lambs is the closest we could consider as a horror oscar winner. And it’s strange how even on the golden age of film noir (1940-1958) not any noir movie won an oscar.
And sorry for my possible bad English, Finnish is so much easier.
*wrong smiley, I wasn’t that happy
Marleen Gorris won an Oscar for Antonia … that makes her a woman, a director and an Oscarwinner.
@Damon (81):
Antonia won for Best Foreign Language Film.
Marleen Gorris accepeted the award but it is considered an award for the submitting country as a whole. Not just for Best Director.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_Foreign_Language_Film
I know she won it for best foreign film, but that was the only category she could have won in. She still is a female director winning an Oscar. And she accepted it as well.
I hope Avatar doesn’t win,James Cameron’s ego is already as big as the Grand Canyon.
@Damon (83):
she didn’t win it the film won it.
The Oscar does not say Best Director on it.
Best Foreign Language Film Award is not presented to a specific individual.
@Finnish man (79): Silence of the Lambs is more of a Thriller than a Horror, but that is cutting the line very thin. Horror is more visceral and visual, while terror only suggests. Horror is the blood soaked, axe weilding murderer. Terror is the creak of a door you were sure you locked.
Who made the film though????
@Damon (87):
The Producer/s
YEAH right! The producers made the the script and directed the film. Let me guess, you’re from the US?
great list
@Damon (89): Give it up, man. The film won the award, not the director. Argue semantics all you want, but you can’t change the fact.
Refer to Rule 14, Section IV, Item D:
http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/rules/rule14.html
“The Academy Statuette (Oscar) will be awarded to the motion picture and accepted by the director on behalf of the picture’s creative talents.”
I suggest you just put your tail between your legs, accept that you’ve been schooled, and move on before you start looking even more pathetic.
Yeah, the film won the award. But who is generally seen as a representative of that film? Not an actor or producer.
The rulebook will be on your side no doubt, but it’s kinda sad that you have to refer to it ….
It’s just an argument ….
Give it up Damon. If Inglorious Basterds should take home best picture this year it won’t be writer/director Quentin Tarantino who collects the award at the podium but instead producer Lawrence Bender. This is how it’s been for nearly 60 years. And Blogball made it extremely clear that the list was specifically referring to the Oscar for Best Director. Let me guess, you’re from the Netherlands?
That was interesting.
@Maggot (91): @Davern (93):
Thanks guys, I was running out of patience.
@Damon (92): @Damon (92): The rulebook will be on your side no doubt, but it’s kinda sad that you have to refer to it
It’s better than talking out of my ass like you’re doing. Sadly, I might add.
It’s just an argument
One in which you lost.
@Damon (89): “YEAH right! The producers made the the script and directed the film.”
but then there’s also cast and crew and finally there are the producers who the film actually belongs to and therefore it’s their film and their oscar, from head to toe, sword included. then you also go to say “I know she won it for best foreign film, but that was the only category she could have won in.” not true. she could have won in the category best directing if the academy members had chosen to nominate her. but they didn’t. and thus she’s not the first academy award winning female director. end of story.
damon, you don’t realize you’re contradicting yourself within one same sentence? if you consider best foreign a director’s award, then really what about “the the script” cuz it’s rare, albeit not unusal, that the director and the screenwriter are the same person. and then there’s the cinematographer who is also credited among authors of the film. director, screenwriter and cinematographers are the authors of the film so if we follow your logic she might be a winner of one third of the oscar, the head and the neck part, i presume.
good list u should put peter o`toole as bonus
good list
for most nominated and not winnig an oscar
i dont know if anyone else has mentioned this but, jack nicholson didn’t win an oscar for his role in the departed, he wasn’t even nominated. he did win for “as good as it gets” in 1998, tho.
okay, also morgan freeman has only won 1 oscar. the one for million dollar baby. he was nominated for driving miss daisy but, didnt win. he wasn’t nominated for unforgiven altho, you could argue that he could have been. Also, clark gable only won one oscar for “it happened one night”. he was nominated for mutiny on the bounty (lost to mclagen), and for gone with the wind but, he didnt win either of those. and lastly, Meryl streep didn’t win an oscar for “out of africa” altho, she was nominated for it, same with the deer hunter, nominated but, didn’t win. she didn win for sophie’s choice, and kramer vs. kramer making her a two-time oscar winner. these are the only ones that i knew were wrong and looked it up but, i have a feeling that a lot of this list, though well put together aren’t factually accurate and should probably be taken down for some editing. at least the parts about jack nicholson, meryl streep, clark gable, and morgan freeman.
@clara (100):
The criteria was Oscar winners just a appearing in 3 best picture films.
sorry, i wrote a part of that slightly wrong. meryl streep did win for sophie’s choice. i accidently put an “n” there.
@chingpower (12): man i miss that hugh ledger
Cool list, but could have done with a bit more punctuation.
Wonderful list! I never knew most of these things!!!
@62 It was cocaine that brought out the demon in Robt. L Stevenson’s Dr J and Mr H. Cocaine, the magic therapeutic drug of the late 19th C. RLS must have seen the dark side.
I love this list as well as the format.
I researched some of the movies here though because I wasn’t born yet when these were filmed.
INTERESTING LIST.
Once again Blogball invents a whole new and entertaining twist on the world of lists. I love stuff like this.
DISTRICT 9!
DISTRICT 9!
DISTRICT 9!
Avatar reflections:
So, I went to see this yesterday. This flick has been running for a few months now and there was still many people sitting to watch it, even at 4:30 in the afternoon. The first thing that struck me was the 3D, which seemed far better than the 3D in Beowulf and the latest Harry Potter movie – i.e awesome but not in-yer-face – beowulf has things flying out at the audience, but Avatar isn’t that kind of movie. After you get over the fact that you can see around curved objects and through holograms, the 3D actually blends in a bit and I found I didn’t notice it after a while; which I think stands to the movies credit.
I went to see this for the graphics; which I have to say are the best I have ever seen! (to date, of course). I especially thought the night scenes with the glowing foliage and floaty alien creatures was spellbinding!
About half way through the movie I ‘woke up from the waking dream’. The moment I looked at the movie subjectively was the moment several jarring elements came into view; the cringingly twee natives, the gut-wrenching eco sub plot, the alpha-male cast, the overly long and dawn out love story, the limbo sequences where nothing seems to be going on, and the usual ‘guy made good saves the whole world with his bare hands against impossable odds’ kinda thing. Even the talk of a universal lifeforce energy field – something I usually applaud – was sickeningly niminy-piminy vomit fodder.
Pulling back from all that – back into the world of detachment, I watched and enjoyed the rest of the movie. Once again, the graphics and live action blended far better than expected, and are quite breathtaking in places. At certain points I remember thinking that this technique was probably the only way to visualise some of the technology and high art of the landscape. You can certainly SEE where all the money went!
At the end of the day, would I make a bee-line for this on 3D HD DVD, vis-a-vi buying it?? Yes I would, but only for the visuals, not the plot!! Overall: 7 out of 10.
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@Scratch (46): Flame and Citron – I’ve had that for a while now and I believe it’s brilliant, I must give this a spin sometime.
@Maggot (91): Well sourced! I credit your research and information, …although not necessarily your advice.
@Lifeschool (111):
Yours is the best review of avatar i’ve read anywhere and god knows everybody had something to write on the subject (that’s getting quite old and sickening at times, no?). all i have to say on the matter is the world would be a bit sadder place to live in without jim cameron, i hope he’ll continue bedazzling us for many more decades. anywayses, congrats to lifeschool again for the “impossably” well written and endearingly honest review!
Lifeschool, I noticed you changed your avatar when I was reading your review for Avatar. How Ironic.
I agree with Double T that was extremely well written.
Re: Actors winning Oscars while not performing in English…didn’t Meryl Streep win for Sophie’s Choice? She was speaking Polish for part of that movie, right?
Avatar doesn’t deserve to be the first Sci-Fi to win best picture, it’s a piece of *****.
good list, but you forgot all about braveheart, which won the grand slam and was directed by mel gibson (best actor winner for braveheart)
@myself_ (116):
Braveheart won only 2 of the 5 needed for a grand slam
Lord of the Rings won…I’d say that is Science Fiction. Sure its Fantasy, but Fantasy is just a subsect of SciFi
@Blogball (117): Lol, it’s child’s play, eh Blogball? I guess these people did not read your comment (73). No one but no one is going to catch you in an error, my friend…
@Maggot (119):
Thanks Maggot and thanks again for that great link to the Rules for the Best Foreign Language Film Award in post 91. That was like a Perry Mason moment. Damon was then removed from the courtroom screaming “It’s sad you have to refer to it, It’s Sad You have to refer to it ”