Tues Top Ten: Best Best Supporting Actress Winners
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 10:41PM 
"I Simply Cannot Do Alone" might well be the theme song all lead actors should sing to their stellar supporting castI felt a list coming on so I didn't fight it. Neither did I fight the order as I slotted them in, though you know how this goes if you've ever made such insane list. The order might change with a moodswing and it would definitely change (perhaps drastically) if I had an opportunity to rewatch all these pictures back to back.
Ten Most Deserving Best Supporting Actress Oscar Wins
Runners up: I'm crazy about Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker and Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon but they're both unarguably leading roles so I'm not voting for them. My apologies in no particular order to Ruth Gordon, Wendy Hiller, Catherine Zeta-Jones and, oh, dozens of people. Never mind. Moving on! (The one winning performance I'm most frustrated to have not yet laid eyes on is Gloria Grahame's in The Bad and the Beautiful (given the hosannas I read about it... even right here.)
10 I want to offer the tenth spot to either Mercedes Reuhl in The Fisher King (1991) or Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind (1956) though I haven't seen either performance in aeons. Both are sometimes regarded --even by me -- as performances that are so over the top they're buzzing about King Kong's head like tiny airplanes. But given that the films they're in are as colorful and eccentric as the Empire State Building is tall, they're truly excellent and memorable contributions to their movies if you ask me.
She's got poise. The way she holds her head at just the right angle. That takes training. That takes years of training. I see what Willy sees. Willy's got big ideas, Jack."
-in All The King's Men
09 Mercedes McCambridge, All the King's Men (1949)
She slices right through the thick air of political grandstanding. Modern and mercurial, I sometimes like to imagine McCambridge dropped right into today's pictures. Imagine her starch and steel freed up by looser contemporary mores. She'd be even better about complicating her movies.
Where did April come up with that stuff about Adolf Loos and terms like "organic form"? Well, naturally. She went to Brandeis. But I don't think she knows what she's talking about. Could you believe the way she was calling him David? "Yes, David. I feel that way, too, David. What a marvelous space, David." I hate April. She's pushy."
-Holly's interior monologue in Hannah and Her Sisters
#8 through #1
Tilda, Rita, Dianne and More after the jump
08 Dianne Wiest, Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Even in voiceover Dianne Wiest is an A+ actor. "Holly" is one of Woody Allen's best character creations and Wiest rises to the challenge with both the comic surfaces and the dramatic interiors. She's endlessly sympathetic even while being entirely aggravating.
Isn't he wonderful looking?"
-Horny "Stella" in A Streetcar Named Desire
07 Kim Hunter, A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
It's a stone cold classic movie for a reason. Well, dozens of them, actually, but the five most obvious being playwright Tennessee Williams and the quartet that embodied his creations so definitively for the screen: Karl Malden, Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh... and this Oscar winner right here, Kim Hunter. More on this performance in our "Best Shot" episode about this movie.
06 Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton (2007)
Terrorized limb-chewing survival and performance anxiety form a deadly cocktail in this hypnotic performances. Tilda's in-character rehearsalsas a lawyer in way over her head are like performances inside and about the performance from this ever fascinating actress. I still can't believe she won!
05 Maureen Stapleton, Reds (1981)
"I'm thrilled, happy, delighted... sober" Maureen Stapleton quipped to big laughs when she won the Oscar for her relentless activist, the communist Emma Goldman. We're thrilled, happy, and delighted that she won too though you can get drunk on that grand performance in just one scene.
You tell him that Chino found about them. And shot her!"
-Anita rages in West Side Story
04 Rita Moreno, West Side Story (1961)
If we were crafting a list of the ten greatest performances in movie musicals [editors note: heyyyyy *lightbulb* ] well, she'd probably make that one, too. Anita's gonna get her kicks tonight ♫ She'll have her private little mix tonight ♫
03 Mo'Nique, Precious (2009)
"Who who who else was gonna love me?" With a performance that seismic, everyone, that's who. It's hilarious now to think of all the Doubting Thomases who thought she might lose the gold because she didn't "campaign" sufficiently. Sometimes the Oscars are decided on merit. Not often enough, mind you, but it has occurred.
There are women who reach a perfect time of life when the face will never again be as good, the body never as graceful, as powerful. It had happened that year to Julia."
-V.O. to Vanessa's entrance as "Julia" in Julia (1977)
02 Vanessa Redgrave, Julia (1977)
From my review: "Even an actor less gifted than Redgrave might have won gold in the title role: the movie fawns on the character and where movies fawn, awards often follow. But Redgrave continually elevates the movie that is so eager to put her on a pedestal. When it speaks of her beauty and grace she doesn't empty out her face as so many actors do when a movie requires them to become an abstract vessell for the audience. Instead, she lets a goofy sideways grin flash. When Jane Fonda works the traditional tears and drama in the film's climax, Redgrave refuses the sentiment of the scene repeatedly. Throughout the movie she seems a little wild-eyed. Redgrave understands that it takes more than just Goodness to fling yourself into martyrdom the way Julia does. You need a bit of madness for that level of commitment."
01 Dianne Wiest, Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Has any double Oscar winner ever displayed as much range within their two statued roles? The only thing "Holly" and "Helen Sinclair" share besides their author (Woody Allen) is their vessel. She's only one of the greatest actors of all time. Next up for Dianne: The Corrections with Ewan McGregor.
"DON'T SPEAK". No, actually do. Speak a lot, if you will, in the comments. Surely you have a lot to say about this massive topic.
Reader Comments (82)
Love this list, I have to admit I haven't seen either Weist performance. My top 5 winners:
5. Meryl Streep - Kramer Vs Kramer
4. Brenda Fricker - My Left Foot
3. Mercedes Reuhl - The Fisher King
2. Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
1. M'onique - Precious
Best performance Should have won / not nominated - Michelle Pfeiffer - White Oleander.
@Ramification: Yes, yes, and more yes. I still can't comprehend how that performance got no Oscar love. Her reading of her line, "I made you. I'm in your blood. You don't go anywhere until I let you go," still haunts me. What a portrayal.
Can we also talk about least deserving winners or is that just mean? If so, my top two (or bottom two, I guess) would be Jessica Lange and Kim Basinger.
My top 10, ranked, w/o commentary:
1) Ruth Gordon - Rosemary's Baby
2) Mo'Nique - Precious
3) Hattie McDaniel - Gone with the Wind
4) Sandy Dennis - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
5) Cloris Leachman - The Last Picture Show
6) Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind
7) Shelley Winters - A Patch of Blue
8) Donna Reed - From Here to Eternity
9) Teresa Wright - Mrs. Miniver
10) Rita Moreno - West Side Story
These 10 are the bottom of my ranking but I have to say that every one of these performances has certain aspects I like and admire.
1. Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful
2. Ingrid Bergman in Murder on the Orient-Express
3. Mary Astor in The Great Lie
4. Margaret Rutherford in The V.I.P.s
5. Shelley Winters in A Patch of Blue
6. Ethel Barrymore in None but the lonely Heart
7. Melissa Leo in The Fighter
8. Helen Hayes in Airport
9. Miyoshi Umeki in Sayonara
10. Lee Grant in Shampoo
1) Vanessa Redgrave - JULIA
2) Linda Hunt - THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY
3) Penélope Cruz - VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
4) Ruth Gordon - ROSEMARY'S BABY
5) Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Wrote this about Redgrave's performance :
http://movieimpressions.blogspot.com/2011/11/on-vanessa-redgraves-julia.html
Could not agree with you more on the comments about your top three, as well as Tilda - I was SHOCKED when she won, mostly because people seemed to see Michael Clayton as Clooney's show. I thought she was brilliant beyond words. One of the best decisions ever made in Oscar history.
In no order, I would say:
Sandy Dennis (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Rita Moreno (West Side Story)
Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny)
Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost)
Vanessa Redgrave (Julia)
Dianne Wiest (BOTH)
Eva Marie Saint (On The Waterfront)
Jane Darwell (Grapes of Wrath)
AND...
Beatrice Straight (Network)
Yes, I tend towards the comedies. A truly great comedic performance is so much harder to get right than a dramatic one. And I think the shortest performance ever to win an Oscar is absolutely one of the best. Honorable mentions to Anna Paquin, Hattie McDaniel, Mercedes McCambridge, Kim Hunter, Josephine Hull, Dorothy Malone, Ruth Gordon, Olympia Dukakis, Mo'Nique, and Marcia Gay Harden. Category fraud but nonetheless deserving work committed by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tatum O'Neal, and Patty Duke.
Am I the only one who didn't love Penelope in Vicky Christina, I mean I generally love her, but I found that performance too one note.
I agree with most of the board, not including Sandy Dennis is just plain silly. Marisa Tomei certainly deserves a shout out for Vinny as well.
"I DANCE LIKE THE WIND!"
I'd like to take this opportunity to brag that I was one of the few people who predicted Tilda to win, and I was so thrilled that I was right.
Also, I'm not sure what to make of this, but of all the four acting categories, this is the one for which I find the least amount of truly standout performances when I'm scrolling down the list of winners. There have been one too many default winners over the years, in my opinion. This year's nominees seem to be especially weak.
Love the list! I would have put Penélope and Catherine somewhere in the list, but still.
And Dianne Wiest is FOR ME the MOST DESERVING DOUBLE WINNER EVER!
I have to hop on board with all the Dennis and Swinton love! The 2008 Supporting Actress was so great! Ruby Dee aside (good, but so little to do); Ronan (Atonement), Blanchett (I'm Not There), and especially Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) would have been worthy winners. Ryan might even have made my winners top five in an alternate reality.
Oh Helen Sinclair! That made my day! Dianne Wiest's win there was so great. It would be top five level for me too. Some strong picks and some wonky choices in this roster. I think "West Side Story" is pretty awful, and both Moreno and Chakaris were awful wins to me. I thought that Kim Hunter was drowned out by the aftershocks of BRANDO and LEIGH in "ASND." Mo'Nique had to be in the lineup. She really was seismic in that role. And as glad as I am that Tilda is an Oscar winner, a part of me hates that she won for one of her most basic roles. Where's the love for "I Am Love" or "The Deep End" or "Julia," you know? Haven't seen "Reds" or "Julia" though. I really tried with "Reds" a few years ago, and I couldn't get through it. I'll try again one of these days. I know no one's going to agree with me, but both Beatrice Straight and Judi Dench would make my list. There's something about those short performances where they just blow the roof off the joint and then they're gone work wonders for me. I would have put Viola Davis in "Doubt" as another great example of that had she won there, instead of the average role she's about to win for this month. I'll have to make a list of my own out of the ones I've seen.
Dianne may be the only person I can think who's had a long career and who's won for her two greatest roles. Shelley Winters, on the other hand, was the consummate character actress whose wins came in years they could give her awards. You'd like for her to have won for Night of the Hunter, Lolita, or, yes, Poseidon Adventure, where she was exactly the right amount of ridiculous.
I'd only add Estelle Parsons hysterical turn in Bonnie and Clyde, although I haven't seen it recently.
This is a great list, though I'd probably flip the the two Dianne Wiest performances. Also, would love to have seen Cloris Leachman for The Last Picture Show (that last shot is probably my favorite close-up of all time) and the underseen and under appreciated Eilleen Heckart in Butterflies are Free.
@Carson: You are not alone. I absolutely adore Beatrice Straight in "Network." To give a characterization that fully realized within the span of five minutes is indeed an outstanding feat. That's a large part of why I'm in love with Toni Collette's performance in "The Hours," which is THE best acting in the entire film to me. It's the perfect example of maximizing even them smallest moments. She captures style, tone, and period in one fell swoop.
@Carson & Troy H - YES to Beatrice Straight. I think when they did one of Stinky Lulu's supporting actress smackdowns for that year, Beatrice did not win the consensus, but she devastates me in those few minutes; it's a performance I treasure.
So many great performances, so I thought I'd go by decade..
1930's - Hattie McDaniel
1940's - Jane Darwell
1950's - Kim Hunter
1960's - Ruth Gordon
1970's - Meryl Streep
1980's - Peggy Ashcroft
1990's - Judi Dench
2000's - Penelope Cruz
Worst - Donna Reed
Thelma, Thelma, Thelma...if we could turn back time.
Favorite winner would be Sandy Dennis. And yes, besides Maureen Stapleton in Interiors, I would add Amy Ryan as a favorite nominee but not a winner.
Should have won:
1940's - Eve Arden, Mildred Pierce
1950's - Thelma Ritter, Pickup On South Street
1960's - Janet Leigh, Psycho
1970's - Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
1980's - Glenn Close, The World According to Garp
1990's - Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives
2000's - Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog
It was bugging me to have to leave out Hattie McDaniel from my top 10, it's a tough task with so many great performances to choose from, I had to come back and do an 11-20 top.
11. Hattie McDaniel-GWTW
12. Fay Bainter-Jezebel
13. Margaret Rutherford-The V.I.P.S
14. Cloris Leachman-The Last Picture Show
15. Mercedes McCambridge-All the King's Men
16. Marisa Tomei-My Cousin Vinny
17. Tilda Swinton-Michael Clayton
18. Rita Moreno-West Side Story
19. Anne Baxter-The Razor's Edge
20. Maggie Smith-California Suite
11 & 12 could easily slip into my top 10 on any given day.
And a bottom 5 of winners-4 & 5 are not a reflection on the actress just the role they won for, 1-3 are wasted Oscars on indifferent talents . In descending order.
5. Judi Dench-Shakespeare in Love-A great actress but the role was undeserving.
4. Alice Brady-In Old Chicago-A consolation prize for missing out with My Man Godfrey the year before.
3. Mira Sorvino-Mighty Aphrodite-A part any half talented amateur could have played and did.
2. Melissa Leo-The Fighter-Hammy and overdone.
1. Renee Zellweger-Cold Mountain-Perhaps the worst performance ever awarded a prize let alone an Oscar by an actress of severely limited range.
Too late to say that I'm so surprised the 90's had the supporting actresses ever? Not only Wiest - number one, hands down - but Binoche would be my 2nd, and Davis and Moore would be there too, if they had won.
Loved Linda Hunt. Am amazing performance.
But where is Miyoshi Umeki? Just kidding. She deserves to be mentioned as being the only Asian actress ever to win an Oscar.
Jane Darwell in "The Grapes of Wrath" is also one of my favorate.
Favorite Winning Performance - Beatrice Straight - Network
Favorite Nominated Performance - Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights
Least Favorite Winning Performance - Cate Blanchett - The Aviator
I LOOOOOOOVE Dianne Wiest in both roles, but more in Bullets over Broadway, she was terrific. It reminds Swanson's Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in a very funny way. I love so much her Helen Sinclair in every pose and speech. That must be the definition of "Actressexual".
I also love Anna Paquin in The Piano, one of that characters came first to your head when you think about that film and real supporting performances (she was also her mother's dark voice, a lost angel-devil jumping in the forest and the beach... a perfect romantic definition).
My top ten (Oscar winners favorites) would be:
1. Wiest (Bullets over Broadway & Hannah and Her Sisters)
2. Paquin (The Piano)
3. Mo'Nique (Precious) --
4. Streep (Kramer vs Kramer) -- one of the most difficult roles she played, and you can understand everything in her behaviour and also justify her
5. Redgrave (Julia)
6. Reuhl (The Fisher King) -- a real gem in the Terry Gilliam world. period.
7. Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously) --
8. Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)- the first Woody's supporting character who's not exactly Woodyesque... it's more a Penélope's creation
9. Dennis (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf)
10. Smith (California Suite) -- i ADORE Smith in every role she did.
This is a worthy lot to be sure however I would have placed Kim Hunters performance at the top of this heap with Tilda a close second.
My nominee for best non-winner is Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons.
Although Linda Hunt won for The Year of Living Dangerously, the award should have gone to Cher for Silkwood. Also, I find the top ten list you gave to be flawed as there are many other stronger and more memorable best supporting actress Oscar winning performances than those, such as Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny. I definitely agree with Monique's win, though. Scary, but amazing as hell. And if there was ever a list for the worst best supporting actress Oscar winning performances, then Mira Sorvino and Beatrice Straight top that list.
Great list! Other greats are Cate Blanchett, Sandy Dennis and definitely Rachel Weisz.
Sandy Dennis exhibited the performance of a lifetime!!
Nearly all of the Oscar winners and nominees in the Best Supporting Actress category is actually rather weak in my opinion; too many filler nominees and the most forgettable, least relevant winners. It's hard to think who really gave the best supporting performance of all time, probably because most of the winners had roles that were thinly conceived. That being said, I still think Tilda Swinton, Mo'Nique, Brenda Fricker, Ruth Gordon and Dianne Wiest (who, in hindsight, really is the best two-time Oscar winner in this category) worked wonders with their supporting performances and fully deserved their wins. I adored Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower, was intrigued by Vanessa Redgrave in Julia (I still wish she won the Best Actress Oscar for Isadora though, still her career-best) and really enjoyed Maggie Smith's comic turn in California Suite (her scenes with Michael Caine, and the one where she loses her Oscar and has to feign indifference is still so hilarious, making you think of how every Oscar loser must have felt after losing lol).
I liked Jessica Lange in Tootsie, but thought her work wasn't as memorable as her daring leading turn in Frances; it proved that she had range and could do comedy, but I thought Teri Garr was better. I would have loved to have seen Gong Li nominated for Farewell, My Concubine (after she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award), especially considering that I'm not really a fan of Anna Paquin's work in The Piano; of the two, Li is more relevant, and should've been nominated. I also think Sharon Stone should have been nominated for Casino in the Supporting Actress category, rather than lead; she should've won over Mira Sorvino (even though I still liked Sorvino's work; though that was probably category fraud as she was such a radiant lead in my opinion)
Although I don't have a favourite Oscar-winning supporting turn, Mercedes Ruehl in The Fisher King comes mightily close!!! She's so good, so funny, and that year (1991) really belonged to her. After that, I'd probably go with Dorothy Malone in Written in the Wind as runner-up; yes, it's a little over-the-top, but she makes a mambo-crazed nymphomaniac look scintillating, even terrifying.