"Won and done." The curse of finally winning an Oscar
Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at 5:20PM by Baby Clyde
I recently watched Susan Hayward all but demanding voters hand her the Best Actress Oscar in-movie during 1958's I Want To Live. It got me to thinking about her fellow Academy favourites, whose eventual triumphs were also their Oscar swan song.
If an actor who achieves multiple acting nominations is going to win it’s usually early on. It’s common to bag the statue and then spend the rest of your career chasing another. Bette Davis won on her first 2 attempts and then suffered 8 consecutive losses. Spencer Tracy won on attempts 2 and 3 and then spent the next 30 years and 6 nominations waiting for his name to be called again. Sometimes a veteran actor with multiple nods will finally get the prize and continue on in Oscar good books, like Paul Newman who won on nomination 7 and scored two more in following decades. But a surprisingly high amount of winners who have been made to wait find that their greatest triumph is also their last.
If you win on your 5th nomination (or later) odds are high that you won't be invited back. Consider...
Susan Hayward – I Want To Live (1958)
Her 5th nomination in 12 years. Playing death row inmate Barbara Graham was Hayward big chance at Oscar glory and there is now way she was going to let it pass. Chewing the prison bars and electric chair along with the scenery she left nothing to chance. Not known for their subtle tastes The Academy gave her the gold despite stiff competition from fellow favourites Rosalind Russell (Auntie Mame) and Deborah Kerr (Separate Tables) who were on their 4th and 5th nominations respectively. Neither went on to win in the future and Hayward was never nominated again. After the ceremony producer Walter Wanger is said to have joked ‘Thank heavens, now we can all relax. Susie got what she’s been chasing for twenty years’. It seems the Academy took his words a bit too literally.
Previous Nominations – Smash Up, The Story of A Woman (1947), My Foolish Heart (1949), With A Song In My Heart (1952), I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
Gregory Peck – To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
Few actors got off to such an auspicious start with Oscar voters as Gregory Peck. Nominated for only his second film Keys To the Kingdom (1944) he racked up a total of 4 nominations in the next 6 years, but no wins. Their ardour quickly cooled as he failed to gain a single nod throughout the 50’s and it took his signature role to get him back in Oscar’s sights. And what a role it was.
Has any part been more perfectly embodied than that of Atticus Finch by Gregory Peck? The star brought all of his famous warmth and decency to the role of the small town lawyer defending a black man accused of rape in the film version of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Despite it being one of the strongest Best Actor line-ups ever there was no doubt who the winner would be. But that was it. He never garnered another nomination.
He maybe came closest in 1978 for playing German war criminal Dr Joseph Mengele in The Boys From Brazil but despite a Golden Globe nomination it was co-star Laurence Olivier that got the Oscar nod for his more sympathetic turn as the Nazi hunter. There was also pre-release Oscar Buzz for Old Gringo (1989) but when it got booed at Cannes and bombed on release those soon fizzled. It got Razzie noms instead. A 1967 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award had to make up for the rest of his career snubs.
Previous Nominations – The Keys of The Kingdon (1944), The Yearling (1946), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), Twelve O’clock High (1949)
Shirley MacLaine – Terms of Endearment (1983)
When Susan Hayward won in 1958, she beat a young Shirley MacLaine on her first nomination for Some Came Running. Little would they know how closely their Oscar journeys would mirror each other. On her 5th Best Actress nomination MacLaine too became a slam dunk winner in her most iconic role. "I deserve this," she declared at the podium as she collected her award for playing Aurora Greenway in the year’s Best Picture winner Terms Of Endearment and so she did. After nearly 30 years in the business and an infamous loss ‘to a tracheotomy’ in 1960 Shirley’s time had come. Unaccountably it was to be her last time she gained Oscar’s attention.
Of all the actors discussed here MacLaine’s lack of further nominations is the most mystifying. In the following years she appeared in numerous buzzy projects and baity roles. Nominated for 2 post Endearment BAFTA awards and 5 Golden Globes in the Movie categories she even won the Best Dramatic Actress award for Madame Sousatska (1988) but for some reason The Academy continuously ignored her. In one of their most shocking snubs she even failed to gain a nomination for essentially playing Hollywood royalty Debbie Reynolds in Postcards From The Edge (1990). She famously sang ‘I’m Still Here’ in the film but the Academy had stopped listening.
Previous Nominations – Some Came Running (1958), The Apartment (1960), Irma La Douce (1963), The Turning Point (1977)
Jessica Lange – Blue Sky (1994)
This one is more like 'Two and Done'. At the 1982 Oscars Jessica Lange was nominated in both Actress (Frances) and Supporting Actress (Tootsie) categories. As was the custom back then she was awarded in Supporting like every other double nominee before her. The problem? Lange was not a Supporting player. She was an A List Leading lady and in much the same was a Cate Blanchett years later, the award she had didn’t seem commensurate with her stature. Continuing to accrue nominations (All in the Lead category) throughout the next decade by 1994 she was on her 6th in total. With arguably one of the weakest Actress line-ups ever, even the fact her film had been on the shelf for 3 years couldn’t stop her from triumphing. Whilst the Academy may have ignored her ever since, other bodies have done the opposite. With 3 Emmy’s, 2 Golden Globes and a Tony, her awards cupboard isn’t exactly bare.
Previous Nominations – Frances (1982), Tootsie (1982), Country (1984), Sweet Dreams (1985), Music Box (1990)
Susan Sarandon – Dean Man Walking (1995).
It’s rare for an actress in her mid 40’s to suddenly reach a career high in the movies but the early 90’s were a golden period for Susan Sarandon, literally. First nommed for Atlantic City (1981) it took another decade for her to grab voters attention again. Once she did the nominations kept on coming. She nabbed four in 5 years between 1991 and her eventual win in 1995. You might assume that she’d just worn them down, but the performance was worthy and the standing ovation from her peers genuine. It’s strange then that to this day she has never been honoured again. There is no way her dying mother role in Stepmom (1998) gets overlooked if the Academy didn’t feel she had already been rewarded enough.
Previous Nominations – Atlantic City (1981), Thelma and Louise (1991), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), The Client (1994)
But there’s still time. With three of the above mentioned still alive and consistently working they can look to the Oscar paths of some fellow ignored winners to see that it’s never too late.
Kate Winslet’s illustrious Oscar career came to a screeching halt after her win for The Reader (2008) on her 6th attempt. She’d averaged a nomination every couple of years up to that point, so it seemed like an eternity until she finally got nommed again for Steve Jobs (2015). Waiting even longer was eternal bridesmaid Al Pacino who had to wait until 1992 when he was double nominated for Glengarry Glen Ross and The Scent of a Woman. Winning for the latter it took an astonishing 27 years for The Academy to notice him again when he was nominated last year for The Irishman.
By that reckoning Jessica and Susan only have a couple of years to wait until they are back on Oscar’s radar.
Reader Comments (48)
"Has any part been more perfectly embodied than that of Atticus Finch by Gregory Peck?"
Yes. T. E. Lawrence by Peter O'Toole.
I don't know about Sarandon and Stepmom. I was never under the impression that people liked it much at the time.
Susan Hayward should have been nominated for her indelible hilarious performance as Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls.
Shirley MacLaine not being nominated for Postcards from the Edge is both incomprehensible and unforgivable.
Susan Serandon should have at least been nominated for Supporting in In the Valley of Elah and Igby Goes Down, and Lead for The Meddler
And sentimental favorite or no, I just can't see how Gregory Peck could have been preferred to Peter O'Toole. No way.
The article doesn't touch on this much but I'd while there's surely a "oh we've done that" feeling amongst voters the hints of sexism and misogyny that dominate the industry surely come into play here too. There's a reason the list is mostly comprised of actresses.
A lot of the ladies here won riiigght on the edge of that age when Oscar stops noticing and the roles become scarcer and scarcer. I for one can only think only MacLaine had multiple opportunities where the Academy could've noticed and didn't. For the rest not only did the Academy move on, their careers slowed down.
Other examples of actresses with 4-5 nominations (whether they won or not) show a similar trend of received their last nominations on their late 30s or early 40s (Stanwyck, de Havilland, etc.).
Sarandon and Lange moved on to different things, and Lange's career especially transitioned to other mediums (that are more forgiving to older actresses). The mantle of awards she's collected in her 60s shows that, it just wasn't on film.
"If you win on your 5th nomination (or later) odds are high that you won't be invited back. "
There are almost as many exceptions as you have examples.
Laurence Olivier won on his fifth nomination (if you include that Best Director nod for Hamlet) and picked up another six nominations in the next three decades.
Jeff Bridges won on his fifth nomination in 2009 and received two subsequent nominations since.
Jack Nicholson won on his fifth nomination. He went on to win two more times from seven additional nominations.
Leonardo di Caprio won on his fifth nomination and was nominated again this year for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
1962 was indeed one of the strongest Best Actor lineups ever. But even with Peck and O'Toole there, I would have gone with Marcello Mastroianni for Divorce Italian-Style. When you think about all the awful things his character does in that film, and how he gets you rooting for him and even chuckling along, it really is an amazing performance. But Peck is wonderful too.
Not much more than a year ago we all thought Renee was a won and done. Anything can happen.
My god that I'M STILL HERE performance. That Shirley didn't get nominated is enraging. She's better than most of the nominees that year *and* it was a very good lineup!
Keegan -- that's true. And Pacino was back who i assumed was done when he missed for Donnie Brasco. And lord knows it took the Academy a long time to forgive Tom Hanks for being such a favourite of theirs for a decade.
I'd have voted for Peck, but thanks Edward for reminding me of Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style. It's comedy GOLD!
It is an odd phenomenon that they love certain performers until they win and then they're done with them.
It's more puzzling for some than others.
Susan Hayward was madly driven to win but right around the time of I Want to Live! she had remarried happily and moved to her new husband's home state of Georgia and focused on her home life rather than her career as she had before. She still worked on occasion but without the same focus or selectivity.
With Gregory Peck his win came right at the dawn of the New Hollywood and he moved somewhat into elder statesman territory.
With Sarandon and Lange the award came right at the end of their headlining big ticket features which unlike now where almost everything is niche was the path to awards play at the time.
Shirley MacLaine is the oddest one here since she continued for quite some time after her win to appear in flashy roles both lead and in support. She took a couple of years break after Terms so perhaps she broke her rhythm by the next time she had something viable in Madame Sousatzka.
Is it too early to add Julliane Moore ?
*Julianne
Shirley MacLaine also deserved a best supporting actress nom for In Her Shoes
Alex D - I agree about age being a key factor. Basically when an actress hits 40 - she drops off a cliff in terms of interesting roles. I will agree that there has been some change recently, however in Susan Hayward's time and on up to the 90's being over 40 was bad, and being over 50 was bleak.
Mother or Grandmother roles do come up but...they are not as plentiful or interesting.
(please see nominations for Maureen Stapleton, Joan Hackett, Lee Grant for examples)
The other factor is that it's a "popularity contest" after all
The snub of Shirley Maclaine for playing Meryl Streep's mother was annoying but sometimes the Academy can be capricious. The membership can be tired of a performer, or feel they have rewarded them sufficiently, or fall madly in love with a shiny new ingenue.
Sally Field had it right, in the end they really have to like you.
And by next year they may just find other people more interesting. Like doesn't last forever.
Maddening but true.
I would have nominated Shirley for Magnolias, Postcards and even Guarding Tess.
I'm fine with the Academy being done with Sarandon because at least she had the best run. Totally deserved nominations, she was second at least two times, and she finally won for a passion project that it was actually good in a year full of great female performances. And what a speech.
Walter Wanger was right in a way, and it even applies to a lot of these performers. Barring some sort of undeniable performance after a win, an Academy voter might as well spread the wealth around. This last year felt so rushed and "wrong" because the same movies were rewarded over and over with nominations.
I don't mind when someone says, eh, we've already given Hilary Swank two awards, do we need to nom her again? Who else is out there? (Just an example, I actually really like Hilary).
I feel sorrier for those perpetual bridesmaids like Irene Dunne, Barbara Stanwyck, Deborah Kerr, etc.
Unfortunately, the Academy was done with Shirley after her win. And she actually is great in Postcards from the Edge. Maybe they thought she was playing herself and/or were sick of her spiritual stuff.
Lange and Sarandon ... I find them very interesting because their movie careers basically soon died after they won best actress. Hollywood was/still is only willing to go so far with an actress in her 40's+.
Kate Winslet and Charlize Theron ... I hope they are nominated again. I am in the minority but I hate Charlize in these stupid action roles. So forgettable and she is barely acting and getting lazy.
And of course, we hope Lupita and Vilola both win best actress at some point, since they are equally as talented as all these women.
Very nice. It might be time for a Postcards remake: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XQrYV2Lqc24
The Stars must to be aligned for someone to win an Oscar. Multiple factors are decisive here. You must be on the peak of your carreer, be the "IT GIRL", have a memorable role or performance, have popularity and good will from peers. Just to quote two cases, of two of my beloved actresses: Julianne Moore and Laura Dern: I never tought they would win.
I was tired of seeimg Moore losing. But suddenly in 2014, came Still Alice. Toronto described the film as Moore best performance and that year, the stars were really aligned because the Best Actress lineup was week.
Also think about Dern this year: 30 years of a very, very solid carreer, working with the greatest directors, from a Hollywood Royalty family. She was nominated in 1991 for Rambling Rose, was a blockbuster star with Jurassic Park, but in the 2000's she was on a strange limbo. So, came in 2014 "Wild", and she got nominated without any kind of percursor. This year, she was in 3 strong projects, a key role on a popular tv show and faced a weak Best Supporting Actress lineup, like Julianne. And for my happinnes, she won. I ask myself always,: will the stars one day be aligned for Close, Bening, Pfeiffer or Adams?
*Weak and not "week", at the end of the second paragraph. Also, Tilda Swinton should be on this list, I think. Have an unexpected loved win, but since then, was ignored by the Academy, even giving strong performances.
I hope you can all forgive Sarandon when Biden wins, drops dead and Kamala becomes the President.
i'll wager glenn and amy will be happy to have the noms dry up after they finally freakin' win
Susan Sarandon is such a strange and amazing case. How rare is it for an actress to reach peak movie stardom in their mid-40s? She was 49 when she finally won for Dead Man Walking. I agree, she probably came closest to that sixth nom for Stepmom (back in the day, it was my FAVORITE movie - but I can understand why she was snubbed. It's quite schmaltzy, but she's good in it).
I do wonder if Julianne Moore will ever be back. But, like Sarandon, she works A TON so perhaps in the future one role will stick.
I'd like to see Lange,MacLaine and even Susan back I know she is a divisive figure over there but I adore her.
MacLaine was worthy/buzzy at least 5 or 6 times since her win in 88,89,90,92,04,12.
Sarandon also 98,02,07,12.
Lange not so much maybe 97 and 03 I wish she'd gotten it for A Thousand Acres instead but the film is only ok and Pfeiffer is shaky in it.
Unbelievable that Rosalind Russell, Deborah Kerr, and Barbara Stanwyck never won. And Myrna Loy never even nominated!
For years after her Liaisons loss, I thought Glenn was never going to get another nomination, despite worthy turns in Reversal of Fortune, Meeting Venus, Cookie’s Fortune, Heights, Nine Lives and more. Albert Nobbs made me believe it could happen again but after The Wife failed to convince the Academy (I still say Colman was a deserving winner, but in Supporting), I began to think less confidently about it. Then again, I also thought we would never recover from the wretched leadership in Washington these past 4 years, but I am joyfully planning on celebrating the next inauguration of the first female Asian-African American VP ever! Go Biden/Harris! Go Close in Hillbilly Elegy!
I'll agree with everyone that MacLaine being overlooked for Postcards is a terrible oversight by the academy. I don't think Sarandon will return and I believe it has a lot to do with her recent actions in the political realm which might have left a soar taste in the mouths of many in hollywood. Lange I hope can return but what's most likely kept her from a return is she herself doesn't care either way.
Not a great fan of Sarandon in Dead Man Walking but I agree that everything was in line for her victory back then: overdue factor, passion project, serious and dramatic film very well received. Ironically I thought that the two costars of Best Actor and Best Actress 1995 (Sean Penn and Elisabeth Shue) were better than the actual winners, but at least one of them now has two Oscars in his house so it's almost ok
Yeah, Julianne Moore was the first name I thought of for this list. And I suspect that, if Annette Bening does ever win, she'll be on this list as well.
Hayward's career pretty much ended after her Oscar-winning role and Peck had some interesting roles in the late 70s and some nostalgic parts later in his career, but nothing that would get him close to getting nominated again.
Maclaine, Lange, and Sarandon have all been in Oscar conversations post-win and could easily get back in with the right part.
Maclaine for Postcards is the only real undeniable miss after the win, but she was being considered an older actress and they often missed a nomination or if they were deserving of the win had to settle for just a nomination and poor critical treatment (ala Tandy in Fried Green Tomatoes. Lest we forget).
With Close and Adams in the rare group of 'Inevitable' can 2020 hit two birds with one stone and bestow one blessed event upon us?
The great Geraldine Page who finally (And deservedly) won on her 8th attempt but died only a year later. She was only 65 so had she lived there would have been plenty of opportunities for future awards attention but there is no way of telling what way it would have gone. Have to think that lots of career opportunities would have come along after the win so maybe she's have got into double figures eventually.
A big part of this is actresses aging out of what Hollywood powerbrokers deem interesting. In many ways, we're in a different era where actresses in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are still getting nominations. In many ways, that's what makes Renee's win so exciting. It's also what made Glenn's return, after a turn to Broadway and television, so exciting in 2011. She used all her buzz from Damages to make get herself back in.
It continues to shock that Shirley never got a follow-up nom, but I truly think she was done in by her age. I think Julianne will likely be in this category, but mostly because of the type of films she does. She's always a brillant performer, but she's only been recognized for her films that fit into the Academy's narrow view of an Oscar pic. The next time she does one of those (and it's a modest hit) she'll back.
On Susan Sarandon:
She's a great actress, but she's also a very specific type of film persona that I think suited the late-80s and 90s version of "tough femininity" quite well. It's partially why she peaked when she did. However, even though she's been good since then, the types of roles she takes on and her film persona simply aren't as much a part of the zeitgeist. And, while she's a great actress, I think of her as someone who never really sheds the persona she established in Atlantic City and solidified in Bull Durham and Thelma and Louise. She's done it a few times, but in films not totally interested in her (e.g., Valley)
As a huge Oscar and classic movie buff, I ate this article up.
Have a feeling that Julianne Moore will be added to this list. She seems the type to be passed over for newcomers or others were nominated before, yet never honored.
I also feel like if Michelle Williams ever gets her Oscar, she might end up on this list as well. But first, let's get her there soon please!
Why is nobody talking about Tilda Swinton, that surprisingly won on her first nomination and then it looks like the Academy was done with her, even with she giving powerful performances like in "We need to talk about Kevin". I would add Tilda Swinton to that list. I think a lot of people, Academy Members got really surprised when she won and then they just think It was enough.
I wonder what the odds are that Amy and Glenn will even be nominated for that hillbilly film. Sorry ladies, but 0 plus 0 still equals 0.
Winslet fits the mold. Yes, she's been invited back. But it's weird that somebody who was 33 at the time of her win and who had received 6 nominations in 13 years then went on to receive a total of 1 nomination (in supporting!) in the next 10 years! Ten years and one nod in supporting. And they've had options. But nobody can compare with la Streep who has received four nods after her win in 2012.
@ Zooey It's not weird - She only made a few films in those 10 years (as well as a 5 part miniseries). Basic logic - she doesn't fit the mold.
Hi Jhonny. No one is talking about Tilda Swinton because she doesn't fit the criteria at all. Dozens of performers have won on their first attempt and never been nominated again. The point here is that these actors where perennial Oscar favourites who stopped being so the minute they won. I expect she'll be back one day.
Kate Winslet made 8 films in the years between nominations. Whilst Move 43, Contagion and the Divergent franchise were not likely Oscar contenders there's no doubt the likes of Carnage, Labor Day, A Little Chaos and The Dressmaker were prime Oscar Bait for which she'd likely have garnered awards buzz pre win.
If we are talking won and done, don't we need to include the vanilla collection of Gwyneth, Jennifer, Brie, Emma and Alicia for a future column? Their wins were considered a big deal at the time, but they have not followed up on that investment. They are largely known now as product endorsers.
@Zoooey
And if we are fair and accurate Winslet returned to Oscar 7 years after winning the Oscar. Not ten years! And as has been said here, she does not work (never worked) at the same rate as Kidman, Strepp, Blanchett and others. She always took gap years. In the seven-year period in which she was not nominated, she had no film in 2009, 2010, 2012. And after 2016, she did not work in 2018 and 2019 either. also because it’s a slowdown in pace.
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Great article. Jessica probably came close with The Gambler. She’s incredible in that. If she had one more scene to boost the slim role.
Hayward is terrible in IWTL!! Worst BA win ever. JMO.
With Close and Adams in the rare group of 'Inevitable' can 2020 hit two birds with one stone and bestow one blessed event upon us?
I didn't write this. I hate my imitators because they do the most pedestrian and lame version of my voice possible. If you knew me you'd know Amy Adams is a dull perennial nominee. And she win her overdue prize in supporting since that makes up the bulk of her nods.