The Oscar front-runner for Best Picture, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” got a massive boost on nominations morning when it reaped a leading 11 bids. Among those many citations was one for lead actress contender Michelle Yeoh, her first ever after working in the business for decades. Should “Everything Everywhere” go on to win Best Picture and Best Actress, it would become the 13th film in Oscar history to achieve such a feat.
Yeoh takes on the role of laundromat owner Evelyn Quan Wang in the multi-dimensional adventure flick directed by The Daniels (aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Her competitors in the Best Actress category are Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”) and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”). So far this awards season, Yeoh has claimed the Comedy Golden Globe while Blanchett has taken home the Drama Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award. Next up...
Yeoh takes on the role of laundromat owner Evelyn Quan Wang in the multi-dimensional adventure flick directed by The Daniels (aka Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Her competitors in the Best Actress category are Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”) and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”). So far this awards season, Yeoh has claimed the Comedy Golden Globe while Blanchett has taken home the Drama Golden Globe and the Critics Choice Award. Next up...
- 1/25/2023
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
When Daniel Kaluuya won the 2021 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” he became the 77th performer to be honored for a portrayal of a real person. There has been at least one such case across the four acting categories in 19 of the last 20 years, with the 2017 quartet being the last to all win for playing fictional characters. This year, there are nine nominees with the potential to continue the trend, including two whose real-life counterparts are still living.
In Oscar history, it is most common for a win of this kind to come in the Best Actor category. In the nine decades since George Arliss prevailed here for playing Benjamin Disraeli in “Disraeli” (1930), 27 more lead male champs have followed, and they now account for 30% of all victories in the category. The six who have triumphed in the last decade alone...
In Oscar history, it is most common for a win of this kind to come in the Best Actor category. In the nine decades since George Arliss prevailed here for playing Benjamin Disraeli in “Disraeli” (1930), 27 more lead male champs have followed, and they now account for 30% of all victories in the category. The six who have triumphed in the last decade alone...
- 3/15/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Last year we watched as Renee Zellweger followed the yellow brick road all the way to the Wizard of Oscar as Judy Garland in “Judy.” Can lightning (or a tornado) strike two years in a row? That’s surely the hope of Andra Day, looking like a strong Best Actress Oscar contender for her title role in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Like Garland, Holiday rose to stardom in the late 1930s. She also had multiple marriages, faced financial woes and struggled with drugs and alcohol. The question is: can the role in this Hulu release deliver the Oscar to Day?
Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.
Before making a decision, keep in mind that the academy has a long history of recognizing actresses for portraying other actresses or entertainers. And the more drama, trauma and tragedy the better. Even raging and hysterical divas are welcome. Let’s look back at some prime and primadonna examples from Oscar’s history.
- 1/22/2021
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
Even though the Best Actress Oscar has been given out since the first Academy Awards ceremony, there is no clear way of determining whether shorter or longer performances are more likely to win. An even mix of both have prevailed over the past 92 years, performances that have won Best Actress hold more overall lead acting records than those that have won Best Actor. Here is a look at the 10 shortest winners in the category. (And here is the equivalent list for Best Actor.)
10. Katharine Hepburn (“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”)
43 minutes, 26 seconds (40.20% of the film)
Over three decades after her first nomination resulted in a win, Hepburn finally won a second Best Actress Oscar for her role as Christina Drayton, a mother whose liberal views are challenged when her daughter announces her intention to marry a Black man. She would go on to finish her career with four wins in...
10. Katharine Hepburn (“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”)
43 minutes, 26 seconds (40.20% of the film)
Over three decades after her first nomination resulted in a win, Hepburn finally won a second Best Actress Oscar for her role as Christina Drayton, a mother whose liberal views are challenged when her daughter announces her intention to marry a Black man. She would go on to finish her career with four wins in...
- 12/30/2020
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Oscar voters have shown from the beginning that they love actors who portray historic people. Perhaps it’s because they can make easy comparisons. Or, more likely, it’s because they are often heroic figures. Tour our photo gallery of every single woman who has won the Best Actress category at the Academy Awards for playing a true life character.
The very first woman to win the illustrious prize for stepping into a real person’s shoes was Luise Rainer, who portrayed entertainer Anna Held in the biopic “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936). Rainer, who died in 2014 at the age of 104, was the first performer to win back-to-back Oscars for acting, taking this prize the very next year for “The Good Earth.”
Since then, actresses as varied as Olivia Colman (“The Favourite” in 2018), Meryl Streep (“The Iron Lady” in 2011), Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side” in 2009), Marion Cotillard (“La vie en Rose” in...
The very first woman to win the illustrious prize for stepping into a real person’s shoes was Luise Rainer, who portrayed entertainer Anna Held in the biopic “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936). Rainer, who died in 2014 at the age of 104, was the first performer to win back-to-back Oscars for acting, taking this prize the very next year for “The Good Earth.”
Since then, actresses as varied as Olivia Colman (“The Favourite” in 2018), Meryl Streep (“The Iron Lady” in 2011), Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side” in 2009), Marion Cotillard (“La vie en Rose” in...
- 2/10/2020
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
What do “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Joker,” “Judy,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Rocketman,” “Marriage Story,” “Pain and Glory” and “Bombshell” have in common? That is, beyond their makers wanting to hear their movie’s title when the Academy Awards are announced February 9?
The answer? They all reflect various aspects of the world of show business. This is not a new development. The first-ever winner of a Best Picture Oscar was the 1927 World War I action drama “Wings.” But the second was 1929’s “The Broadway Melody,” a soap-operatic backstage look at a theatrical revue in progress. Thus began the Academy Awards love affair with movies and performances that reflect the voter’s own preoccupation with the performing arts.
Other notable Best Picture winners whose themes spotlight the entertainment industry include 1936’s “The Great Ziegfeld,” 1950’s “All About Eve,” 1952’s “The Greatest Show on Earth,” 1965’s “The Sound of Music,...
The answer? They all reflect various aspects of the world of show business. This is not a new development. The first-ever winner of a Best Picture Oscar was the 1927 World War I action drama “Wings.” But the second was 1929’s “The Broadway Melody,” a soap-operatic backstage look at a theatrical revue in progress. Thus began the Academy Awards love affair with movies and performances that reflect the voter’s own preoccupation with the performing arts.
Other notable Best Picture winners whose themes spotlight the entertainment industry include 1936’s “The Great Ziegfeld,” 1950’s “All About Eve,” 1952’s “The Greatest Show on Earth,” 1965’s “The Sound of Music,...
- 1/14/2020
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Luise Rainer, a star of cinema's golden era who won back-to-back Oscars but then walked away from a glittering Hollywood career, has died. She was 104. Rainer, whose roles ranged from the 1930s German stage to television's The Love Boat, died Tuesday at her home in London from pneumonia, said her only daughter, Francesca Knittel-Bowyer. "She was bigger than life and can charm the birds out of the trees," Knittel-Bowyer said. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her." The big-eyed, apple-cheeked Rainer gained Hollywood immortality by becoming the first person to win an acting Academy Award in consecutive years, taking...
- 12/30/2014
- by Associated Press
- PEOPLE.com
Luise Rainer, the actress best known for her roles in The Good Earth (1937) and The Great Ziegfeld (1936), passed away in her London home on Tuesday. She was 104.
The German-born actress' daughter Francesca Knittel-Bowyer tells The Associated Press that her mother died of pneumonia. "She was bigger than life and can charm the birds out of the trees," she told AP following her mother's passing. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her.”
Photos: Stars We've Lost In Recent Years
Born Jan. 12, 1910, Rainer was acting in Germany before she was discovered by a talent scout from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and sent to Hollywood. Her first U.S. film was Escapade (1935), but it would be her next roles that would really put her on the map.
Rainer became the first actor to ever win two consecutive Academy Awards. She won for her roles as Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld and O-Lan in The Good Earth. The only four...
The German-born actress' daughter Francesca Knittel-Bowyer tells The Associated Press that her mother died of pneumonia. "She was bigger than life and can charm the birds out of the trees," she told AP following her mother's passing. "If you saw her, you'd never forget her.”
Photos: Stars We've Lost In Recent Years
Born Jan. 12, 1910, Rainer was acting in Germany before she was discovered by a talent scout from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and sent to Hollywood. Her first U.S. film was Escapade (1935), but it would be her next roles that would really put her on the map.
Rainer became the first actor to ever win two consecutive Academy Awards. She won for her roles as Anna Held in The Great Ziegfeld and O-Lan in The Good Earth. The only four...
- 12/30/2014
- Entertainment Tonight
Luise Rainer dies at age 104: Rainer was first consecutive Oscar winner, first two-time winner in acting categories and oldest surviving winner (photo: MGM star Luise Rainer in the mid-'30s.) The first consecutive Academy Award winner, the first two-time winner in the acting categories, and, at age 104, the oldest surviving Oscar winner as well, Luise Rainer (Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld, 1936, and The Good Earth, 1937) died at her London apartment on December 30 -- nearly two weeks before her 105th birthday. Below is an article originally posted in January 2014, at the time Rainer turned 104. I'll be sharing more Luise Rainer news later on Tuesday. January 17, 2014: Inevitably, the Transformers movies' director Michael Bay (who recently had an on-camera "meltdown" after a teleprompter stopped working at the Consumer Electronics Show) and the Transformers movies' star Shia Labeouf (who was recently accused of plagiarism) were mentioned -- or rather, blasted, in...
- 12/30/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Oldest person in movies? (Photo: Manoel de Oliveira) Following the recent passing of 1931 Dracula actress Carla Laemmle at age 104, there is one less movie centenarian still around. So, in mid-June 2014, who is the oldest person in movies? Manoel de Oliveira Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira will turn 106 next December 11; he’s surely the oldest person — at least the oldest well-known person — in movies today. De Oliveira’s film credits include the autobiographical docudrama Memories and Confessions / Visita ou Memórias e Confissões (1982), with de Oliveira as himself, and reportedly to be screened publicly only after his death; The Cannibals / Os Canibais (1988); The Convent / O Convento (1995); Porto of My Childhood / Porto da Minha Infância (2001); The Fifth Empire / O Quinto Império - Ontem Como Hoje (2004); and, currently in production, O Velho do Restelo ("The Old Man of Restelo"). Among the international stars who have been directed by de Oliveira are Catherine Deneuve, Pilar López de Ayala,...
- 6/17/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
I hate when legends pass away, and yesterday delivered us a toughy: Ernest Borgnine, who won the Best Actor Oscar for 1955's Marty (delivered by Miss Grace Kelly!) and charmed us on McHale's Navy, died at 95. Now the oldest living Best Actor is the noble and towering Sidney Poitier, who was born over 10 years after Borgnine. While our octagenarian Oscar winners deserve the utmost reverence, there's something downright superhuman about the nonagenarian awardees, if I do say so myself. Today, in honor of Borgnine, we're toasting five such winners who are alive, kicking, and ruling. Just start applauding now and don't stop until the end of the post.
1. Luise Rainer (aged 102)
Won: Best Actress (twice) for 1936's The Great Ziegfeld and 1937's The Good Earth
Why She Rules: Rainer is a German-Austrian actress who walked away with her first Oscar -- a Best Actress win in the first year Best...
1. Luise Rainer (aged 102)
Won: Best Actress (twice) for 1936's The Great Ziegfeld and 1937's The Good Earth
Why She Rules: Rainer is a German-Austrian actress who walked away with her first Oscar -- a Best Actress win in the first year Best...
- 7/9/2012
- by virtel
- The Backlot
Frank Capra, Luise Rainer, George Jessel Luise Rainer turns 102 today, January 12. She is the oldest living Academy Award winner in the acting categories, having won two consecutive Best Actress Oscars for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937). Because of both her longevity and the fact that Turner Classic Movies regularly shows nearly all of her films, the Dusseldorf-born (some sources say Vienna) Rainer is probably better known today than at any time since the 1940s, when she last starred in a Hollywood production: Frank Tuttle's now-forgotten Paramount resistance drama Hostages (1943). Before this ongoing revival, Rainer was best remembered as the two-time Oscar winner with a four-year film career (1935-1938), while her acting was generally dismissed as several notches below subpar. In fact, to many she served as one of the prime reminders of the unworthiness of the Academy Awards. As the oft-told story goes, when Raymond Chandler got...
- 1/12/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Luise Rainer as Anna Held, The Great Ziegfeld Best Picture Academy Award winner The Great Ziegfeld (1936) will be screening tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the American Cinematheque's Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Robert Z. Leonard directed this sumptuous MGM production, starring William Powell as theatrical showman Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld, Myrna Loy as Ziegfeld's wife Billie Burke (the good witch Glinda in The Wizard of Oz), and Luise Rainer as Anna Held. For her performance — which amounts to a supporting role, including a highly effective telephone scene — Rainer won the first of her two back-to-back Best Actress Oscars. The following year, she would take home the statuette for her Chinese peasant in Sidney Franklin's The Good Earth. Rainer, by the way, is the oldest Oscar winning performer around. The London resident turned 101 last January. Featuring cinematography by Oliver T. Marsh and others, art direction by Cedric Gibbons, costumes by Adrian,...
- 9/18/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Luise Rainer as Florenz Ziegfeld's wife Anna Held in Robert Z. Leonard's The Great Ziegfeld (I believe Virginia Bruce is the first girl on the left) (top); Luise Rainer in Julien Duvivier's The Great Waltz (bottom) Directed by Sidney Franklin, The Good Earth (1937) is on right now as Turner Classic Movies' first film presentation of an evening dedicated to two-time Academy Award winner Luise Rainer, who turns 101 today. [See also: Luise Rainer Turns 100 and Two-Time Oscar Winner Luise Rainer Interview on TCM.] The Good Earth is notable as one of the most expensive Hollywood productions of the 1930s ($2.8m) and the only film to carry Irving G. Thalberg's name — in a dedication at the beginning of the film. Initially as MGM's second-in-command and later as the head of one of the studio's producing units, Thalberg was responsible for dozens of the studio's films from the mid-1920s to his [...]...
- 1/13/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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