News

There's long been a divide between what's popular with general audiences and what's popular with the Academy Award voters. Popular, beloved directors like Alfred Hitchcock famously never won an Oscar, for instance, just as actor Samuel L. Jackson has never won one despite starring in seemingly every big movie ever. One particularly fun example of this phenomenon came with Kurt Russell's 1984 movie "Swing Shift," a box office bomb that grossed $6.6 million on a $15 million budget.

Why did it bomb? The general consensus was that the movie failed to live up to its promising premise. The movie was about the labor shortage during WWII, where women found unexpected power in the workforce before being pushed back into traditional roles the moment the war was over. The movie captured the feeling of the time period well and featured a few hard-hitting moments, but it didn't nail it in the way that...

The BBC and Working Title are developing an adaptation of Em Forster’s epic period piece A Passage to India.

Working Title exec Surian Fletcher-Jones has just revealed the news about the new five-part series on an SXSW London panel. We understand Nisha Parti is also producing and her Parti Productions is a co-production partner.

Fletcher-Jones said the team are collaborating on the adaptation with Canadian film director and writer Richie Mehta.

The Forster novel just turned 100. Set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s, it revolves around four characters: Dr. Aziz, his British friend Mr. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Miss Adela Quested.

A Passage to India was most recently adapted by David Lean in 1984 for a movie starring Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, James Fox, Alec Guinness, Nigel Havers and Victor Banerjee.

Fletcher-Jones said the adaptation will “reclaim colonial history” and...

Mark your calendars, Oscars fans, because the 97th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 2, 2025 on ABC. The annual star-studded ceremony will honor movies released in theaters within the 2024 calendar year of eligibility. AMPAS members will vote on the Oscar winners in 23 categories, including Best Supporting Actress. But who will win? Here at Gold Derby, thousands of users have been making and updating their 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Supporting Actress, so let’s take a look at all of the top contenders in our photo gallery below.

These 25 Best Supporting Actress hopefuls are listed in order of their racetrack odds, which are derived from the combined forecasts of four unique groups: experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, top 24 users who had the best accuracy scores last year, and the mass of users who make up our biggest predictions bloc.

The...

Today, most audiences know Fallout thanks to its recent Prime Video series or modern Bethesda-backed games. However, the series’ lineage spans all the way back to 1997, when Interplay Productions released its critically acclaimed Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game. That game’s sequel, aptly titled Fallout 2, would hit store shelves a year later. These initial titles followed a grimmer storyline akin to Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas, although the later iterations — including Bethesda’s critically acclaimed Fallout 3 — maintained many of the same themes.

Now, despite being a groundbreaking game, Fallout can’t claim to be the genesis of its post-apocalyptic niche. Post-apocalyptic nuclear fiction is much older than 1997, and its earliest entries began appearing in the 1950s, predictably around the time the world became aware of the atomic devastation in Japan. So, anyone looking to scratch that Fallout itch has over half a century of content to peruse.

Communist, fellow traveler, red, pinko, commie, useful idiot — the searing epithets of the Cold War have lost their sting but in their day they were lacerating. Depending on where the recipient was located on the left-of-center spectrum, a career might be stalled, derailed, or killed.

Paul Robeson was called all of the above, in addition to the more familiar slurs applied to a Black man who showed a little spunk in a Jim Crow culture. The preeminent artist-activist of mid-twentieth century America, Robeson was immersed in, or rather beat back against, the main currents of his times — the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, World War II , and the Cold War — with a promethean talent that found expression in virtually every medium of the popular arts — stage, records, concerts, radio, and film. On whatever platform, in whatever era, informing his participation, and the reaction to it, was his identity as a...

The concept of horror on film is most often exhibited with masked killers, mutant monsters, or extraterrestrial terrors that live only in imagination. Defying that very concept, 1986s When the Wind Blows presents a true existential terror that cuts to the core of modern fears. Using a simple, yet effective style of animation, director Jimmy Murakami brought Raymond Briggs gut-wrenching graphic novel to life, depicting the real horrors of nuclear war through a childlike lens. Peggy Ashcroft and John Mills give a terribly sympathetic voice to the potential victims of such a conflict, with the characters of James and Hilda Boggs representing all innocent people who face destruction in the wake of atomic war. When the Wind Blows is one of the saddest, most terrifying visions of an apocalypse ever put on film, and no less than in decades past, it is a film that demands to be viewed and appreciated.

Hitchcock's legendary movies owed their success to talented actors like Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, and James Stewart. Performances by stars like Janet Leigh and Robert Walker brought depth and intensity to Hitchcock's iconic characters. Alfred Hitchcock's collaborations with actors like Tippi Hedren and Anthony Perkins elevated his films.

Throughout his career, Alfred Hitchcock worked with many of the best actors of his time, and they delivered some iconic performances for him. His regular stars included Cary Grant, James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman and more. Each of these actors elevated his movies in their own ways, delivering unforgettable performances that have helped enshrine Hitchcock's reputation as a legendary director.

Alfred Hitchcock's best movies wouldn't be the same without the input of some Hollywood icons. His movies often work by delving into the darkest corners of human psychology, so they need great actors. His most famous characters, such as...

Get ready to journey back to the 1980s with Netflix's curated selection of iconic films screening in select theaters and available to stream. From classic 80s staples like Beverly Hills Cop to cult classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street, there's something for every movie buff to enjoy. Netflix's Milestone Movie Collection celebrates cinema milestone years, with 1984 films lined up for April and May screenings, including The Natural and This is Spinal Tap.

If you're feeling nostalgic for the 1980s, Netflix has got you covered. As part of their Milestone Movies: The Anniversary Collection, the streamer is sending over two dozen 1984 movies to Netflix-owned theaters for a limited time. The films will screen at the Paris Theater in New York, The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, and The Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades, California, throughout select dates in April and May (via Variety). The films will also be available to stream.

Since the inception of the Academy Awards, the U.S.-based organization behind them has always strived to honor worldwide film achievements. Their extensive roster of competitive acting winners alone consists of artists from 30 unique countries, three of which first gained representation during the 2020s. The last full decade’s worth of triumphant performers hail from eight countries, while 42.1% of the individual actors nominated during that time originate from outside of America.

The academy’s history of recognizing acting talent on a global scale dates all the way back to the inaugural Oscars ceremony in 1929, when Swiss-born Emil Jannings (who was of German and American parentage) won Best Actor for his work in both “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh.” Over the next three years, the Best Actress prize was exclusively awarded to Canadians: Mary Pickford (“Coquette”), Norma Shearer (“The Divorcee”), and Marie Dressler (“Min and Bill...

Michael Culver, the veteran British actor who portrayed the doomed Captain Needa in The Empire Strikes Back and a bigoted police inspector in David Lean’s A Passage to India, has died. He was 85.

Culver died Feb. 27, according to Alliance Agents, which represented him for the past decade. No other details were immediately available.

Culver also appeared on lots of British television over the years, from The Befrienders, Secret Army and The Adventures of Black Beauty to The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Game Set and Match, The House of Eliott and the Derek Jacobi-starring Cadfael.

In Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), directed by Irvin Kershner, Culver’s character, as captain of the Imperial Star Destroyer Avenger, loses track of the Millennium Falcon piloted by Han Solo during a pursuit.

Needa takes full responsibility and apologizes to Darth Vader, who then kills him (“Apology accepted, Captain...

For every actor that wins multiple Oscars, there are others who, no matter how much they put into their roles and how much campaigning they do, just can’t make the conversion into winning their first Academy Award.

More often than not, it’s just a matter of bad timing, like being nominated for an Oscar in the same year as one of the four actors mentioned above. There’s just no way of knowing when you’re taking on a role or shooting a film or even once a movie gets out to the critics, how things might change in the time before Oscar night.

Scroll through our photo gallery above (or click here for direct access) to see the 25 actors with the most Oscar nominations and no wins. We include everyone who has been nominated for an acting award at least four times, with Glenn Close and Peter O’Toole...

Glenn Close has been nominated for multiple Oscars over the course of 40 years, but she has never got ahold of a statuette. She kicked off her career on Broadway and had her breakthrough role in The World According to Garp in 1982 when director George Roy Hill asked her to audition with Robin Williams, and she earned her first Oscar nomination right away. Close has a natural talent for comedy and a flair for drama; that's how her performances are so charming and easy to relate to.

Throughout her fantastic career, Glenn Close has earned three Emmys, three Golden Globes, three Tonys, and two SAG awards. If she ever wins an Oscar, she will be very close to earning an Egot. Glenn Close's best movies include blockbusters, comedies, and heavy dramas, ranging from Guardians of the Galaxy to The Wife, and she continues to find great roles, meaning it's not too late for an Oscar win.

Forty-two years after receiving his only film acting Golden Globe nomination for “Ordinary People,” Judd Hirsch is back in the Best Supporting Actor conversation thanks to his brief yet powerful performance as Uncle Boris Schildkraut in “The Fabelmans.” If the 87-year-old does earn his overall ninth Golden Globe notice for his work in the Steven Spielberg film, he will be the third oldest performer ever recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which would put him one step away from making history as the oldest acting Golden Globe winner of all time.

The current record for oldest acting Golden Globe champion has been held since 1989 by John Gielgud. The two-time HFPA honoree was 84 years old when he won Best TV Supporting Actor for the limited series “War and Remembrance.” The only actors older than Hirsch who have ever contended in any Golden Globe category are Ernest Borgnine and Christopher Plummer.

(Welcome to Animation Celebration, a recurring feature where we explore the limitless possibilities of animation as a medium. In this edition: "When The Wind Blows.")

When thinking about animation geared toward adults, people often immediately think of hyper-violent anime like the recent Hulu series, "Chainsaw Man," or excessively vulgar comedies like "Sausage Party," which is getting a series reboot, by the way. With so many people falsely believing that animation is a genre and not a medium, animated features that aren't marketed with the caveat of "not being for kids," are often assumed to be meant for children simply because people foolishly forget that complex and challenging stories are frequently better suited without the limitations of live-action.

After successfully adapting Raymond Briggs' picture book "The Snowman," animator Jimmy Murakami decided to tackle Briggs' more adult graphic novel, "When The Wind Blows." The 1986 film tells the story of an elderly British...

An important, if perhaps apocryphal, moment in the history of cinema was the afternoon little Alfie Hitchcock spent in the care of His Majesty. So terrified was little Hitch of the momentary incarceration (on his father’s orders no less) that his subsequent filmography maypoles artfully around fear in all its forms. Known by cinephiles the world over as the ‘Master of Suspense’, Hitchcock’s films are rightfully celebrated as some of the best the artform has produced. Not for nothing, but ten years ago Hitchcock’s 1958 exploration of obssession and grief Vertigo was voted the best film of all time.

Many of our favourite moments from Hitch’s filmography are easily recalled as scenes perfect in their own right. Today we’re taking a look at some of the scenes that, while not as instantly recognisable, are quiet miracles of cinemas. They show that Hitchcock was a director entirely...

The 2022 Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”), Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”), Judi Dench (“Belfast”), Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”), and Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”). Our odds currently indicate that DeBose (31/10) will emerge victorious, followed in order of likelihood by Dunst (39/10), Ellis (9/2), Buckley (9/2), and Dench (9/2).

Dench is the only previous nominee among the five, having amassed three supporting and five lead bids during her career. She is now one of 25 women with as many featured notices and could follow Shelley Winters and Dianne Wiest by becoming the category’s third dual champion, since she already took the gold for “Shakespeare in Love” (1999). Her second supporting nomination came for “Chocolat” (2001), and she earned her lead ones for “Mrs. Brown” (1998), “Iris” (2002), “Mrs. Henderson Presents” (2006), “Notes on a Scandal” (2007), and “Philomena” (2014).

DeBose and Ellis’s mentions have brought the all-time total of nominations for Black...

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys ceremonies from film awards editor Clayton Davis. Following history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar and Emmy predictions are updated regularly with the current year's list of contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. The eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and is subject to change.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Oscars Collective

Visit each category, per the individual awards show from The Oscars Hub

Revisit the prediction archive of the 2021 season The Archive

Link to television awards is atTHE Emmys Hub

2022 Oscars Predictions:

Best Supporting Actress

Updated: March 24, 2022

Awards Prediction Commentary:

In the acting categories, nine are first-time nominees,...

Yuh-Jung Youn, a legendary actress in her native Korea, made history in the U.S. on Sunday when she became the third oldest Best Supporting Actress winner in Oscars history, winning for her performance as Soon-ja, the scene-stealing grandmother in the six-time Academy Award-nominated film “Minari,” which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family as they attempt to start a farm in rural Arkansas in the 1980s.

At 73 years and 310 days old, Youn, who’s made headlines in recent months for her candid but always delightful acceptance speeches, now sits behind Josephine Hull, who was 74 years and 85 days old when she won for “Harvey” (1950). Both women trail Peggy Ashcroft by a few years; she was 77 years and 93 days old when she won for “A Passage to India” (1984), making her the oldest supporting actress winner. Of course, the oldest nominee in the category remains “Titanic” (1997) star Gloria Stuart, who was...

Yuh-Jung Youn took home the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Minari” on Sunday, making history in multiple ways — most notably becoming just the second Asian actress to win an Oscar.

The Korean legend follows in the footsteps of Japanese actress Miyoshi Umeki, who won the same category for her performance in “Sayonara” (1957). Youn was the first supporting actress nominee of Asian descent since Hailee Steinfeld, who is of Filipino descent, contested for 2010’s “True Grit.”

No woman of Asian descent has won Best Actress and only one has been nominated: Merle Oberon, who was of Indian descent and hid her background during her career, for “The Dark Angel” (1935). Including the men, Best Supporting Actor winner Haing S. Ngor (1984’s “The Killing Fields”) is the last man of Asian descent to win either male category; Ben Kingsley (1982’s “Gandhi”) was the last in Best Actor.

See Full list of Oscar winners...

The 2021 Oscar nominees for Best Supporting Actress are Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”), Olivia Colman (“The Father”), Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”), and Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”). Our odds currently indicate that Youn (16/5) will emerge victorious, followed in order by Bakalova (4/1), Close (4/1), Colman (9/2), and Seyfried (9/2).

All of this year’s nominees are new to the category except Close, who previously garnered three consecutive bids for “The World According to Garp” (1983), “The Big Chill” (1984), and “The Natural” (1985). She also earned recognition for her lead roles in “Fatal Attraction” (1988), “Dangerous Liaisons” (1989), “Albert Nobbs” (2012), and “The Wife” (2019). Since she lost the Best Actress race two years ago, Close has stood alone as the woman with the most acting nominations and no wins.

Close was bested in 2019 by Colman, whose victory for “The Favourite” makes her the only past winner in this group. They are now the 15th pair of actresses to face...

There is no doubt about it: Yuh-Jung Youn is having a great year. The legendary Korean actress has already received a Screen Actors Guild Award and the corresponding BAFTA Award for her supporting role as Soon-ja, the scene-stealing grandmother in the six-time Academy Award-nominated film “Minari,” which tells the story of a Korean immigrant family as they attempt to start a farm in rural Arkansas in the 1980s. Should she win the supporting actress Oscar on April 25, she’ll become the third oldest winner in the category.

Youn will be 73 years and 310 days old on the date of the Oscars. This would put her behind Josephine Hull, who was 74 years and 85 days old when she won for “Harvey” (1950). Both women would then trail Peggy Ashcroft, who won for “A Passage to India” (1984) at the age of 77 years and 93 days old, making her the oldest supporting actress winner. (The oldest nominee...

Although Oscar voters have favored lengthier supporting male performances over the last decade, they have generally voted for shorter ones on the female side. The vast majority of recent Best Supporting Actress winners have had roles that are indisputably featured ones and represent the intended purpose of these prizes.

Last year, Laura Dern prevailed for appearing in 18 minutes and 36 seconds (or 13.58%) of “Marriage Story.” Although her character’s children were unseen, Dern imbued her with the certain kind of tenacious warmth that mothers often radiate. Hers was the third relatively short maternal role to win in a row, after those of Allison Janney and Regina King.

The 2021 Best Supporting Actress nominees have an average screen time of 28 minutes and 55 seconds, or 27.02% of their respective films. In terms of actual time, their average is the 18th highest in the history of the category, while their percentage average is the 13th highest.

Glenn Close turned 74 on Friday, March 19, just four days after receiving her eighth Oscar nomination for her performance in “Hillbilly Elegy.” Once again, Oscar watchers are buzzing about whether this may finally be her time to win or if she will extend her record as the living actor with the most nominations without a win. Should she take home the Best Supporting Actress statuette next month, she would become the third oldest winner in this category in academy history.

Close will be 74 years and 37 days old on the day of the April 25 ceremony. A victory would put her just a hair behind Josephine Hull for “Harvey” (1950), who was 74 years and 85 days old. Both trail Peggy Ashcroft, who won for “A Passage to India” (1984), beating Close for “The Natural,” at the age of 77 years and 93 days old. Only three other women have won Best Supporting Actress in their 70s: Ruth Gordon...

Although Ned Beatty’s six-minute performance in “Network” is the shortest to ever be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, eight Best Supporting Actress nominees have boasted even lower screen times. While only 17 performances under 10 minutes have been recognized in the male category, there have been 36 on the female side, from the first ceremony to Laura Dern’s first supporting bid for “Wild” in 2015. Here is a list of the 10 shortest, which has remained unchanged since 1999 (and here are the 10 shortest winners):

10. Geraldine Page (“The Pope of Greenwich Village”)

6 minutes, 6 seconds (5.06% of the film)

Page’s seventh acting nomination and fourth in the supporting category came for her small role as Mrs. Ritter, the mother of a slain police officer. Though she created a memorable character, she lost to first-time nominee Peggy Ashcroft, whose performance in 1984’s “A Passage to India” clocks in at 32 minutes and 16 seconds. The loss made...

Since the last of her six Oscar nominations in 2001, Ellen Burstyn has kept busy. Her television work has earned her six Emmy nominations and with the first of her two wins (in 2009 for a guest spot on “Law & Order: Svu”) she completed the Triple Crown of Acting. Back in 1975, she took home both a Tony and an Oscar (for “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”).

Over the years, Burstyn has continuously nurtured her theatre roots and served as the president of both the Actors’ Equity Association and the Actors Studio. On the film side, although she has added over 30 credits to her resume over the past two decades, none of them have been noticed by Oscar voters. Even so, Burstyn is no stranger to long waiting periods (there was a 20-year gap between her Oscar bids in 1981 and 2001). Her patience and work ethic have paid off, as her chance at...

Long considered one of Oscar’s most overdue actresses, Glenn Close is in the running yet again for gold this year thanks to “Hillbilly Elegy,” which will be released November 24 in theaters and on Netflix. She most recently received her seventh career nomination for “The Wife” (2018), a record among all living actresses, but lost yet again thanks to Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”). Will she now earn Oscar bid #8 for her latest big-screen performance? Get a closer look at Close’s seven Oscar nominations by touring our photo gallery above.

Close (a Best Supporting Actress front-runner) and Amy Adams (a Best Actress contender) star as a mother and daughter in Netflix’s “Hillbilly Elegy.” Directed by Ron Howard, the film explores the lives of an Appalachian family based on J.D. Vance’s memoir of the same name. As luck would have it, Adams is another overdue actress who’s hoping to...

On Aug. 11, 1943, Variety carried a story beginning “Angela Lansbury, 17-year-old English girl, is the colony’s latest Cinderella.” The story said she had gone from an unknown to movie star in only four days.

Since then, Lansbury has forged a career that defies all logic. She received supporting-actress Oscar nominations twice in her first two years of work. At age 41, she became a musical-comedy star with “Mame.” She became a TV star with “Murder, She Wrote” at age 59, an age when most actresses can’t find work. In the show’s 12-year run, she was one of the TV industry’s most powerful women. Maybe her biggest accomplishment: Though powerful women were sometimes maligned, it was thought you needed to be heartless to survive in showbiz, Lansbury has created a 77-year career and nobody has a bad word to say about her.

Lansbury, who turns 95 Friday, is best known for...

Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren are not just thespian royalty in the UK, they have both been crowned winners at previous Venice festivals: Mirren for her regal performance in Stephen Frears’ The Queen and Broadbent for his portrayal of W. S. Gilbert in Mike Leigh’s Topsy Turvy. Together, they appear in The Duke, Roger Michell’s highly entertaining spin on a remarkable true story from 1960s Britain.

The duke in question is the Duke of Wellington, specifically a portrait painted by Goya that was purchased for £140,000 by the British government in 1961 in order for it to remain in the country. The purchase is all over the news and throngs of visitors make their way to the National Gallery in London to view it.

But this tale does not take place in the soon to be swinging capital. The setting is Newcastle upon Tyne, home to the garrulous Kempton Bunton (Broadbent) and his long-suffering wife,...

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

“Liz And Mia Get Freaky”

By Raymond Benson

Once again, Kino Lorber, a company grandly competing with other “Cadillac” DVD/Blu-ray publishers, has released an esoteric non-mainstream title from yesteryear that might have otherwise have remained under the radar screens of retro movie lovers.

The filmography of Joseph Losey, the American expat who fled the U.S. to Britain after being blacklisted in the early 50s, has been duly represented by Kino. The company has released several of his titles, a recent one being Secret Ceremony, a British production starring American actors in the three lead roles.

Made in 1968, the picture is one odd duck, but it’s got quite the cast—Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum, Peggy Ashcroft, and Pamela Brown. Based on a novel by Marco Denevi, Secret Ceremony resembles some of the avant-garde stage plays by the likes of...

As the Rascal Flatts would croon, “what hurts the most was being so close.” And Glenn Close was closer than ever to her first Oscar this year with “The Wife,” but alas, she fell short once again, losing to Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”) and is now the most nominated actress without a win. But which of her unlucky seven losses hurts the most?

Close’s film career started fast right out of the gate with “The World According to Garp” (1982), taking Best Supporting Actress at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review, with runner-up mentions at the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Society of Film Critics. She became one of the few stars to earn an Oscar nomination for their screen debut. At 35, Close, who up until then worked in theater, was at the perfect age for one of those “hot new discovery” wins that Oscar likes.

Regina King just won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her performance as a mother determined to help her pregnant daughter clear her boyfriend’s name in “If Beale Street Could Talk.” It was an especially sweet victory, considering the Golden Globe and Critics Choice winner overcame snubs at SAG and BAFTA on her way to the podium. She became the 83rd person in history to clinch that prize, beating out Amy Adams (“Vice”), Marina de Tavira (“Roma”), Emma Stone (“The Favourite”) and Rachel Weisz (“The Favourite”). Tour our photo gallery above of every Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress, from the most recent winner to the very first one.

SEE2019 Oscars: Full list of winners (and losers) at the 91st Academy Awards

The supporting categories were added in 1936 at the ninth Academy Awards, with Gale Sondergaard (“Anthony Adverse”) claiming the first victory in Best Supporting Actress. Initially,...

When Glenn Close's name was read off the list of best actress nominees during the Oscar nominations announcement in January, it came as no surprise. Her exceptional performance as the elegant, emotionally complex wife of a renowned writer in The Wife has made her a widely considered front runner for months. Close is one of those actresses who effortlessly disappears into any role - and she's been rewarded for it. Over the years, Close has racked up seven Oscar nominations (including this year's). But it might surprise you to learn that the actress has never actually won a single Oscar; in fact, she has the most nominations without a win of any living actor.

Close's first Oscar nomination came in 1982, when she was nominated for best supporting actor for the Robin Williams dramedy The World According to Garp. That year, she lost to Jessica Lange from Tootsie. Close's 1982 nomination...

Long considered one of Oscar’s most overdue actresses, Glenn Close (“The Wife”) received her seventh career nomination on January 22, 2019. (See the complete list of Oscar nominations.) This year’s bid marks her fourth for Best Actress, while the other three were for Best Supporting Actress. Will Close finally win her elusive Oscar thanks to “The Wife,” or will she become a seven-time also-ran? Get a closer look at Close’s seven Oscar nominations by clicking through our photo gallery above.

See 2019 Oscar nominations: Full list of Academy Awards nominees in all 24 categories [Updating Live]

“The World According to Garp” (1982) — Close’s Oscar journey began very naturally at the start of her film career, earning a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her first feature film role in “The World According to Garp.” Playing Jenny Fields, a single mom who turns into a feminist icon, Close won prizes from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association...

Glenn Close is currently sitting in a very precarious position and could be on the verge of breaking a record nobody really wants to have. Ever since her new film “The Wife” started premiering at film festivals last year, Close has been getting Oscar buzz about a possible Best Actress bid for her role as the spouse of a renowned author (Jonathan Pryce). Should she be nominated and lose, Close would become the most nominated actress in Oscar history never to win.

Close is currently tied with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter with six nominations apiece without a statue. However, number seven could be the lucky number for Close. There is precedence. Both Geraldine Page and Al Pacino were also perennial Oscar also-rans but finally took home trophies on their eighth and seventh tries, respectively.

SEEGlenn Close movies: 15 greatest films, ranked worst to best, include ‘Fatal Attraction,’ ‘Dangerous Liaisons’

Close...

There are many sins committed every minute of the day. But when it comes to Oscar oversights, there is one that might be rectified soon. Thanks to just-opened “The Wife”, Glenn Close could finally get a little gold man to call her own after six previous tries. She is currently tied with the late Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter as the actress with the most nominations without a win.

Close plays the indulgent wife of a renowned author (Jonathan Pryce), a self-absorbed lothario who wins the Nobel Prize for literature. As they journey to Stockholm for the awards ceremony, their relationship is strained as a long-unspoken secret can no longer be denied. Does Close’s much-raved-about performance in “The Wife,” which grossed a stellar $111,137 at the box office in just four theaters, have the same emotional weight as the sight of her weepily mourning her ex- lover while slumped naked...

Jessica Lange has been voted your favorite Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner of the 1980s for her performance as soap opera star Julie Nichols in “Tootsie.” The iconic actress won by a strong margin over all other 1980s winners, as voted on by the readers of Gold Derby in a recent poll.

See Meryl Streep (‘Sophie’s Choice’) is clear choice for top Best Actress Oscar winner of 1980s [Poll Results]

Lange took in 36% of the vote, more than enough to clinch a win. Olympia Dukakis (“Moonstruck”) and Dianne Wiest (“Hannah and Her Sisters”) tied for second at 17% each, the only other winners to earn double digit percentage points. Next up was Linda Hunt (“The Year of Living Dangerously”) at 9%, while Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor”) rounded out the top five with 7%.

Brenda Fricker (“My Left Foot”) followed at 6% in our poll and then came Geena Davis (“The Accidental Tourist”) with 4%. Peggy Ashcroft...

The Best Supporting Actress Oscar winners of the 1980s include both well-known leading ladies and beloved veteran actresses. The decade saw stars like Jessica Lange, Geena Davis and Anjelica Huston earn their Oscars, joining Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest, Linda Hunt, Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker, who have all had solid careers since their wins. The decade also has two winning actresses that have since died, Maureen Stapleton and Peggy Ashcroft, though their performances will not be forgotten.

Who is your favorite Best Supporting Actress winner of the 1980s? Look back on each and vote in our poll below.

Mary Steenburgen, “Melvin and Howard” (1980) — The decade started off with Steenburgen winning her Oscar for “Melvin and Howard,” about Melvin Dummar (Paul Le Mat), who claimed to be the heir of Howard Hughes‘ fortune. Steenburgen plays Lynda, Melvin’s wife who takes up stripping and is frustrated by Melvin’s behavior. This...

Nathaniel talks to Sheila O'Malley, one of the best film critics on acting, as they reflect on recent Smackdown adventures, the chaos of acting careers, and the problems with "best" designations.

Index (43 minutes)

00:01 Acting training, Geraldine Page, and critics who "get" acting

06:45 Glenn Close and Robert Redford Reveries in The Natural

14:00 The quality of acting fields & self-selecting "Oscar movies"

20:45 Romancing the Stone and the "realm of fantasy" versus the "gritty" farm wife movies. Why do some movies hold up so well over time?

27:00 Peggy Ashcroft and Lindsay Crouse. Plus: making out with Ed Harris.

33:00 The rumors about Swing Shift and Jonathan Demme's original cut. Did we lose a masterpiece?

40:18 Sheila's connection to Gena Rowland's Honorary Oscar.

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?...

Presenting the Supporting Actress Class of '84. The Academy looked way back in time for this vintage collecting characters from the 1920s through the 1940s: a British senior on an excursion to see "the real" India, a Depression era beautician, the ex-girl of a ballplayer, and a former singer working in a factory during World War II. The sole contemporary character was a chain-smoking furious mother from Greenwich Village...

Glenn Close and Geraldine Page were the regulars... about to lose again!

1984 

Supporting Actress Smackdown  

The Nominees: The 1984 Supporting Actress list skewed more mature than usual. Lindsay Crouse, surely buoyed by the love for Best Picture player Places in the Heart, and the promising new star Christine Lahti who was the least familiar face to moviegoers at the time, were the youngest, both in their mid 30s. Glenn Close, on her third consecutive nomination in the category, and Geraldine Page with...

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1984 is coming your way on Wednesday August 31st with Dame Peggy Ashcroft defending her Oscar from the other side. Will the panel co-sign that Oscar win or throw their votes to Christine Lahti, Lindsay Crouse, or legendary Oscar regulars in the form or either Glenn Close or Geraldine Page. Please remember that readers are the collective sixth panelist so I expect your answers to these questions in the comments (as well as your ballots - details on what to send me here).

Meet The Panelists

Please give a hearty welcome to two first time Smackdowners

Noah Tsika

Noah Tsika is the Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Queens College, Cuny. He has also written two books on cinema: Nollywood Stars: Media and Migration in West Africa and the Diaspora and Pink 2.0: Encoding Queer Cinema on the Internet. 

Follow Noah on Twitter 

Sheila O'Malley...

The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1984 is just 8 days away! All of the titles are available to stream online, albeit mostly with rental fees.

The Nominees were...

Dame Peggy Ashcroft, A Passage to India  iTunes | Amazon 

Glenn Close, The Natural iTunes | Amazon

Lindsay Crouse, Places in the Heart iTunes | Amazon

Christine Lahti, Swing Shift iTunes | Amazon

Geraldine Page, The Pope of Greenwich Village Amazon Prime  

Readers are our final panelist for the Smackdown so if you'd like to vote send Nathaniel an email with 1984 in the header line and your votes by Friday August 26th. Each performance you've seen should be rated on a scale of 1 to 5 hearts (1 being terrible 5 being stupendous) -- Remember to only vote for performances that you've seen! The votes are weighted to reflect numbers of voters per movies so no actress has an unfair advantage. ...

You thought we'd forgotten the Smackdowns. We have not! Here's what's coming this season. You know you want to join in the movie merriment! We're giving you a headstart so you can get to watching these 13 movies for the first time (or revisiting them) over your summer vacations. More details to follow as we get closer to the actual Smackdowns. 

Sunday July 31st

The Best Supporting Actresses of 1977

The Oscar went to the legendary but controversial Vanessa Redgrave for Julia and while she might be impossible to beat, the movies are all juicy in this category. Tuesday Weld co-stars in the provocative Looking for Mr Goodbar, Melinda Dillon was part of the fine cast of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Quinn Cumming charmed voters in The Goodbye Girl, and Leslie Browne, a dancer, debuted in Oscar's all time biggest loser The Turning Point (nominated for 11 Oscars but it lost every category!

Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...

'Henry V' Movie Actress Renée Asherson dead at 99: Laurence Olivier leading lady in acclaimed 1944 film (image: Renée Asherson and Laurence Olivier in 'Henry V') Renée Asherson, a British stage actress featured in London productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and Three Sisters, but best known internationally as Laurence Olivier's leading lady in the 1944 film version of Henry V, died on October 30, 2014. Asherson was 99 years old. The exact cause of death hasn't been specified. She was born Dorothy Renée Ascherson (she would drop the "c" some time after becoming an actress) on May 19, 1915, in Kensington, London, to Jewish parents: businessman Charles Ascherson and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman -- both of whom narrowly escaped spending their honeymoon aboard the Titanic. (Ascherson cancelled the voyage after suffering an attack of appendicitis.) According to Michael Coveney's The Guardian obit for the actress, Renée Asherson was "scantly...

Blu-ray Release Date: Nov. 11, 2014

Price: Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Twilight Time

The 1986 animated film When the Wind Blows is a dark comedy-drama directed by veteran Japanese-American animator Jimmy Murakami, who passed away this year at the age of 80.

Jim and Hilda Bloggs (voiced by legendary English actors Peggy Ashcroft and John Mills), a middle-class, elderly British couple who, with the help of government-issued pamphlets, build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II. There home is hit indirectly by a Soviet nuclear bomb, leaving it in ashes and barely standing, with the couple surviving by ducking behind a door that Jim set up as an inner refuge. But barely surviving the attack is not enough, as they steadily fall prey to lethal radiation sickness…

A well-regarded Britsh cult entry (and a sad one!

By Terence Johnson

Managing Editor

When the Los Angeles Times published the study of the Academy two years ago, many people were equally shocked and not surprised at the information given about the demographics. Since the piece, many have trumpeted the 94% white, 77% male, and average age of 62 years old as a way to justify certain predictions. With several veteran contenders in the race this year, how much affect will the Academy’s demographic have on the race.

Though I tend to think stats like this become overblown during the season, it’s hard to deny the impact. One only need look at the Best Actress lineup, the oldest ever in this category, and see that veterans can often times get behind their own even when there are younger actors in competition. This year’s race saw several veteran actors in competition. Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, and Emma Thompson were in...

By Terence Johnson

Managing Editor

Of the acting races, Supporting Actress seems to be the only acting category that’s really up in the air. Much of the conversation has surrounded Jennifer Lawrence and Lupita Nyong’o, who both have won precursors, but June Squibb has also been nominated for each of this awards. With much of the talk of a split between the two, could Squibb step in and nab her first Oscar?

If Squibb were to win, she would be the oldest Supporting Actress winner, besting the previous oldest (Peggy Ashcroft) by nearly 7 years come Oscar night. No Supporting Actress Oscar winner has ever gotten the statue in their 80s, so Squibb would have her work cut out for her. However, it’s not nearly as bleak as those first two stats would have you believe. There have been several winners that fit the mold of Squibb (older,...

Actor and director who brought dark good looks and a commanding presence to his roles

Austrian by birth, Swiss by circumstance and international by reputation, Maximilian Schell, who has died aged 83, was a distinguished actor, director, writer and producer. However, he will be best remembered as an actor, especially for his Oscar-winning performance in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) – an early highlight among scores of television and movie appearances. He also directed opera, worked tirelessly in the theatre and made six feature films, including Marlene (1984) - a tantalising portrait of Dietrich, his co-star in Judgment, who is heard being interviewed but not seen, except in movie extracts.

Schell courted controversy and much of his work, including The Pedestrian (1973), dealt with the second world war, its attendant crimes and the notion of collective guilt. In 1990, when he was offered a special award for his contributions to German film, he refused to accept it.

Maximilian Schell movie director (photo: Maximilian Schell and Maria Schell) (See previous post: “Maximilian Schell Dies: Best Actor Oscar Winner for ‘Judgment at Nuremberg.’”) Maximilian Schell’s first film as a director was the 1970 (dubbed) German-language release First Love / Erste Liebe, adapted from Igor Turgenev’s novella, and starring Englishman John Moulder-Brown, Frenchwoman Dominique Sanda, and Schell in this tale about a doomed love affair in Czarist Russia. Italian Valentina Cortese and British Marius Goring provided support. Directed by a former Best Actor Oscar winner, First Love, a movie that could just as easily have been dubbed into Swedish or Swahili (or English), ended up nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. Three years later, nominated in that same category was Schell’s second feature film as a director, The Pedestrian / Der Fußgänger, in which a car accident forces a German businessman to delve deep into his past.

Television director in the glory days of the BBC, who went on to make feature films

Alan Bridges, who has died aged 86, was a leading director during the glory days of the BBC, from the mid-60s to the early 70s. Today, whenever media pundits analyse the history of television drama, they wax lyrical about The Wednesday Play and its successor Play for Today, bemoaning the virtual disappearance of the single play.

By the time Bridges started working in the Wednesday Play slot, he was already one of the BBC's most experienced TV directors – he had directed excellent 10-part adaptations of two 19th-century classics, Great Expectations and Les Misérables (both in 1967) – but he relished the "right to fail" ethos at the BBC, enjoying working with exciting contemporary writers.

While continuing to have a distinguished television career into the 80s, adeptly moving from the popular to the experimental, from the modern to the classical,...