Not sure this has ever been discussed here except tangentially within other threads about acting winners.

Looking over Oscar history, there are a number of cases - some of them considered surprises or hard to explain - where the winner had the advantage of appearing the same year (or in a couple cases, early the next while voting was going on) of having a second acclaimed performance.

We all know that acting winners are determined by many factors, including a long history of make-good awards. Those - like Jimmy Stewart for Philadelphia Story or Elizabeth Taylor for BUtterfield 8 - are not what I am talking about - only concurrent releases where only one film can be cited in a nomination.

I also am not listing cases where an actor had two nominations in different categories, which clearly has shown itself to be a help in winning one of the awards.

Anyway, here are some examples. Anyone want to suggest some others?

1934 - Actress/Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night
Considered a major upset, and an early year release, Colbert at the end of the year starred in two major hits - Cleopatra and Imitation of Life, either of which could also have garnered her nominations.

1939 - Supporting Actor/Thomas Mitchell - Stagecoach
Had he not been nominated for Stagecoach, he would have been for Gone With the Wind, which likely was seen by more voters than Stagecoach.

1941 - Supporting Actress/Mary Astor - The Great Lie
Her winning movie is the more conventional Oscar type film, but her most famous role is from another hit of 1941 - The Maltese Falcon.

1954 - Actress/Grace Kelly - The Country Girl
This upset over Judy Garland likely would not have happened without the contrast between her drab housewife here and the far more glamorous Rear Windown and Dial M for Murder.

1958 - Supporting Actor/Burl Ives - The Big Country
I have a hard time believing his win wasn't more for his Big Daddy in Cat on the Hot Tin Roof (which MGM pushed for lead)

1963 - Supporting Actress/Margaret Rutherford - The VIPs
The first of the Agatha Christie Miss Marple films - Murder at the Gsllop, with major appeal for older voters, was also released in 1963 (and is what she is best known for today).

1965 - Actor/Lee Marvin - Cat Ballou
One of the bigger upsets easily explained that he was nominated for this summer release, but his big Oscar film was the end-of-the-year Ship of Fools, a major nominee for 1965.

1965 - Actress/Julie Christie - Darling
What pushed her over Julie Andrews was her Lara in Dr. Zhivago, which was what made her a star, not Darling.

1972 - Actor/Marlon Brando - The Godfather
Not saying he wouldn't have won anyway, but Last Tango in Paris premiered in fall 1972, and was theatrically released in Feb. 73 during the voting period.

1977 - Actor/Richard Dreyfuss - The Goodbye Girl
At the same time, the lead in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Without that, not sure he'd have won.

1992 - Actor/Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
Sleepless in Seattle was a bigger hit, and he'd previously been nominated for the also less dramatic Big. When Sleepless came out, there was some Oscar chitchat.

2005 - Supporting Actor/George Clooney - Syriana
Being in and of course directing Good Night and Good Luck the same year of course tipped this in his direction.


I likely missed a couple, and otherwise love to hear other thoughts.

This doesn't happen nearly as much these days - there a fewer Oscar-type roles, the big names usually don't have more than one film a year, so it hasn't been as common recently.

Jessica Lange's win for Tootsie must've had some Frances love along with it because Jessica Lange wasn't winning that year over Meryl Streep.

AJ - I said that because obviously they are a major help, I wasn't listing double nominees who won in a particular year.

I think all the examples I listed also would be considered same category (ever Burl Ives, who was more supporting in Cat, and possibly Lee Marvin, although he did win best lead actor for the role from the NBR that year). Also, Margaret Ruhterford was clearly the lead in the Miss Marple films.

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Sean Penn, "Mystic River" & "21 Grams"

I missed that pretty obvious one - thanks. Not sure than Penn would not have won anyway, but if indeed it was a close race with Murray as thought, 21 Grams might have pushed him over.

Whoopi's comedic hijinks in GHOST were balanced by her dramatic turn in A LONG WALK HOME.

Steven Soderberg won best Director for TRAFFIC since he had swept the harbingers' directing categories for 2 great movies in one year (ERIN BROCKOVICH, of course)

Diane Keaton is a good example in 1977. She had Annie Hall and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, the latter based on a controversial novel. The pictures showcased her comedic and dramatic capabilities. She was nominated for Golden globes for both. She did some nude scenes in Goodbar, garnering some additional press given her goody two shoes image and refusal to drop trou in Hair a few years back. Keaton was relatively new to the scene in 77 being in only 7 or 8 features prior... although some of these were extemeely high profile admittedly, like Best picture winner Godfather 1 & 2. In fact Goodbar & Hall made her picture count about 10, with 3 of these being best pictures, not bad! By 1981, she had been in two more picture nominees - Manhattan and Reds. The fact that Keaton was able to win in 77 despite her youth can likely be in part attributed to Goodbar given her famous competition - Anne Bancroft, Shirley Maclaine, Jane Fonda and Marsha Mason, all previous best actress nominees unlike Keaton who won 1st time to bat.

I think Teresa Wright being a double nominee in 1942 for The Pride of the Yankees and Mrs. Miniver is a big reason she won for Miniver as I personally found her co star May Whitty who was also nominated to be more deserving.

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Ethel -
That's another obvious one I forgot to double check - Goodbar definitely boosted Keaton's chances.

I think Jim Broadbent was helped in 2001 by his performances in "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "Moulin Rouge" in addition to his winning role in "Iris". The leading ladies of all three of those films were up for the Best Actress trophy, so his work was sure to have been widely seen by the Academy in some capacity.

About the Julie Christie issue, Darling made her an star, Doctor Zhivago made her a huge superstar and the most popular british actress at the moment. Zhivago was the superior movie not doubt, but darling was first and it did a great impact in the british culture and the swinging london.

Darling in the US was at most an art-house breakout film, Zhivago was the film that introduced her to most audiences and made her for a time a star.

Not crazy about either movie, but for me clearly Darling is the better one. Zhivago has always seemed bloated and simple-minded to me, particularly coming right after Lawrence of Arabia.

Oscar voting being even less conscientious in the mid 60s than now, I suspect a lot of people who voted for her had only seen Zhivago.

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quote:

Originally posted by seanflynn:
Darling in the US was at most an art-house breakout film, Zhivago was the film that introduced her to most audiences and made her for a time a star.

Not crazy about either movie, but for me clearly Darling is the better one. Zhivago has always seemed bloated and simple-minded to me, particularly coming right after Lawrence of Arabia.

Oscar voting being even less conscientious in the mid 60s than now, I suspect a lot of people who voted for her had only seen Zhivago.

Well, i liked more Zhivago, i love darling but i think that Zhivago was the best movie in all the aspects, althought talking about Julie's performances, I like her as Diana Scott so much as i like her as Lara.

No doubt, Zhivago was the huge movie and the most popular, but i think that darling did a huge impact too in the USA, but not so much as here in Britain. The movie as nominated as best picture, best script and won best actress and best costume design.

In Julie's opinion, she thinks that Zhivago is the superior movie but she liked herself more in Darling than in Zhivago.

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Greer Garson had a double whammy in 1942, with "Mrs. Miniver" and "Random Harvest," which did fantastically well at the box office (# 4 highest grosser of the year), alongside "Miniver."

In 1952, Gloria Grahame starred in "The Greatest Show on Earth", "Sudden Fear" and "The Bad and the Beautiful". Only the combination of those movies could have been the reason why she won for her small, unimportant part in "The Bad and the Beautiful"...

In 1955, Jo Van Fleet impressed many with her performance in "East of Eden", but her win was secured when she also starred in "I'll cry tomorrow" and "The Rose Tattoo".

Lots of good additional cases - thanks all...

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Gwyneth Paltrow appeared in like 4 hit or minor-hit movies the year she won for shakespeare. hush, sliding doors, shakespeare in love and a perfect murder. that definitely gave her even more visibility

Michael Douglas, "Wall Street" & "Fatal Attraction"

Gwyneth Paltrow didn't really deserve an Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love", but she had a very solid body of work in 1998: "Sliding Doors", "Great Expectations" and "A Perfect Murder"

Oops, vozas already mentioned her!

I don't know if this helped her but Frances McDormand released five films the year she did Fargo: Primal Fear, Plain Pleasures, Lone Star, Fargo, and Hidden in America.

Others didn't appear in films but were in TV movies on the same year they did their Oscar winning performance (PSH, Swank etc.)