Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 21:37 2011 Oscar countdown: best and worst Best Actress winners in Oscar history
We start our 2011 Oscar countdown series looking back in Oscar history to select the best and worst Best Actress winners. From Janet Gaynor, who was honored in 1929 for her performances in three films (Seventh Heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise, to Sandra Bullock, the most recent recipient for her mediocre turn in the ridiculously bad The Blind Side, 83 performers have been recognized with the trophy as best actress of the year in the 82 ceremonies held so far (the discrepancy in figures occurring on account of Katharine Hepburn's and Barbra Streisand's tie in 1968).
Out of the 83 Oscar-winning performances for consideration here, there are three we don't know and therefore they are not taken into account for our choice: Mary Pickford's in Coquette (1928/9), Marie Dressler's in Min and Bill (1930/1) and, surprisingly, Glenda Jackson's in A Touch of Class (1973).
Here is our choice. Make your comments and offer up your picks.
10 best Best Actress Oscar-winning performances:
10. Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (1950). It is somewhat strange to include Holliday in this list since Oscar history has usually relegated her to the group of undeserved winners, mostly because on her way to Oscar victory she beat two of the greatest actresses in cinema history in the roles of their lives: Bette Davis in All About Eve and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard. Regardless of that, Judy Holliday is peerless recreating the role of dumb blonde she had originated in Broadway. A truly unforgettable comic performance.
9. Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind (1939). Even though many would probably favour her more complex Oscar-winning role as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, her Scarlett O'hara is, like the film itself, bigger than life and, doubtless, one of the greatest screen creations ever.
8. Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) Edward Albee's play was the perfect showcase for Taylor's still untapped acting potential. She never had been or was to be better than fighting with on and off real life husband Richard Burton.
7. Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet ((1931/2) The great Helen Hayes made her sound film debut in this solid soaper about a wrongly accused woman ready to do whatever it takes to get her son a good life. Hayes is convincing in whatever she does in the film, too. She was to win her second Oscar (as supporting actress) 40 years later for Airport (1970).
6. Bette Davis in Jezebel (1938). Davis did better things than the two films for which she got early Oscar recognition (Dangerous in 1935 and Jezebel in 1938), but few reflect better than Jezebel's rebellious Julie Mardsen her strong-willed persona.
5. Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose (2007). Cotillard is the most recent Oscar winner to make the cut. With the benefit of hindsight it is hard to imagine that she was actually not the frontrunner of the race (Julie Christie was for Away from Her). Her phenomenal transformation in Edith Piaf ranks among the greatest screen personifications ever.
4. Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry (1999). Many will be appalled to see a former Beverly Hills 90210 cast member appear in a list that leaves out legendary players like Olivia de Havilland, Joan Crawford, Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft, Ingrid Bergman or Katharine Hepburn, but her portrayal of Brandon Teena deserves the recognition. The interrogation scene where Brandon explains the sexual identity crisis he's been going through is memorable.
3. Kathy Bates in Misery (1990). Although the film is uneven at best, Bates is terrific as the psychopathic number one fan of a bestselling author.
2. Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (1982). Meryl Streep has been nominated to the Oscar 16 times, more than any other performer, and should have won at least half a dozen times. Her win for Sophie's Choice remains, however, her only victory in the Best Actress category (she had received the supporting award for Kramer vs. Kramer three years before) and, in our opinion, one of the best performances ever to have been recognized with an Oscar.
1. Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Fletcher has not enjoyed the film career one might have expected of an actress that wins an Oscar at such an early stage, but her Nurse Ratched is one of the best villain characters in film and our choice as the best Best Actress Oscar-winning performance.
10 worst Best Actress Oscar-winning performances to follow soon in Imitation of Life.
Reader Comments (4)
I would like to see your 'Actress who was robbed' list... e.g. Judy Dench in Mrs. Brown, Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth...etc...
@Michael C
I think there'll be a couple of references to that when I post the entry of the worst Best Actress winners, but maybe I should dedicate a specific post to it. There'd be plenty to talk about. Apart from those you mention (I totally agree):
Glen Close in Fatal Attraction (Cher won)
Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream (Julia Roberts)
Meryl Streep in Doubt (Kate Winslet in her worst performance ever)
ANYBODY ELSE last year (Sandra Bullock)
And many more...
Qué susto! He visto la foto de Louise Fletcher y se me ha pasado por la cabeza la posibilidad de que estuviese entre las diez peores ganadoras al Oscar a la mejor interpretación! Aclarado el malentendido, tengo que decir que produce muuuuucho más morbo la posible lista a las diez peores.
Truchiman
No, no, la mejor. Las diez peores estàn al caer. Quizà manana.