# A Couple of Oscar Trivia Questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317 "2003-02-20T13:53:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/21 "2003-02-20T23:20:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > \*\*What character brought nominations to three different actors in three different films? \*\* Without consulting imdb, I’m going to guess Elizabeth I. I know that Judy Dench won for it (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), I’m almost positive that Bette Davis won for it (FIRE OVER LONDON), and I know that Glenda Jackson won an Oscar for something and that she played the role in MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS as well as the great miniseries. (Cate Blanchett was also nominated the same year as Dench but thankfully didn’t win). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/22 "2003-02-20T23:23:10Z")
Historically speaking, Sampiro, you are very, very close. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/23 "2003-02-20T23:40:32Z")
I went to [imdb.com](http://imdb.com) to confirm/refute- neither Jackson nor Davis was nominated for playing Liz I, though I’m sure somebody else must have been over the years… it’s going to drive me nuts til somebody gets it. Everybody knows that Hattie McDaniel was the first black actor to win an Oscar. At least three other actors have won Oscars for playing slaves (or at least people who have at some point in their life possibly been slaves). Name these three (and any others you can think of). Who was the first actor to win the award for playing an openly gay character? Who was the first nominated for such a role? The easy easy one- who’s the only actor to win the Oscar for playing somebody of the opposite sex? Which Best Actor winner was a member of the Nazi Party during WW2? Name at least three non-Asian actors who won for playing Asians. (Again, there may be more, but I know of three.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/24 "2003-02-20T23:53:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > \*\* > The easy easy one- who’s the only actor to win the Oscar for playing somebody of the opposite sex? \*\* No fair going to the IMDB, right? What’shername, in **Year of Living Dangerously** > [@](#): > > \*\* > Name at least three non-Asian actors who won for playing Asians. (Again, there may be more, but I know of three.) \*\* Red Buttons, **Sayonara**? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/25 "2003-02-20T23:55:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > \*\* > Everybody knows that Hattie McDaniel was the first black actor to win an Oscar. At least three other actors have won Oscars for playing slaves (or at least people who have at some point in their life possibly been slaves). Name these three (and any others you can think of). > > \*\* Does Charlton Heston in **Ben-Hur** count? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/26 "2003-02-20T23:57:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > > * * * > > No fair going to the IMDB, right? What’shername, in **Year of Living Dangerously** Linda Hunt. The lightbulb just went on. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/27 "2003-02-20T23:57:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > \*\*Does Charlton Heston in **Ben-Hur** count? \*\* Yes, I counted him. ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/28 "2003-02-20T23:58:12Z")
Paul Newman is of course the correct answer for my question. About the non-Asian/Asian question does Kingsley for Gandhi count? He is half-Indian. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/29 "2003-02-21T00:00:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > > * * * > > No fair going to the IMDB, right? What’shername, in **Year of Living Dangerously** > > Red Buttons, **Sayonara**? \*\* No, he played an American GI in love with an Asian woman. One of the performances was from a man in the late 1950s, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/30 "2003-02-21T00:07:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CyberPundit \* > \*\*Paul Newman is of course the correct answer for my question. > > About the non-Asian/Asian question does Kingsley for Gandhi count? He is half-Indian. \*\* I didn’t count him, but it did occur that one of the ones I was thinking had Asian ancestry (though only about 1/8 percent, just slightly more than Russell Crowe’s Maori ancestry), so I’ll disqualify that one- it was Yul Brynner. One of the other non-Asians has been mentioned in the past few replies, and the third was a German Jew who fled Hitler and won back to back Oscars in the 1930s. (Thankfully, Mickey Rooney was ignored for B’FAST AT TIFFANYS.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/31 "2003-02-21T00:09:57Z")
Paul Muni, **Bitter Tea of General Yen**? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/32 "2003-02-21T00:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > No, he played an American GI in love with an Asian woman. One of the performances was from a man in the late 1950s, though. Yul Brynner in _The King and I_. Linda Hunt is another. Luise Rainer is the third for _The Good Earth_. Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington played slaves or former slaves. > [@](#): > > Which Best Actor winner was a member of the Nazi Party during WW2? Emil Jannings ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/33 "2003-02-21T00:16:23Z")
Answer to Asian question: Yul Brynner, Linda Hunt, and Luise Rainer Slaves: Charlton Heston/Ben Hur, Denzel Washington/Glory, Luise Rainer/The Good Earth. You could make an argument that Meryl Streep would qualify from Sophie’s Choice, but it could go either way. I’m off to find out who the other Elizabeth I nominee was… BTW, I did some research on birth years. The first-born Oscar nominee from the performing categories was born in 1868; the latest born was born in 1982. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/34 "2003-02-21T00:17:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > \*\*At least three other actors have won Oscars for playing slaves (or at least people who have at some point in their life possibly been slaves). Name these three (and any others you can think of). > > \*\* Russell Crowe, **Gladiator** My first guess involved **Spartacus** , but the only Oscar went to Peter Ustinov, who did not, I believe, play a slave. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/35 "2003-02-21T00:22:04Z")
Oh, good call- I didn’t even think about Crowe/Gladiator. I could have sworn that Chief Dan George won an Oscar, incidentally, but nope. Walter Brennan on the other hand won three. (I also checked to see if Quentin Crisp was nominated for playing Good Queen Bess, but alas, no.) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/36 "2003-02-21T00:23:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sampiro \* > \*\* > Who was the first actor to win the award for playing an openly gay character? Who was the first nominated for such a role? > \*\* William Hurt, **Kiss of the Spider Woman**? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/37 "2003-02-21T00:30:27Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* \*\*William Hurt, **Kiss of the Spider Woman**? \*\*[/QUOTE Yes. I’ve actually seen publications as big as USA Today give the distinction to Tom Hanks for PHILADELPHIA (which I still think he won because it was such a PC film; it was a good performance but the character was too one-dimensional). Cher’s character in SILKWOOD a few year’s before was the first openly gay character whose sexuality was discussed rather than implied. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/38 "2003-02-21T00:36:16Z")
What was the first picture to win best picture? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/39 "2003-02-21T00:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m off to find out who the other Elizabeth I nominee was… Actually, when I said _historically_, I was probably too vague. The character is **not** Elizabeth I, but it is one of her relations… > [@](#): > > Cher’s character in SILKWOOD a few year’s before was the first openly gay character whose sexuality was discussed rather than implied. Actually, I think it goes back even farther. If you don’t want to approach the orientation minefield of the Al Pacino and Chris Sarandon characters in **Dog Day Afternoon** , you still have to contend with the very gay James Coco character in **Only When I Laugh**. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/40 "2003-02-21T00:52:06Z")
For the record, I hope nobody is using [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0380799448/qid=1045788656/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-3260479-6704104?v=glance&s=books) as a reference for this thread. It is so overwhelmed by factual errors, they average one every 2-3 pages. Pathetic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317.md?page=3)