# 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:** 3
**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, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/41 "2003-02-21T01:09:21Z")
> [@](#): > > 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**. \*\* Aah. I stand corrected- I wasn’t familiar with his character in that. The actor born in 1868, btw, was George Arliss, who won in 1930 for Disraeli. Anna Paquin, who won at the age of 11, was born in 1982. I feel stupid- so obvious- HENRY VIII. Robert Shaw (Man for all Seasons), Richard Burton (Anne of the Thousand Days), and Charles Laughton (who won for Private Life of Henry VIII). ---
**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, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/42 "2003-02-21T01:15:45Z")
Hijack, but… I know that Sarah Bernhardt (b. 1844) made movies- I wonder who the oldest (as in, first born) person to be caught on film would be… any ideas? Answers to another question above about the TV show Roseanne: Roseanne’s mother, Bev, who started as a recurring character and became a regular during the last few seasons, was played by Estelle Parsons who won the BSA Oscar for Bonnie & Clyde. Bev’s mother, who appeared in quite a few episodes, was played by Shelley Winters, who won a BSA-AA for Patch of Blue (totally deserved), a BA-AA for Diary of Anne Frank, and was nominated for two others. Bev’s boyfriend in several episodes was played by Red Buttons, who won for Sayonara. The cast regulars also included Ned Beatty, who was nominated for Network (he wasn’t nominated for Deliverance, though I think he did receive the Appalachian Pork Farmers Playmate of the Year Award), and Michael O’Keefe, who was nominated for The Great Santini. ---
**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, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/43 "2003-02-21T01:21:25Z")
BTW, it’s possible that this time next year Robert Duvall will be a nominee for playing Robert E. Lee. If so it will be ironic, because (at least according to imdb) he’s a direct descendant. Trivia question: Who was the only actor to win for playing two brothers in the same western? ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/44 "2003-02-21T01:40:42Z")
Would that be Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou? ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/45 "2003-02-21T02:28:24Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Sampiro_ > 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. Hang on, are you only thinking of the two main performance categories? Haley Joel Osment was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for _Sixth Sense_. He was born in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![kawliga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@kawliga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kawliga)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/46 "2003-02-21T08:54:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > \*\* > Also, there are two Best Picture winners which have more than one title character winning a performance Oscar as well. What are those 2 films? \*\* Kramer vs Kramer, Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. I don’t know the other. ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/47 "2003-02-21T10:55:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > \*\*Also, there are two Best Picture winners which have more than one title character winning a performance Oscar as well. What are those 2 films? \*\* After seeing **kawliga** ’s answer of _Kramer vs. Kramer_ I immediately thought of Bonnie & Clyde, with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunnaway. But not being sure, I (cheated and) looked it up on the IMDB, and no, not only did the film not win Best Picture but neither star won, either. So now you’ve got me curious enough to actually find out the answer. Is it NOT cheating if we look things up on sites other than the IMDB? I went to the official Acadamy site ([www.oscars.com](http://www.oscars.com)) and you can easily look up past winners, decade by decade in any category. While there are quite a few Best picture Winners that have character’s names in the title, there are none with TWO character names in the title, except for _Kramer vs. Kramer_. Maybe I don’t really understand the question… What is a "title character "? Thinking there might be a trick or surprise or what have you, upon further investigation I have learned that of all the Best Picture Winners which have character names in the title, only four have two winners in the acting categories. (Wait: is that the trick? Do you consider a “Performance Oscar” something other than Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor or Best Supporting Actress?) The four are: _Kramer vs. Kramer_ (1979) with Dustin Hoffman winning Best Actor and Meryl Streep winning Best Supporting Actress _Shakespeare In Love_ (1998) with Gwyneth Paltrow Best Actress and Judi Dench Best Supporting Actress _Ben Hur_ (1959) with Charleton Heston Best Actor and Hugh Griffith Best Supporting Actor _Mrs. Minniver_ (1942) with Greer Garson Best Actress and Teresa Wright Best Supporting Actress (And neither _Shakespeare_ winner played Shakespeare!) Am I missing something? Here’s a guess: Do both Greer Garson and Teresa Wright play “Mrs. Miniver” at different ages? Nope (IMDB again). OK… I give up… ☹ (BTW, I see that I was right: Lee Marvin did win best actor for _Cat Ballou_, which I just know he played his own brother (one a bad gunslinger and the other his drunk brother with the metal nose… or is it the bad one with the silver nose?), and I didn’t look that one up first!🙂 ) ---
**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, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/48 "2003-02-21T15:18:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MilTan \* > \*\*Hang on, are you only thinking of the two main performance categories? Haley Joel Osment was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for _Sixth Sense_. He was born in 1988. \*\* My bad- I said “nominees” when I should have said “winners”. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/49 "2003-02-21T15:39:06Z")
Another trivia question: When Marlon Brando refused his Academy Award, a woman took the stage in his place and made a speech concerning the treatment of Native Americans. What name did she use and what is her real name (she’s not really a Native American). ---
**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, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/50 "2003-02-21T15:47:20Z")
I know the name she used was Sasheen Littlefeather, but I’ve no idea without googling what her real name was or what became of her. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/51 "2003-02-21T15:47:40Z")
OK, I’ll drag this out again: Every film in which this actor had speaking part was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Name the actor (For the record, the actor has seven films listed in the IMDB). What movie had the highest ratio of Oscars won to actors in the cast? (e.g., _A Streetcar Named Desire_ had six Oscars won among its cast of 19 for a ratio of .32). Hint: The IMDB entry on this film is . . . misleading. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/52 "2003-02-21T16:01:32Z")
Good job. Her real name was (is?) Maria Cruz. She was an actress, who in 1970, won the Miss American Vampire crown (IIRC). ---
**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, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/53 "2003-02-21T16:07:02Z")
First Best Picture: **Wings** , 1928. Also the only silent BP. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/54 "2003-02-21T17:03:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > **OK, I’ll drag this out again: Every film in which this actor had speaking part was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Name the actor (For the record, the actor has seven films listed in the IMDB).** Is it John Cazale? ---
**Author:** ![Fish42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4da419/32.png) [@Fish42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish42)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/55 "2003-02-21T17:04:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*OK, I’ll drag this out again: Every film in which this actor had speaking part was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Name the actor (For the record, the actor has seven films listed in the IMDB). > \*\* John Cazale: “The Godfather” (1972), “The Godfather Pt II” (1974), “The Conversation” (1974), “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975), and “The Deer Hunter” (1978). More trivia: 1. Who won an Oscar by playing a (fictional) Oscar-loser? 2. Who’s the only person to win in the supporting actor or actress category for playing a film’s title character? 3. What’s the only category Charlie Chaplin won a competitive Oscar in? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/56 "2003-02-21T17:21:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fish42 \* > \*\* > More trivia: > > 1. Who won an Oscar by playing a (fictional) Oscar-loser? > 2. Who’s the only person to win in the supporting actor or actress category for playing a film’s title character? > 3. What’s the only category Charlie Chaplin won a competitive Oscar in? \*\* 1. Maggie Smith played an Oscar-nominated actress with a gay husband in “California Suite,” and I think she earned Best Supporting Actress for that role. 2. Vanessa Redgrave was Julia in “Julia.” ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/57 "2003-02-21T17:28:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fish42 \* > \*\* > 3) What’s the only category Charlie Chaplin won a competitive Oscar in? \*\* I knew Charlie Chaplin won an award for best score, I had to check the IMDb to confirm that it was for _Limelight_. ---
**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, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/58 "2003-02-21T17:39:15Z")
> [@](#): > > _richardb says:_ Mrs. Minniver (1942) with Greer Garson Best Actress and Teresa Wright Best Supporting Actress…Am I missing something?..Here’s a guess: Do both Greer Garson and Teresa Wright play “Mrs. Miniver” at different ages? Nope (IMDB again). > > OK… I give up… A truly noble effort and you came very close on the second (_Kramer_ obviously being the first). In order to know that **Mrs. Miniver** is the second film, you have to see the movie. In it Teresa Wright marries Greer Garson’s son. When Wright calls Garson “Mrs. Miniver”, Garson responds (paraphrased), “My dear, you’re a Mrs. Miniver now, too.” > [@](#): > > What movie had the highest ratio of Oscars won to actors in the cast? (e.g., A Streetcar Named Desire had six Oscars won among its cast of 19 for a ratio of .32). Hint: The IMDB entry on this film is . . . misleading. Hmmmm. Let’s see: _Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?_ has a ratio of 1.25 (among credited actors). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/59 "2003-02-21T17:42:55Z")
Okay… there may be more correct answers than I realize, but I can think of TWO films in which the ENTIRE cast was nominated for Best Actor. Name them. ---
**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, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-couple-of-oscar-trivia-questions/156317/60 "2003-02-21T18:05:30Z")
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