# Have any Oscar winners returned to series television? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982 "2013-08-23T17:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/41 "2013-08-23T20:26:33Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Kathy Bates was in **Six Feet Under** and **The Office**. Not to mention the show she actually headlined, _Harry’s Law_. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/42 "2013-08-23T20:39:33Z")
Holly Hunter has also recently been in Top of the Lake. Talking of which, Oscar winner Jane Campion co-wrote and directed that. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/43 "2013-08-23T20:43:47Z")
Whoopi Goldberg. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/44 "2013-08-23T21:44:18Z")
Ron Howard left behind his Opie Cunningham days to win an Oscar before coming back for ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/45 "2013-08-23T21:46:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _When Things Were Rotten_ (1975) Rarely was there ever a show more aptly named. I kinda liked it, but I’m a bit weird that way. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/46 "2013-08-23T22:54:48Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > Whoopi Goldberg. After reading 42 posts, I was beginning to think maybe she didn’t actually win that Oscar and was a nominee, but no, she did. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/47 "2013-08-23T22:58:38Z")
Red Buttons – **The Secret Life of Henry Phyfe** Burl Ives – **The Bold Ones** Jack Albertson – **Chico and the Man** Gig Young – **The Rogues** John Houseman – **The Paper Chase** (reprising his Oscar-winning role) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/48 "2013-08-24T04:19:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Also, Jim Rash won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for The Descendants in 2011, while appearing on Community as Dean Pelton. Rash’s co-winner, Nat Faxon, also starred in the short-lived _Ben & Kate_ the year after he won. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/49 "2013-08-24T11:41:29Z")
HBO picked up **Luck** for a second season – with all that gambling money up for grabs at the racetrack, and all those colorful characters gunning for it – but the fact that horses kept, y’know, _dying_ meant two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman (and everyone else) only got to show up for one season’s worth of episodes. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/50 "2013-08-24T13:40:10Z")
Lee Grant was in a short-lived TV series called _Fay_ that began its run about the time _Shampoo_ came out. Jessica Lange is in _American Horror Story_. She won for _Blue Sky_ George Kennedy won for _Cool Hand Luke_ and went on to appear in _Dallas_ William Hurt was in _Damages_ since winning for _Kiss of the Spider Woman_ Judi Dench was in the middle of the run of _As Time Goes By_ when she won for _Shakespeare in Love_ Olympia Dukakis was in at least one short-lived TV series, _Center of the Universe_, after winning for _Moonstruck_ Tatum O’Neal was in _Rescue Me_ and _Wicked Wicked Games_ after winning for _Paper Moon_ Mary Steenburgen won for _Melvin and Howard_ and went on to work on _Joan of Arcadia_ and _Curb Your Enthusiasm_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/51 "2013-08-24T14:06:00Z")
Martin Landau racked up a couple of Oscar nominations before winning for his uncanny Bela Lugosi impression in ED WOOD – and roughly a decade later, he was back on television in the cast of THE EVIDENCE as medical examiner Sol Gold. (He later earned multiple Emmy nominations as Frank Malone in WITHOUT A TRACE: as an Outstanding Guest Actor instead of as a castmember, sure – but he kept coming back year after year after year in the role.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/52 "2013-08-24T23:38:29Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > Helen Hunt won her Oscar for _As Good As it Gets_ while she was still appearing on _Mad About You._ If I’m reading IMDB right, Louis Gosset Jr misses it about as close as possible on that count – his 21st, and final, episode of _The Powers Of Matthew Starr_ aired three days before he won the Oscar for _An Officer And A Gentleman_ – but he still apparently counts by dint of then returning to television: starring in _Gideon Oliver_ as the eponymous anthropology professor who can solve a murder in the Caribbean easy as foiling the Tong in Chinatown or busting art smugglers in Latin America. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/53 "2013-08-25T01:32:32Z")
Henry Fonda was the star of a TV series called _The Deputy_ in 1959-61. He didn’t actually win an Oscar till _On Golden Pond_, but come on, it’s Henry Fonda! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/54 "2013-08-25T01:35:30Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Henry Fonda was the star of a TV series called _The Deputy_ in 1959-61. He didn’t actually win an Oscar till _On Golden Pond_, but come on, it’s Henry Fonda! Somewhat more recently, he starred in a sit-dramedy called _The Smith Family_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/55 "2013-08-25T01:35:32Z")
Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland and Hayley Mills all won Juvenile Academy Awards and went on to do TV. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/56 "2013-08-25T02:46:09Z")
Perhaps it would be a shorter list to name Oscar Winners who then never did TV. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/57 "2013-08-25T04:08:09Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > George Kennedy won for _Cool Hand Luke_ and went on to appear in _Dallas_ Kennedy also starred in the series [The Blue Knight](http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0072478/). ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/58 "2013-08-25T06:12:21Z")
Ellen Burstyn won for _Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore_ in 1975, and has been in a few TV series since, including _That’s Life_ and _Political Animals_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/59 "2013-08-26T00:37:48Z")
Danny Kaye got an honorary Oscar in the '50s – and promptly won a regular Emmy in the '60s by hosting THE DANNY KAYE SHOW, which ran for four seasons. And, at that, Orson Welles hosted GREAT MYSTERIES for a season in the '70s – after, y’know, winning the Oscar for CITIZEN KANE back in the '40s. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982/60 "2013-08-26T01:35:06Z")
Alfred Hitchcock did a weekly television series for ten years. Of course, he doesn’t count in this thread - because while he was nominated five times, Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-oscar-winners-returned-to-series-television/666982.md?page=4)