# Least successful Best Actor/Actress winners **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868 "2012-05-14T10:21:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/1 "2012-05-14T10:21:36Z")
Admittedly its subjective, but how many best actor/actresses winners have not enjoyed much success (both before and after the award). Adrian Brody; he is acting, but nothing which has found much success or acclaim. Halle Berry: hard to say what she has done since Catwoman. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/2 "2012-05-14T10:46:15Z")
Jamie Foxx hasn’t done much since _Ray_, although he’s starring in Tarantino’s next flick, so there’s still hope. Roberto Begnini has been MIA since _Life is Beautiful,_ and good riddance. Going back a bit further, F. Murray Abraham never managed to follow up on _Amadeus_. He’s working, but it’s largely bit parts and C-movies. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/3 "2012-05-14T11:53:20Z")
**Cuba Gooding Jr.** - won an Oscar for _Jerry Maguire_ in 1996. His career after that is all over the map: a few notable roles, a few Razzies, and a couple of straight-to-DVD efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/4 "2012-05-14T12:05:49Z")
Without doing any research to support my guess, I would think the reverse list would be more impressive: “Which Actors/Actresses Have Done Their Best Work After Winning An Oscar?” I’m struggling to think of any! ---
**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:** [May 14, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/5 "2012-05-14T12:28:15Z")
Successes Katherine Hepburn was very successful after her first two wins. Dustin Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/6 "2012-05-14T12:51:28Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Successes > > Katherine Hepburn was very successful after her first two wins. > Dustin Hoffman > Philip Seymour Hoffman Agreed. Also, Meryl Streep! Marlon Brando (along with some utter tripe) Gene Hackman ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/7 "2012-05-14T13:01:13Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Roberto Begnini has been MIA since _Life is Beautiful,_ and good riddance. He has had some good work in Italian cinema though. He is also in Woody Allens next flick. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/8 "2012-05-14T13:30:50Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Agreed. Also, > > Meryl Streep! > Marlon Brando (along with some utter tripe) > Gene Hackman Jack Nicholson. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/9 "2012-05-14T13:48:29Z")
Marlee Matlin hasn’t done much other than _West Wing_ after winning in 1986, has she? Ditto Brenda Fricker since her _My Left Foot_ win in 1989. Or Marisa Tomei since _My Cousin Vinny_ in 1992. Or Mira Sorvino since _Mighty Aphrodite_ in 1995. Too soon to say about Mo’Nique, who won three years ago for _Precious_? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/10 "2012-05-14T13:50:15Z")
For the record, the OP asked for Best Actors/Actresses, not Best \*Supporting \*Actors/Actresses. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/11 "2012-05-14T14:01:19Z")
Depends on how you define “success” I guess, but Marisa Tomei has done some excellent work (The Wrestler, Slums of Beverly Hills, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/12 "2012-05-14T14:18:53Z")
Louise Fletcher won a Best Actress Oscar in 1976 for _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_. She hardly made any movies for several years after that and there were films like_The Lady in Red_, \*The Cheap Detective \*, and _Exorcist II: The Heretic_. None exactly Oscar bait. Eventually wound up doing generic work on TV shows. In the late 70s people were wondering whatever happened and she said that after she won, she stopped hustling for work since she expected the phone to start ringing. It didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/13 "2012-05-14T14:24:43Z")
Jennifer Hudson. Best Supporting Actress for Dreamgirls. Now plugging Weight Watchers. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/14 "2012-05-14T14:54:41Z")
Helen Hunt should probably be on this list. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/15 "2012-05-14T14:56:46Z")
It is often the case that the Best \*Supporting \*Actress/Actor is never heard from again or just has bit parts after winning, but the OP asked about when this happens with the \*leading \*actors. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/16 "2012-05-14T14:58:44Z")
I think the “good” list ought to be, **"Actors/Actresses who rose to fame by winning the Best Actor/Actress Oscar and then continued to have success"** This eliminates winners who were already famous or long overdue. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/17 "2012-05-14T15:03:45Z")
Reading this thread reminded me of a Fark photoshop contest from a few years ago. The contest was basically “photoshop whatever happened to Anthony Michael Hall” and the winner was a guy who just put up a poster of The Dead Zone with Anthony circled and “I’M RIGHT HERE!” in big red letters. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/18 "2012-05-14T15:06:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Louise Fletcher won a Best Actress Oscar in 1976 for _One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_. She hardly made any movies for several years after that and there were films like_The Lady in Red_, \*The Cheap Detective \*, and _Exorcist II: The Heretic_. None exactly Oscar bait. > > Eventually wound up doing generic work on TV shows. > > In the late 70s people were wondering whatever happened and she said that after she won, she stopped hustling for work since she expected the phone to start ringing. It didn’t. That’s who I was going to say. You’d be hard pressed to find someone who has done less after winning Best Actress. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/19 "2012-05-14T16:12:18Z")
Peter Finch never made any more films after winning for _Network_. 😉 It’s hard to say that Al Pacino is not successful, but since winning his Oscar for _Scent Of A Woman_, has he made anything that wasn’t crap? Jon Voight went from _Coming Home_ to _Anaconda_. Nicolas Cage, well… ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868/20 "2012-05-14T16:20:11Z")
Least successful not already mentioned (and maybe all-time): Luise Rainer - the posterchild for this before Cuba Gooding. A few forgettable films after her 2 awards then a 50 year break to make one more film. I guess she could make a comeback at age 102. Geraldine Page - Made 3 forgettable films then died after _The Trip to Bountiful_. Jessica Tandy - Except for _Fried Green Tomatoes_, a string of minor films after her Oscar. Reese Witherspoon - What has she really done since 2005 besides Va’Ginormica in _Monsters vs. Aliens_? Now for the men Emil Jannings - Raises a question to the OP of definition of success since he starred in a ton of films in Germany once talkies came out but nothing in the U.S. after that. Ronald Colman - His best work was before his Oscar. Only 3 films after that Art Carney - Was in the Star Wars Holiday Special [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-successful-best-actor-actress-winners/621868.md?page=2)