# Shortest Best Supporting Actress

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-best-supporting-actress/112861>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 7, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-best-supporting-actress/112861 "2002-06-07T17:03:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-best-supporting-actress/112861/1 "2002-06-07T17:03:41Z")

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The question is: Who was the shortest person to win an Academy Award in the category of Best Actress in a Supporting Role?

Everybody here agrees that the shortest adult was almost certainly Linda Hunt in _The Year of Living Dangerously_. The nitpickers, however, point out that Anna Paquin (_The Piano_) and Tatum O’Neal (_Paper Moon_) were probably shorter than Linda Hunt _at the time they won_ their Oscars.

Does anybody have any idea how tall Anna Paquin or Tatum O’Neal were when they won?

According to [http://www.tall.org/clubs/ny/tcnyc/Resources/Facts\_\_\_Trivia/Who\_s\_What/body\_who\_s\_what.html](http://www.tall.org/clubs/ny/tcnyc/Resources/Facts___Trivia/Who_s_What/body_who_s_what.html) Linda Hunt is 4’ 9". But I can’t find anything about how tall Anna Paquin or Tatum O’Neal were back when they actually received their Oscars.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-best-supporting-actress/112861/2 "2002-06-07T17:24:30Z")

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I’m pretty Shirley Temple was smaller than all of 'em when she won her Juvenile Academy Award in 1935.

I don’t know where you might get stats on Paquin or O’Neal.

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**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-best-supporting-actress/112861/3 "2002-06-07T18:25:42Z")

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This is a picture of [Anna Paquin](http://djuna.nkino.com/anna/misc/annap02.jpg) holding her Oscar.

[This site](http://www.oscar.com/legacy/faqs3.html) has a picture of Tatum O’Neal holding her Oscar. There’s no direct link, so click on the “Legacy-Ceremony Gallery” window and scroll through until you reach her (she’s wearing a little tuxedo)

Using the Oscar as a frame of reference, I think it’s pretty clear Tatum is shorter. Shorter than Linda? Find a picutre of her with her Oscar and maybe you can determine…

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**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shortest-best-supporting-actress/112861/4 "2002-06-07T19:30:58Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \*  
> **Using the Oscar as a frame of reference, I think it’s pretty clear Tatum is shorter.**

Really? My first impression when I looked at the two pictures was that it was Anna who was shorter. Maybe it’s just how Tatum is holding her Oscar (tilted back, next to her body) that makes it appear that way.

Anyway, thanks a bunch, ArchiveGuy. I’ll pass the links along to the folks here who are arguing about this incredibly important issue and let them decide for themselves.