# What Academy Award winning actor carried a candy bar in the pocket of his suit at all times? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644 "2011-04-16T19:49:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [April 16, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/1 "2011-04-16T19:49:09Z")
I tried Googling this, but can’t find it. Anyone heard of this? My wife is reading a book and part of the book is about the power of food and how some people are deeply affected by food-related fears. In the book it says: > [@](#): > > …one highly acclaimed Academy Award-winning actor always carried a candy bar in the pocket of his suit, no matter where he went or what he did. He once fished it out and showed it o an interview on TV. The actor was terribly poor as a child and had terrible fears of not being able to eat. The book is [The Connected Child](http://www.amazon.com/Connected-Child-healing-adoptive-family/dp/0071475001/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302983209&sr=8-1) and the quote is on page 52 if you care. Anyway, the fact that it says “carried” makes me think he is dead. However, and I have no idea why this is, the book does not say who the actor is/was. Anyone better at finding these things than me? I guess this might be Cafe Society stuff, but it is such a GQ, I put it here. 🙂 ---
**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:** [April 17, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/2 "2011-04-17T00:29:28Z")
Wow, no one yet? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/3 "2011-04-17T00:32:20Z")
Before you said he grew up poor, I would have guessed Nicolas Cage. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/4 "2011-04-17T02:12:08Z")
Check Charlie Chaplin, I think he spent time in a Victorian workhouse as a child, hope I’m remembering that correctly. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/5 "2011-04-17T03:03:58Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Check Charlie Chaplin, I think he spent time in a Victorian workhouse as a child, hope I’m remembering that correctly. He wasn’t an academy award winning actor. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/6 "2011-04-17T03:36:18Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > He wasn’t an academy award winning actor. He got a lifetime acheivment award, didn’t he? I think that counts. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/7 "2011-04-17T03:46:05Z")
No luck on the actor. But, a number of sources agree it was a Milky Way… most days a very soft one. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/8 "2011-04-17T11:55:47Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I guess this might be Cafe Society stuff, but it is such a GQ, I put it here. 🙂 Let’s do just this. Moved from General Questions to Cafe Society. **samclem** , Moderator ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/9 "2011-04-17T11:56:34Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > He got a lifetime acheivment award, didn’t he? I think that counts. I think Charlie Chaplin was given an Honorary Award at the first Academy Awards, and won an Oscar in 1972 for Best Score (Limelight). So he coulda been a contender.. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/10 "2011-04-17T16:28:45Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > I think Charlie Chaplin was given an Honorary Award at the first Academy Awards, and won an Oscar in 1972 for Best Score (Limelight). > > So he coulda been a contender.. So . . . Brando, maybe? Nah. He would have _eaten_ the damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/11 "2011-04-17T16:38:57Z")
It’s possible that there is no answer to this, that it’s just something written down about something someone heard onece about someone who may never even have been named. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/12 "2011-04-17T16:49:06Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > He got a lifetime acheivment award, didn’t he? I think that counts. And best original score for Limelight ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/13 "2011-04-17T18:24:43Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So . . . Brando, maybe? > > Nah. He would have _eaten_ the damn thing. No one ever said it was the same candy bar every day… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/14 "2011-04-17T18:26:49Z")
I think it’s most likely to be made up. The authors of _The Connected Child_ may have made it up themselves or they may have heard it from someone else and not bothered to check it for accuracy. If the story was told by the actor on a TV interview program, why doesn’t it come up on a Google search (which now searches not just on everything on the Internet but also on an enormous number of books and periodicals)? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/15 "2011-04-17T18:44:54Z")
Sidney Poitier. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/16 "2011-04-17T18:59:25Z")
> [@](#): > > The long journey: a biography of Sidney Poitier > Carolyn H. Ewers - 1969 - 126 pages - Snippet view > Somewhere inside the successful actor, even then, lived a small boy who liked to know he had a candy bar in his pocket, just in case . . . Clothing was hard to come by, too. As often as he could, Cyril, one of his elder brothers who had … > > [books.google.com](http://books.google.com) I used Google Books but had to read quite a few cites. ---
**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:** [April 18, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/17 "2011-04-18T01:18:24Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Sidney Poitier. I owe you a beer. Good work, man. Very good work. Color me impressed. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/18 "2011-04-18T19:59:48Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > He got a lifetime acheivment award, didn’t he? I think that counts. If you say “Academy Award winning actor,” you’re implying that Charlie Chaplin won the award for acting. We wouldn’t call Mel Gibson or Ben Affleck Academy Award winning actors. We wouldn’t call Woody Allen an award winning musician, just because he has won awards and is also a musician. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/19 "2011-04-18T20:19:08Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > If you say “Academy Award winning actor,” you’re implying that Charlie Chaplin won the award for acting. We wouldn’t call Mel Gibson or Ben Affleck Academy Award winning actors. We wouldn’t call Woody Allen an award winning musician, just because he has won awards and is also a musician. You may not, but others would, especially in trying to stretch a point. For as inexact a citation as the OP was looking for, Chaplin might have fit. Good work on identifying Poitier! ---
**Author:** ![MarleenKerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MarleenKerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarleenKerri)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2024, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644/20 "2024-05-17T00:24:41Z")
I realize this is a very old post, but the answer to your question is Sidney Poitier. He told this story on the Oprah Winfrey show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-academy-award-winning-actor-carried-a-candy-bar-in-the-pocket-of-his-suit-at-all-times/578644.md?page=2)