# What actor has fallen the furthest since their Oscar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660 "2005-09-02T00:29:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/81 "2005-09-02T19:20:56Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > Jack Nicholson won for _Cuckoo’s Nest_, and then he fell pretty far at the end of _Batman_. Boooo! ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/82 "2005-09-02T21:08:42Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > You can be Ray Milland if I can be Rosey Grier . . . Are you asserting that their joint effort was not Oscar worthy? It’s one of my all time favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/83 "2005-09-02T21:14:16Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Are you asserting that their joint effort was not Oscar worthy? It’s one of my all time favorites. Joints are what the guy who greenlighted that movie must have been smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/84 "2005-09-02T21:59:29Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Estelle Parsons had a comeback of sorts with _Roseanne_, but she was one of the few Oscar winners to do episodic TV guest shots with no big “special guest star” hooplah. She actually did a _Love American Style_ only 3 years after the Oscar. (Roseanne may be the only sitcom ever to have three Oscar winners on screen at one time: Estelle [a regular as Roseanne’s mother], Shelley Winters [recurring role as Estelle’s mother] and Red Buttons [brief recurring role as Estelle’s boyfriend].) Wasn’t there a story about Shelley Winters being asked to audition for a movie and showing up at the audition, sitting down, and then taking out first one Oscar and then the second one and placing them on the table? ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/85 "2005-09-02T23:26:53Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > **The Door in the Floor** in 2004. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/86 "2005-09-02T23:39:36Z")
> [@The King of Soup](#): > > The OP didn’t say anything about falling the fastest, just the furthest, so I’ll nominate Ernest Borgnine. He had a quick trip to the top but it’s been pretty much a fifty-year slide since. Hey, don’t mess with Airwolf. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/87 "2005-09-03T00:44:59Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > **Rocky** was Best Picture of 1976. (Happy Bicentennial!) Thanks for clarifying. My intention with that comment (the exclusion) was to keep us focused on the actors, like you said. Yes, Stallone wrote _Rocky_. And I figured that someone would mention his going from winning an Oscar for Best Movie to being in _Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!_ Or _Rhinestone_. Or _Spy Kids 3_. I could go on. But you made my point for me. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/88 "2005-09-03T01:24:47Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Hey, uh, **Mr. Green Bean**? Dude? Uh… you may want to, like, check your calender… or something… because apparently 10 years have gone by that no one told you about… It’s already the 21st century, dude. Oh, and even tho I quit… could you pass that thing over here? Thanks… Hmph. Next you’re gonna tell me that flannel shirts and hiking boots are no longer the height of fashion. ☹ (And thanks, **Superdude** , for defending my femininity.) Back to the subject at hand…I don’t think Gwyneth Paltrow has really “fallen.” She’s done some lightweight movies, but they’ve been “Gwyneth Paltrow” movies. She’s still a big star. And while her post-Oscar movies may not be deep, the ones that I’ve seen have at least been good movies. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/89 "2005-09-03T01:41:13Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > Hell, how about Cher? Won for Moonstruck in 1987, and since then she’s…um…sold hair products on an infomercial. I mean, she still apparently releases albums and such, but the acting gigs seem to have dried up. Did you even read the IMDB page you linked to? > [@phungi](#): > > [yodling voice][v-shaped thong dress]_do you believe in love?_[/v-shaped thong dress][/yodling voice] It’s “Do you believe in life after love” and the outfit you’re talking about was from the video for “If I Could Turn Back Time” from over a decade earlier. And it’s spelled “yodeling.” Might want to try to be a bit more accurate if you insist on slagging people… ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/90 "2005-09-03T01:57:52Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > (And thanks, **Superdude** , for defending my femininity.) Hey, it’s what I do. And I feel compelled to. After all, you once defended me after the NYC Dopefest a few years ago. I don’t remember from what you defended me, but I’m returning the favor. ---
**Author:** ![beckwall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@beckwall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beckwall)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/91 "2005-09-04T04:41:51Z")
RIchard Dreyfuss. William Hurt. Robin Williams (except I just saw One Hour Photo and it was pretty good). ---
**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:** [September 4, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/92 "2005-09-04T05:13:29Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > Wasn’t there a story about Shelley Winters being asked to audition for a movie and showing up at the audition, sitting down, and then taking out first one Oscar and then the second one and placing them on the table? I don’t know if that is a true story or not, but that scenario is exactly what was described in the opening scene of the film “Swimming With Sharks.” ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/93 "2005-09-04T06:12:30Z")
Well, this is moving away from actors and actresses but I think this person deserves special mention - **Michael Cimino**. > **[Michael Cimino - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001047/)** > > Michael Cimino, Writer: The Deer Hunter. Michael Cimino studied architecture and dramatic arts; later he filmed advertisements and documentaries and also wrote scripts until the actor, producer and director Clint Eastwood gave him the opportunity to... Since winning his Oscar for “The Deer Hunter” (1978) he has gone on to direct only six films, one of which was the infamous “Heaven’s Gate”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/94 "2005-09-04T06:41:54Z")
Halle Berry, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and some of the others on this list have slipped in quality, but they still get $10 million paydays for big budget vehicles (that happen to suck). To me, slipping is when you go to much lower budgets, undemanding roles and no big whoop as far as hype (i.e. Estelle Parsons’ episodic TV appearances). Sally Field does TV but at least she still has great roles (i.e. Abby’s bipolar mother on _ER_). However, Joel Grey playing a fey houseboy in _Further Tales of the City_ or Ghost of Christmas Past in the 8,439,612th remake of _A Christmas Carol_ can’t pay that much and isn’t a high prestige project. Going back a ways, Kim Hunter traded _“STEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAA!”_ for increasingly low budget appearances as Dr. _ZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!_ in _The Planet of the Apes_ series (her final appearance, _Escape From the Planet of the Apes_ [set in a slightly altered 1970s USA] being, imho [many disagree] one of the worst movies ever made). Oscar Winners I think will probably follow Joel Grey include: Adrian Brody- he won the Oscar while pretty obscure (which never helps a career as much as you’d think), he has a certain charisma but he’s not attractive enough or supertalented enough to really have staying power, and I can totally see him starring in the short lived sit-com “OH, THAT ADRIAN!” in a couple of years. Mary Steenburgen (who is a shrew, by the way) has already had several flopped TV vehicles, the last couple as a supporting character. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/95 "2005-09-04T07:33:44Z")
Ben Kingsley stars as Fagin in Roman Polansky’s soon to be released _Oliver Twist_. That’s a rather odd vehicle for both Oscar winners. It’s a good story and all, but a bit too deus ex machina for modern tastes, plus the story and the role have been done a thousand times [by Oscar Winners Alec Guinness, George C. Scott, and Richard Dreyfuss no less, as well as Burt Reynolds in an animated/dog version and Ron Moody [the best of the lot, imo] in the musical version. Why another? ---
**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:** [September 4, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/96 "2005-09-04T07:36:15Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Mary Steenburgen (who is a shrew, by the way) has already had several flopped TV vehicles, the last couple as a supporting character. Considering the fact that out of 24 projects she’s worked in the last decade, fully 1/3 also involved her much-bigger-star husband, Ted Danson. I wonder how many of those she only got because he demanded either casting control or demanded her specifically as a costar? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/97 "2005-09-04T16:46:03Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Mary Steenburgen (who is a shrew, by the way) has already had several flopped TV vehicles, the last couple as a supporting character. She may be a shrew, but she was good in “Joan of Arcadia.” I don’t think I’d call two seasons a flop, though definitions may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/98 "2005-09-04T17:12:30Z")
> [@Eyebrows 0f Doom](#): > > I don’t know if that is a true story or not, but that scenario is exactly what was described in the opening scene of the film “Swimming With Sharks.” That may be where I heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/99 "2005-09-04T18:23:07Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > the infamous “Heaven’s Gate” \ Having seen this recently (on the big screen, no less), I need to observe that the movie is nowhere near as bad as its reputation would suggest. Indeed, it has quite a bit to recommend it, once you realize what Cimino is trying to do with it. The lambasting he took in the press was largely industry punishment for his egocentric inability to work within the system, which no one denies he deserved. It’s just that the movie he made is actually pretty good. \ ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660/100 "2005-09-04T20:55:15Z")
Ernest Borgnine is a Great Character Actor who was in some of the great action/western movies.Ok,ok…Mchale’s Navy was stinko,but they did make a worse remake.Look at Joe Pesci who was a good character actor who tried to be a leading man [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actor-has-fallen-the-furthest-since-their-oscar/319660.md?page=6)