In partial defense of Grey and Hunter, the problems they had with their careers after winning their Oscars had a lot to do with things beyond their control.
In the case of Grey, Cabaret (and his previous roles on Broadway) had firmly established him as a go-to guy for musicals. During the Hollywood of the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and early 60’s, this would’ve likely guaranteed a good run of rules but in the 70’s, when the number of movie musicals was in a steady decline, this was not such a good thing. It also didn’t help that Grey was so identified with musical roles that audiences had difficulty seeing him in “straight” dramatic parts. The only one from the 70’s I can think of is Man on a Swing where he played a creepy self-described psychic enlisted by police to find a serial killer.
Hunter’s case is even more unfair and unfortunate. Playing Stella in the landmark stage and screen versions of Streetcar Named Desire should’ve logically put her on track for at least a notable career as a lead actress during the 50’s but, within a couple years of winning the Oscar, she was blacklisted and the roles mostly dried up. By the time the blacklist’s influence faded and she was able to get her career going again, Hunter was considered “too old” to be a lead actress and thus relegated to character parts in movies and guest shots on TV. Oddly enough, playing Zira was the most “visible” role she had in years (even though you never actually “saw” her).
As for other actors who fell a long way, credit goes to Eve for mentioning Ray Milland. Although his situation was largely due to the fact the studios screwed him out of his money when he was a major star thereby resulting him having to later scrounge for whatever part was offering him the most money regardless of quality.
By the way, any updates on the state of Cimino’s…um…sex at the moment? I believe I read an article in Vanity Fair last year that he was all but ready to go under the knife.
Maybe it’s because he’s doing well and drawing in mulit-million dollar paychecks but if anyone deserves to be on this list, it’s Nick Cage.
Once an interesting actor, who was almost always worth watching regardless of the film he was in, became corrupted by the Hollywood system when he won the Oscar and became Bruckheimer’s go-to guy.
I wouldn’t care so much but this is the guy from Raising Arizona. He was H.I. damnit! H.I. should not be in Conair. Should not have been in Gone in 60 Seconds.
The interesting actor from Moonstruck, Birdy, Vampire’s Kiss and Wild at Heart might have deserved an Oscar but he is no longer interesting and is now associated with dreck.
Cage is not always associated with dreck. I was pretty impressed with his turn in Adaptation. That partially mitigated the cash-the-big-fat-paycheck roles he’s taken since he won the Oscar (but not totally).