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Academy Award For Best Actor
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Alan Alda
Alan Alda (born January 28, 1936) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. A five-time Emmy Award and six-time Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was viewed as the archetypal sympathetic male, though in recent years, he has appeared in roles that counter that image.
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Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, though her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.
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Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal (born March 14, 1948) is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes When Harry Met Sally... and City Slickers. Additionally, he has hosted the Academy Awards eight times.
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Bob Burns (comedian)
Bob Burns (August 2, 1890 – February 2, 1956) was an American radio and film comedian during the 1930s and 1940s. Early in his career he was billed as Robert Burns.
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Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford (December 9, 1911 – April 26, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio and TV actor.
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Carol Burnett
Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedienne, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she debuted on television. After successful appearances on The Garry Moore Show, Carol moved to Los Angeles and began an eleven-year run on The Carol Burnett Show which was aired on CBS television from 1967 to 1978. With roots in vaudeville, The Carol Burnett Show was a variety show combining comedy sketches, song, and dance. The comedy sketches ranged from film parodies to character pieces which featured the many talents of Burnett herself who created and played several well-known and distinctive characters.
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Cedric Gibbons
Austin Cedric Gibbons (March 23, 1893 – July 26, 1960) was an Irish American art director who was one of the most important and influential in the field in the history of American film. He also made a great impact on motion picture theater architecture through the 1930s to 1950s, the period considered the golden-era of theater architecture. He is credited as the designer of the Oscar statuette in 1928.
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Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm (born April 29, 1917) is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in ''Gentleman's Agreement (1947), as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve'' (1950).
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Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor of film, theatre and television.
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Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon. He quickly became a key cast member in the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live, where his Weekend Update skit soon became a staple of the show. Chase is also well-known for his portrayal of the character Clark Griswold in four ''National Lampoon's Vacation films, and for his roles in other successful comedies such as Caddyshack (1980), Fletch (1985), and ¡Three Amigos! (1986). He has hosted the Academy Awards twice (1987 and 1988), briefly had his own late-night talk show, The Chevy Chase Show, and is currently a regular on the NBC comedy series Community''.
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Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert (; September 13, 1903 — July 30, 1996) was a French-born American stage and film actress.
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Conrad Nagel
Conrad Nagel ( – ) was an American screen actor and matinee idol of the silent film era and beyond. He was also a well-known television actor and radio performer.
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Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (January 18, 1913 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian.
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David Letterman
David Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. Only Letterman's friend and mentor Johnny Carson has had a longer late-night hosting career.
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David Niven
James David Graham Niven (1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983), known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther. He was awarded the 1958 Academy Award for Best Actor in Separate Tables.
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Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. During the 1960s, she helped shape the Motown sound as lead singer of The Supremes, before leaving the group for a solo career on January 14, 1970. Since the beginning of her career with The Supremes and as a solo artist, Ross has sold more than 150 million records.
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Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. Perhaps his most famous performance was as Gene Kelly's friend and colleague in ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952).
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Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro. An astute businessman, Fairbanks was a founding member of United Artists. Fairbanks was also a founding member of The Motion Picture Academy and hosted the first Oscars Ceremony in 1929. With his marriage to Mary Pickford in 1920, the couple became Hollywood royalty with Fairbanks constantly referred to as "The King of Hollywood", a nickname later passed on to actor Clark Gable.
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Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (19 April 1935 – 27 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.
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Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter who first came to prominence after winning and refusing the screenwriting Oscar for The Informer in 1936.
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Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born December 7, 1932) is an American actress, who has worked in film, stage and television.
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Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres (; born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season.
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Emil Jannings
Emil Jannings (23 July 1884 – 2 January 1950) was a German actor. He was not only the first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, but also the first person to be presented an Oscar.
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Emilio Fernández
"El Indio" Fernández (born Emilio Fernández Romo; March 26, 1904 – August 6, 1986) was a Mexican actor, screenwriter and director of the cinema of Mexico.
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Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was a Sicilian-born American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), ''You Can't Take It With You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Meet John Doe (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) and It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946).
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Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor.
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Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987), born Frederick Austerlitz, was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. He is particularly associated with Ginger Rogers, with whom he made ten films.
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Fredric March
Fredric March (August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American stage and film actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and in 1946 for The Best Years of Our Lives.
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Gary Cooper
Frank James “Gary” Cooper (May 7, 1901 – May 13, 1961) was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, individualistic, emotionally restrained, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made. His career spanned from 1925 until shortly before his death, and comprised more than one hundred films.
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Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer. A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen.
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George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his bravura stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and an early flamboyant film performance as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. He has also widely been known for his rather gravelly voice.
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Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Wildcats, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, The Banger Sisters, and Cactus Flower'', for which she won the 1969 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also the mother of actors Oliver Hudson and Kate Hudson. Hawn has maintained a relationship with actor Kurt Russell since 1983.
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Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre and television.
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Irvin S. Cobb
Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (June 23, 1876 – March 11, 1944) was an American author, humorist, and columnist who lived in New York and authored more than 60 books and 300 short stories.
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Jack Benny
Jack Benny (February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974), born Benjamin Kubelsky, was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film. Widely recognized as one of the leading American entertainers of the 20th century, Benny played the role of the comic penny-pinching miser, insisting on remaining 39 years old on stage despite his actual age, and often playing the violin badly.
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Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts (for which he won the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger (for which he won the 1973 Best Actor Academy Award), The Out-of-Towners, The China Syndrome, Missing, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men.
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Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal ( "Jillen-hall"; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten. He has appeared in diverse roles since his first lead role in 1999's October Sky, followed by the 2001 indie cult hit Donnie Darko, in which he played a psychologically troubled teen and onscreen brother to his real-life sister, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. In the 2004 blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow he portrayed a student caught in a cataclysmic global cooling event, alongside Dennis Quaid as his father. He then played against type as a frustrated Marine in Jarhead (2005). The same year, he won critical acclaim as Jack Twist in the film Brokeback Mountain opposite Heath Ledger.
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James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, and painter. He began acting during the late 1990s, appearing on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and starring in several teen films. In 2001 he played the title role in Mark Rydell's television biographical film James Dean, which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film.
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Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, stand-up comedian, and singer. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical/comedy. He is also a Grammy Award winning musician, producing two albums which have charted highly on the Billboard 200: Unpredictable, which topped the chart, and Intuition.
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Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other awards and nominations. After 15 years of retirement, she returned to film in 2005 with Monster in Law followed by Georgia Rule two years later. She also produced and starred in several exercise videos released between 1982 and 1995.
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Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Jerome Levitch, March 16, 1926) is an American comedian, actor, film producer, writer, film director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor in stage, radio, screen, recording and television. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. In addition to the team's popular nightclub work, they starred in a successful series of comedy films for Paramount Pictures. As an innovative filmmaker, Lewis is credited with inventing the video assist system in cinematography. Lewis is also known for his charity fund-raising telethons and position as national chairman for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).
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John Huston
John Huston (August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered "classics": The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Misfits (1960), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975). During his 46-year career, Huston received 15 Oscar nominations, winning twice, and directed both his father, Walter Huston, and daughter, Anjelica Huston to Oscar wins in different films.
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Johnny Carson
John William “Johnny” Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years (1962–1992). Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992, and received Kennedy Center Honors in 1993.
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Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian. He is widely known as host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central.
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Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (11 February 1909 – 5 February 1993) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of the Oscar-winning All About Eve (1950). He was brother to the equally famous screenwriter and drama critic Herman J. Mankiewicz who also won an Oscar — for co-writing Citizen Kane (1941).
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King Oscar II
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Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered British actors of the 20th century. He married Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh and Joan Plowright.
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Lawrence Grant
Percy Reginald Lawrence-Grant (October 30, 1870, Bournemouth, Hampshire now Dorset, England – February 19, 1952, Santa Barbara, California) was an English actor known for his supporting roles in films such as The Living Ghost, ''I'll Tell the World, The Mask of Fu Manchu, and Son of Frankenstein''. He was host of the 3rd Academy Awards ceremonies in 1931.
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Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931). He is well known for the role of the villainous Henry Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life''.
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Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli.
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Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer (1884 – October 29, 1957) was a Belarus-born American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in its golden years. Known always as Louis B. Mayer and often simply as "L.B.", he believed in wholesome entertainment and went to great lengths so that MGM had "more stars than there are in the heavens".
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Margaret Herrick
Margaret Herrick (September 27, 1902-June 21, 1976), was the librarian and director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Herrick is generally credited with naming the Academy Award an "Oscar", declaring the statuettes "looked just like my Uncle Oscar". However, others, including Academy President Bette Davis, have claimed they invented the name.
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Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor who performed for over half a century.
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Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English film actor. Caine has appeared in over one hundred films.
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Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (, born Natalie Hershlag; June 9, 1981) is an Israeli-American actress. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon (known in the United States as The Professional). During the 1990s, Portman had major roles in films like Beautiful Girls and Anywhere but Here, before being cast for the role as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In 1999, she enrolled at Harvard University to study psychology while she was working on the Star Wars films. She completed her bachelor's degree in 2003.
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Paul Douglas (actor)
Paul Douglas (April 11, 1907 – September 11, 1959) was an American actor.
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Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan, AM (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor, comedian, film producer, and screen writer best known for his acting role as Crocodile Dundee, for which he won a Golden Globe award.
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Ray Milland
Ray Milland (3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend (1945) and as Oliver Barrett III in the 1970 film, Love Story.
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Renée Zellweger
Renée Kathleen Zellweger (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire (1996), and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy ''Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), which she reprised in its sequel (2004) and as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago (2002), and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Cold Mountain'' (2003).
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Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful, vulgar and profane language, as well as racial epithets. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important stand-up comedians: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession"; Bob Newhart has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years."
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Robin Williams
Robin McLaurim Williams (born July 21, 1951) is an American actor and comedian.
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975).
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Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American entertainer.
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Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 romantic comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard.
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Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (born April 24, 1934) is an American film and theater actress, dancer, activist, and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career. In 1983, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Terms of Endearment. She is the elder sister of actor Warren Beatty.
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Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer.
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Thelma Ritter
Thelma Ritter (February 14, 1902 – February 5, 1969) was an American supporting and character actress from the 1940s until her death in 1969.
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Tim Robbins
Timothy Francis "Tim" Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon. He is known for his roles as Nuke in Bull Durham, Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, and as Dave Boyle in Mystic River, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
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Tony Randall
Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.
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Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. As the co-founder (with his brother Roy O. Disney) of Walt Disney Productions, Disney became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation he co-founded, now known as The Walt Disney Company, today has annual revenues of approximately U.S. $35 billion.
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Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears. He won an Academy Award for his performance in the 1966 Billy Wilder film The Fortune Cookie.
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Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty (, ; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director.
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Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg (; born Caryn Elaine Johnson; November 13, 1955) is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, and talk show host.
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William Friedkin
William Friedkin (born August 29, 1935) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director. His recent film, Bug (2006) won the FIPRESCI prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Australia
{{Infobox country
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Austria
Austria or (), officially the Republic of Austria (German: ), is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The territory of Austria covers and has a temperate and alpine climate. Austria's terrain is highly mountainous due to the presence of the Alps; only 32% of the country is below , and its highest point is . The majority of the population speaks German, which is also the country's official language. Other local official languages are Croatian, Hungarian and Slovene.
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Germany
Germany (), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (, ), is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The territory of Germany covers 357.021 km2 and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 81.8 million inhabitants, it is the most populous member state of the European Union, and home to the third-largest number of international migrants worldwide.
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Hungary
Hungary ( ), officially the Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság ), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe, being part of the Finno-Ugric family.
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Ireland
Ireland (,; , ; Ulster Scots: Airlann) is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the northwest of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland is Great Britain, separated from it by the Irish Sea. The island is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers just under five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, which covers the remainder and is located in the northeast of the island. The population of Ireland is approximately 6.2 million people. Just under 4.5 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.
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Italy
Italy (; ), officially the Italian Republic (), is a country located in south-central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia — the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea — and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, whilst Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.4 million inhabitants, it is the sixth most populous country in Europe, and the twenty-third most populous in the world.
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New Zealand
{{Infobox Country
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Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico ( or ), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( — literally Associated Free State of Puerto Rico), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands.
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Russia
Russia (; ), also officially known as the Russian Federation (), is a state in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the United States by the Bering Strait. At , Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than a ninth of the Earth's land area. Russia is also the ninth most populous nation with 142 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning 9 time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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The Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is a country consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets (rocks). It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States (nearest to the state of Florida). Its total land area is ; slightly larger than the US states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined), with an estimated population of 330,000. Its capital is Nassau. Geographically, the Bahamas lie in the same island chain as Cuba, Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the designation of the Bahamas refers normally to the commonwealth and not the geographic chain.
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a country and sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island nation, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border with another sovereign state, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. Great Britain is linked to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel.
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United States
The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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Władysław Szpilman
Władysław Szpilman (; 5 December 19116 July 2000) was a Jewish-Polish pianist, composer, and memoirist. Szpilman is widely known as the protagonist of the Roman Polański film The Pianist, which is based on his autobiographical book recounting how he survived the Holocaust. In November 1998 Władysław Szpilman was honoured by the president of Poland with a Commander's Cross Order with a Star of Polonia Restituta.
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ACADEMY AWARDS: BEST ACTOR 1927-2009
19271928 Emil Jannings - The Last Command as Gen. Dolgorucki / Grand Duke Sergius Alexander and The Way of All Flesh as August Schilling 19281929 Warner Baxter - In Old Arizona as The Cisco Kid 19291930 George Arliss - Disraeli as Benjamin Disraeli 19301931 Lionel Barrymore - A Free Soul as Stephen Ashe 19311932 Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as Dr. Henry L. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde Wallace Beery - The Champ as Champ (tie) 19321933 Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII as King Henry VIII of England 1934 Clark Gable - It Happened One Night as Peter Warne 1935 Victor McLaglen - The Informer as Gypo Nolan 1936 Paul Muni - The Story of Louis Pasteur as Louis Pasteur 1937 Spencer Tracy - Captains Courageous as Manuel 1938 Spencer Tracy - Boys Town as Father Flanagan 1939 Robert Donat - Goodbye, Mr. Chips as Mr. Chips 1940 James Stewart - The Philadelphia Story as Macaulay Connor 1941 Gary Cooper - Sergeant York as Alvin C. York 1942 James Cagney - Yankee Doodle Dandy as George M. Cohan 1943 Paul Lukas - Watch on the Rhine as Kurt Muller 1944 Bing Crosby - Going My Way as Father Chuck O'Malley 1945 Ray Milland - The Lost Weekend as Don Birnam 1946 Fredric March - The Best Years of Our Lives as Al Stephenson 1947 Ronald Colman - A Double Life as Anthony John 1948 Laurence Olivier - Hamlet as Hamlet, Prince of Denmark 1949 Broderick Crawford - All the King's Men as Willie Stark 1950 José Ferrer - Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano de Bergerac 1951 Humphrey Bogart - The <b>...</b>
http://wn.com/ACADEMY_AWARDS_BEST_ACTOR_1927-2009
81st Academy Awards/Oscars (2009) Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger as the Joker
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:49
- Published: 11 Oct 2008
- Uploaded: 08 Jan 2012
- Author: ManuelToTheX
Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight"
http://wn.com/81st_Academy_Awards/Oscars_2009_Best_Actor_in_a_Supporting_Role_Heath_Ledger_as_the_Joker
Johnny Depp - 2008 Best Actor Oscar Nominee
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:47
- Published: 25 Feb 2008
- Uploaded: 06 Feb 2012
- Author: blacktreemedia
Johnny Depp Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street NOMINATED ROLE Johnny Depp plays Sweeney Todd, a barber in Victorian London who embarks on a murderous plan of revenge against the corrupt judge who ruined his life. ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY This is the third Academy Award nomination for Johnny Depp. He was previously nominated for: * FINDING NEVERLAND (2004) -- Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role * PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003) -- Nominee, Actor in a Leading Role FILM SYNOPSIS In nineteenth-century London, barber Sweeney Todd seeks revenge on the corrupt judge who had him falsely arrested and sent to Australia in an attempt to steal Sweeney's wife. When his plan to kill the judge goes awry, Sweeney begins to murder his clients indiscriminately, with the help of his neighbor, Mrs. Lovett, who disposes of his victims by baking them into meat pies.
http://wn.com/Johnny_Depp__2008_Best_Actor_Oscar_Nominee
Best Actor Oscar Winners (1927/28-2010)
Montage of stills from films that won Academy Awards for Best Actor (from 1927-28 to the present).
http://wn.com/Best_Actor_Oscar_Winners_1927/28-2010
Top 10 Best Actor Oscar Winners
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:54
- Published: 24 Feb 2011
- Uploaded: 10 Feb 2012
- Author: ReelzChannel
Hollywood's Top Ten - Tune into ReelzChannel Monday through Friday for full episodes. Check www.reelzchannel.com for times in your area. For more lists, reviews, interviews, showtimes, clips, and trailers go to: www.reelz.com Connect with other movie fans: www.facebook.com Be sure to follow us on Twitter: twitter.com We count down the 10 men who have won the Oscar for Best Actor
http://wn.com/Top_10_Best_Actor_Oscar_Winners
Roeper's Oscar Predictions: Best Actor
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:26
- Published: 25 Feb 2010
- Uploaded: 01 May 2011
- Author: starzmedia
Richard Roeper Richard shares his predictions for the 82nd Academy Awards.
http://wn.com/Roeper's_Oscar_Predictions_Best_Actor
Gregory Peck wins Oscar for "To Kill A Mocking Bird"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:26
- Published: 27 Jul 2009
- Uploaded: 07 Feb 2012
- Author: CliffmountPictures
Legendary Movie Star Gregory Peck wins the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his unforgettable performance in the classic 1962 film, To Kill A Mocking Bird. The Nominees that year were: Burt Lancaster, Birdman of Alcatraz Jack Lemmon, Days of Wine and Roses Marcello Mastroianni, Divorzio all'italiana Peter O'Toole, Lawrence Of Arabia Gregory Peck, To Kill A Mocking Bird Presented by Sophia Loren. This ceremony took place in 1963
http://wn.com/Gregory_Peck_wins_Oscar_for_To_Kill_A_Mocking_Bird
COLIN FIRTH! Oscar Winner! Best Actor!"King's Speech" Stephen Holt Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:10
- Published: 16 Oct 2010
- Uploaded: 02 Jan 2012
- Author: StephenHoltShow
Stephen Holt acts as Colin Firth's "Oscar Messenger" telling him the Awards News about his acclaimed performance in THE KING'S SPEECH. This was shot at the Toronto Film Festival, and I was telling him the future was going to be very bright and he indeed won every single award on his victorious march to the podium. He just won an Oscar for Best Actor and also just won Best Actor, Drama for the Golden Globe,the BAFTA award, the BFCA and New York Film Critics Awards. Congratulations Colin! You won with the style and grace of a true champion. This interview was shot in Sept.2010 at the Toronto International Film Festival. Editing - Christian Madera
http://wn.com/COLIN_FIRTH!_Oscar_Winner!_Best_Actor!King's_Speech_Stephen_Holt_Show
Colin Firth wins best actor
Actress Sandra Bullock presents the Oscar for best actor to Colin Firth for his role in The King's Speech at the 83rd Academy Awards.
http://wn.com/Colin_Firth_wins_best_actor
BEST PICTURES / ACADEMY AWARDS 2011 - Montage HD
Best Picture "The King's Speech" Best Actor Colin Firth - "The King's Speech" Best Actress Natalie Portman - "Black Swan" Best Director Tom Hooper - "The King's Speech" Best Original Song Randy Newman - "We Belong Together" ("Toy Story 3") Best Film Editing Angus Wall and Krik Bacter - "The Social Network" Best Visual Effects "Inception" Best Documentary Feature "Inside Job" Best Documentary Short "Strangers No More" Best Live Action Short "God of Love" Best Costume "Alice in Wonderland" Best Makeup "The Wolfman" Best Sound Editing Richard King - "Inception" Best Soundtrack "The Social Network" Best Supporting Actor Christian Bale -"The Fighter Best Foreign Film "In a Better World" Best Film Editing "The Social Network" Best Original Screenplay "The King's Speech" Best Foreign Language Screenplay "In a Better World" Best Adapted Screenplay "The Social Network" - Aaron Sorkin Best Animated Feature "Toy Story 3" Best Supporting Actress "Melissa Leo" Best Cinematography "Inception" Best Art Direction "Alice in Wonderland"
http://wn.com/BEST_PICTURES_/_ACADEMY_AWARDS_2011__Montage_HD
Oscars 2012 Best Actor Nominees: Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, George Clooney, Demian Bichir
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:48
- Published: 28 Jan 2012
- Uploaded: 11 Feb 2012
- Author: BeyondTheTrailer
A closer look at the Oscars 2012 Best Actor Nominations Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, George Clooney, Demian Bichir, and Brad Pitt! Host Grace Randolph helps you make your Oscars 2012 predictions on who will be the winners by giving you the info on these Best Actor Nominees for the 2012 Academy Awards! Enjoy the Oscars 2012 hosted by Billy Crystal! Plus be sure to vote in the BTT Oscar Poll: www.tinyurl.com
http://wn.com/Oscars_2012_Best_Actor_Nominees_Jean_Dujardin,_Gary_Oldman,_George_Clooney,_Demian_Bichir
Best Actor! Jean Dujardin!"The Artist"! SAG! 10 Oscar Noms! Stephen Holt Show
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:03
- Published: 27 Nov 2011
- Uploaded: 11 Feb 2012
- Author: StephenHoltShow
Stephen Holt talks to the French stars Jean Dujardin & Berenice Bejos in French & in English about their new much-buzzed about Oscar film "The Artist" which is in black and white and silent. Editing ~ Kevin Teller
http://wn.com/Best_Actor!_Jean_Dujardin!The_Artist!_SAG!_10_Oscar_Noms!_Stephen_Holt_Show
Mickey Rourke wins Best Actor BAFTA - The British Academy Film Awards 2009 - BBC One
www.bbc.co.uk Mickey Rourke is named best actor for playing Randy 'The Ram' Robinson in The Wrestler.
http://wn.com/Mickey_Rourke_wins_Best_Actor_BAFTA__The_British_Academy_Film_Awards_2009__BBC_One
Best Actor Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:08
- Published: 07 Feb 2012
- Uploaded: 11 Feb 2012
- Author: MyanmarTalk
Best Actor Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards 2012 Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards Giving Ceremony for Year 2010 was held on Feb 7, 2012 in Nay Pyi Daw. The following are the Winners of Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards for Year 2010 1. The Best Lead Actor Award = Pyay Ti Oo (Adam, Eve and Datsa) 2. The Best Lead Actress Award = Thet Mon Myint (Adam, Eve and Datsa) 3. The Best Supporting Actor Award = Wai Lu Kyaw (Red Sun Above Sea) 4. The Best Supporting Actress Award = Hwar Hwar Aung (A May Kyae Zuu Sat Phu Chin Tae) 5. The Best Director Award = Khin Maung Oo and Soe Thein Htut (Red Sun Above Sea) 6. The Best Cinematography Award = Pan Chi Soe Moe (Red Sun Above Sea) 7. The Best Editing Award = Myint Khine (Red Sun Above Sea) 8. The Best Music Award = Myanmar Pyi Kyaut Sein 9. The Best Screenplay Award = Khin Maung Oo and Soe Thein Htut (Red Sun Above Sea) 10. The Best Picture/ Film Award = Adam, Eve and Datsa www.myanmartalk.com
http://wn.com/Best_Actor_Myanmar_Motion_Picture_Academy_Awards_2012
Richard Roeper's Reviews - Best Actor Oscar Prediction
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:56
- Published: 17 Feb 2011
- Uploaded: 31 Jan 2012
- Author: ReelzChannel
For more news, interviews, showtimes, clips, and trailers go to: www.reelz.com Connect with other movie fans: www.facebook.com Be sure to follow us on Twitter: twitter.com Richard Roeper predicts the Best Actor Oscar winner
http://wn.com/Richard_Roeper's_Reviews__Best_Actor_Oscar_Prediction
Roeper's Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actor
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:43
- Published: 25 Feb 2010
- Uploaded: 28 Aug 2011
- Author: starzmedia
Richard Roeper Richard shares his predictions for the 82nd Academy Awards.
http://wn.com/Roeper's_Oscar_Predictions_Best_Supporting_Actor
Colin Firth wins Best Actor BAFTA - The British Academy Film Awards 2010 - BBC One
More about this programme: www.bbc.co.uk Colin Firth wins Best Actor for his role in "A Single Man".
http://wn.com/Colin_Firth_wins_Best_Actor_BAFTA__The_British_Academy_Film_Awards_2010__BBC_One
Sandra Bullock names Colin Firth Best Actor @ Oscars 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:21
- Published: 28 Feb 2011
- Uploaded: 25 Jan 2012
- Author: passwordforgetter
Sandra Bullock looks stunning in a red dress and is hilarious as usual as she announces Colin Firth (The King's Speech) as Best Actor 2011 Oscars. Hola Javier !
http://wn.com/Sandra_Bullock_names_Colin_Firth_Best_Actor_@_Oscars_2011
Leonardo DiCaprio - Oscars 2005 Nominee for Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in The Aviator gained him a nomination as the best actor for the 77th Academy Awards (2005).
http://wn.com/Leonardo_DiCaprio__Oscars_2005_Nominee_for_Best_Actor
Heath Ledger Post-Award Best Supporting Actor Joker Tribute - Oscar SAG BAFTA Golden Globe 2009
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:12
- Published: 23 Feb 2009
- Uploaded: 07 Feb 2012
- Author: ennisjackdotcom
A post-award tribute from ennisjack.com dedicated to Heath Ledger and all his fans in celebrating his life and accomplishment. He will be eternally missed but never be forgotten for his "original and enduring legacy." Congratulations, Heath! "This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here — his peers within an industry he so loved." - Kim Ledger, accepting Heath's Oscar. Visit www.ennisjack.com for the link to download. Images or video content are copyright of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended. Video include clips from Heath's movies and his acceptance of BAFTA on behalf of Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay plus a clip made by and posted at http Voices in the order of appearance: Heath's sisters on the date of Oscar nomination, Christopher Nolan at Golden Globe, Gary Oldman at SAG, Sally Bell at the Oscar, Heath's interview with Charlie Rose. Music: "Gladiator" soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrand - "Now We Are Free" and Main Theme Here is the list of awards for his role as the Joker in the Dark Knight. Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Florida <b>...</b>
http://wn.com/Heath_Ledger_Post-Award_Best_Supporting_Actor_Joker_Tribute__Oscar_SAG_BAFTA_Golden_Globe_2009
Colin Firth's Best Actor BAFTA Speech - The British Academy Film Awards 2011 - BBC One
More about this programme: www.bbc.co.uk Colin Firth wins a second successive Leading Actor BAFTA for his role in "The King's Speech".
http://wn.com/Colin_Firth's_Best_Actor_BAFTA_Speech__The_British_Academy_Film_Awards_2011__BBC_One
Academy Award Nominations 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:23
- Published: 25 Jan 2011
- Uploaded: 11 Feb 2012
- Author: AbsolutelyDefinite
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences President Tom Sherak and Academy Award winner Mo'Nique announce the nominees for the 83rd annual Academy Awards. Tuesday, January 25, 2011. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Amy Adams, The Fighter Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech Melissa Leo, The Fighter Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Christian Bale, The Fighter John Hawkes, Winter's Bone Jeremy Renner, The Town Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech BEST ACTRESS Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone Natalie Portman, Black Swan Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine BEST ACTOR Javier Bardem, Biutiful Jeff Bridges, True Grit Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network Colin Firth, The King's Speech James Franco, 127 Hours BEST DIRECTOR Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit David Fincher, The Social Network Tom Hooper, The King's Speech David O. Russell, The Fighter BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, The Fighter Mike Leigh, Another Year Christopher Nolan, Inception David Seidler, The King's Speech BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 127 Hours The Social Network Toy Story 3 True Grit Winter's Bone BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Algeria) Incendies (Canada) In a Better World (Denmark) Dogtooth (Greece) Biutiful (Mexico) BEST ANIMATED <b>...</b>
http://wn.com/Academy_Award_Nominations_2011
Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill at the 84th Academy Awards® Nominees Luncheon
Brad Pitt, nominated for Actor in a Leading Role ("Moneyball ") and Jonah Hill, nominated for Actor in a Supporting Role ("Moneyball") at the 84th Academy Awards® Nominees Luncheon on February 6, 2012.
http://wn.com/Brad_Pitt_and_Jonah_Hill_at_the_84th_Academy_Awards®_Nominees_Luncheon
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Demián Bichir: Mexican Actor Nominated For An Academy Award For Best Actor In 'A Better ...
25 Jan 2012
Huffington Post
Mexican actor Demian Bichir, who was nominated Tuesday morning for an Oscar in the Best Actor category for his role as a Mexican day laborer in the film "A Better Life," has dedicated his nomination to the millions of undocumented immigrants in the nation. The drama portrays the life of an...
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MSNBC
updated 5:18 p.m. ET June 15, 2010 A Broward thief is being called the Russell Crowe of his profession after pulling off a dramatic performance worthy of an academy award during a recent gas station robbery. The suspect is apparently a member of a bigger cast who has to...
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On this wondrous night of a thousand stars, when the most important people on the face of the Earth grudgingly agree to drape millions of designer dollars on their ears, wrists, and necks, while making their fabulous red carpet stroll to show the rest of the uglies in the world how much more...
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80th Academy Awards: 'No Country for Old Men' wins Best Picture, foreign actors sweep major acting awards
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Two bloody dramas with Texas ties, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," each landed eight Academy Award nominations Tuesday morning, including for best picture, to lead a mixed pack of Oscar nominees in an awards year dampened by the lingering writers' strike. Tommy Lee Jones, San...
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| name | Academy Award for Best Actor |
|---|---|
| description | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |
| presenter | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| country | United States |
| year | 1929 (for performances in films released during the 1927/1928 film season) |
| holder | Colin Firth,''The King's Speech'' (2010) |
| website | http://www.oscars.org }} |
History
Throughout the past 83 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, AMPAS has presented a total of 84 Best Actor awards to 75 different actors. Winners of this Academy Award of Merit receive the familiar Oscar statuette, depicting a gold-plated knight holding a crusader's sword and standing on a reel of film. The first recipient was Emil Jannings, who was honored at the 1st Academy Awards ceremony (1929) for his performances in ''The Last Command'' and ''The Way of All Flesh''. The most recent recipient was Colin Firth, who was honored at the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony (2011) for his performance in ''The King's Speech''.In the first three years of the Academy Awards, individuals such as actors and directors were nominated as the best in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award. However, during the 3rd Academy Awards ceremony (1930), only one of those films was cited in each winner's final award, even though each of the acting winners had had two films following their names on the ballots. For the 4th Academy Awards ceremony (1931), this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film. Such nominations are limited to five per year. Until the 8th Academy Awards ceremony (1936), nominations for the Best Actor award were intended to include all actors, whether the performance was in either a leading or supporting role. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony (1937), however, the Best Supporting Actor category was specifically introduced as a distinct award following complaints that the single Best Actor category necessarily favored leading performers with the most screen time. Nonetheless, Lionel Barrymore had received a Best Actor award (''A Free Soul'', 1931) and Franchot Tone a Best Actor nomination (''Mutiny on the Bounty'', 1936) for their performances in clear supporting roles. Currently, Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role constitute the four Academy Awards of Merit for acting annually presented by AMPAS.
Other awards for acting
Actors have also received special awards, or Academy Honorary Awards, for acting in specific films (such as in the case of James Baskett, who received a special honorary award for Disney's ''Song of the South''). Child actors have also been awarded the Academy Juvenile Award.
Superlatives
| !width="350" | Best Actor | !colspan="2" width="600" | Overall | |||
| Actor with most nominations | Spencer TracyLaurence Olivier | 9 | 4 | Jack Nicholson | 12 | |
| Actor with most nominations(without ever winning) | Peter O'Toole | 8 | 4 | Peter O'Toole | 8 | |
| Film with most nominations | 3 | ''On the Waterfront''''The Godfather''''The Godfather Part II'' | 3 | ''On the Waterfront''''The Godfather''''The Godfather Part II'' | 4 | |
| Oldest winner | Henry Fonda | 76 | George Burns | 80 | George Burns | 80 |
| Oldest nominee | Richard Farnsworth | 79 | Hal Holbrook | 82 | Hal Holbrook | 82 |
| Youngest winner | Adrien Brody | 29 | Timothy Hutton | 20 | Timothy Hutton | 20 |
| Youngest nominee | Jackie Cooper | 9 | Justin Henry | 8 | Justin Henry | 8 |
Nine men have won the Best Actor award twice. In chronological order, they are: Spencer Tracy (1937, 1938), Fredric March (1932, 1946), Gary Cooper (1941, 1952), Marlon Brando (1954, 1972), Dustin Hoffman (1979, 1988), Tom Hanks (1993, 1994), Jack Nicholson (1975, 1997), Daniel Day-Lewis (1989, 2007), and Sean Penn (2003, 2008). Of these, all were Americans except for Daniel Day-Lewis. Tracy and Hanks were the only actors to win their awards in consecutive years. Furthermore, Tracy and Hanks were the same age at the time they received their Academy Awards: 37 for the first and 38 for the second.
The periods between wins by the two-time winners are Spencer Tracy and Tom Hanks (1 year), Sean Penn (5 years), Dustin Hoffman (9 years), Gary Cooper (11 years), Fredric March (14 years), Marlon Brando (18 years), Daniel Day-Lewis (18 years), and Jack Nicholson (22 years).
The actors with the most nominations in this category are Spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier, with nine each. Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, and Peter O'Toole tie for third place with eight nominations each. Nicholson won his awards a record 22 years apart. O'Toole holds the record for the longest time span between his first and last nominations (44 years), and he also holds the record for the greatest number of nominations without ever winning the award (eight).
Six actors have won both the Best Actor and the Best Supporting Actor awards: Jack Lemmon, Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, Gene Hackman, Kevin Spacey, and Denzel Washington.
Two actors have won an Academy Award (Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor) for portraying the same character, that of Don Vito Corleone in ''The Godfather'' and ''The Godfather Part II'', respectively. The actors were Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro.
There has been only one announced tie in the history of this category. In 1932, Fredric March received one more vote than Wallace Beery. Academy rules at that time considered such a close margin to be a tie, so both March and Beery received the award. Under the current Academy rules, however, dual awards are only given for exact ties. While that has never happened for the Best Actor award, it did happen for the Best Actress award in 1969.
Peter Finch is the only posthumous winner of the Best Actor award, though he was alive when his nomination was announced (the only other posthumous winner in any acting category was another Australian, Heath Ledger, who won the Best Supporting Actor award in 2009). The only posthumously nominated performers in this category were James Dean, Spencer Tracy, and Massimo Troisi. Dean was posthumously nominated twice.
Three actors have been nominated for Best Actor more than once for the same character: Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in ''Going My Way'' and ''The Bells of St. Mary's''; Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in ''Becket'' and ''The Lion in Winter''; and Paul Newman as "Fast Eddie" Felson in ''The Hustler'' and ''The Color of Money''. (Al Pacino was nominated in 1975 for a role for which he had previously been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Michael Corleone, in ''The Godfather Part II''.)
Michael Douglas (1988, ''Wall Street'') and Laurence Olivier (1949, ''Hamlet'') are the only two actors to win the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Picture (Douglas as a producer of ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' in 1976, and Olivier as producer of ''Hamlet''). Olivier is also the only actor to win for acting and producing in the same year. Other Oscar nominees for Best Actor and Best Picture are: Clint Eastwood (acting nominations for ''Unforgiven'', 1993, and ''Million Dollar Baby'', 2005, winner for both in the Best Picture category); Kevin Costner, Best Actor nominee for ''Dances with Wolves'' and winning producer for the same film, in 1991; Paul Newman, Best Actor winner for ''The Color of Money'' and a Best Picture nominee for ''Rachel, Rachel'' in 1969; John Wayne, Best Actor winner for ''True Grit'' and a Best Picture nominee for ''The Alamo'' in 1961; Robert Redford, Best Actor nominee for ''The Sting'' and Best Picture nominee for ''Quiz Show''; and Henry Fonda, Best Actor winner for ''On Golden Pond'' and a Best Picture nominee for ''12 Angry Men'' in 1958. Warren Beatty has received Best Actor and Best Picture nominations for ''Bonnie and Clyde'', ''Heaven Can Wait'', ''Reds'', and ''Bugsy'', with no wins in either category.
Barry Fitzgerald is the only actor to be nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same character in the same year (as Father Fitzgibbon for ''Going My Way''). The rules were later changed to prevent a recurrence of this.
Four African-American actors have won the award: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx and Forest Whitaker.
Several pairs of actors have been nominated for playing the same character or historical figure: Fredric March and James Mason as Norman Maine in 1937's ''A Star Is Born'' and the 1954 version, Robert Donat and Peter O'Toole as Chipping in 1939's ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' and the 1969 version, Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh as Henry V in 1944's ''Henry V'' and the 1989 version (both of which were directed by their stars), Charles Laughton and Richard Burton as Henry VIII in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' and ''Anne of the Thousand Days'', Leslie Howard and Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins in ''Pygmalion'' and ''My Fair Lady'', José Ferrer and Gérard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac in 1950's ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' and the 1990 version, Robert Montgomery and Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton in ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' and ''Heaven Can Wait'', Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon in ''Nixon'' and ''Frost/Nixon'', and John Wayne and Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn in the 1969's ''True Grit'' and 2010 version. Robert De Niro won Best Supporting Actor for playing Vito Corleone in ''The Godfather Part II'', the role for which Marlon Brando had previously won Best Actor.
Laurence Olivier is the only actor to have won an Oscar for a Shakespearean performance: Best Actor for ''Hamlet'' (1948). Olivier also received an Academy Honorary Award for ''Henry V'' (1944), which Olivier described as a "fub-off".
Robert Downey, Jr. is the only actor nominated for playing a previous nominee, Charlie Chaplin, in ''Chaplin''.
Jeff Bridges is one of the oldest actors ever to win an Academy Award; he was also one of the youngest actors ever to be nominated. In 2010, he won his Oscar for ''Crazy Heart'' at the age of 60; in 1972, he was nominated for ''The Last Picture Show'' at age 22.
Two actors directed their own Oscar-winning performances: Laurence Olivier in ''Hamlet'' and Roberto Benigni in ''Life Is Beautiful''. To date, however, no individual has won both Best Actor and Best Director.
Two winners have declined the award: George C. Scott, who won for ''Patton'' in 1971 (he had also declined his 1962 nomination for Best Supporting Actor for ''The Hustler''); and Marlon Brando, upon winning his second Oscar for ''The Godfather'' in 1973.
A few early winning and nominated performances have subsequently been lost, including Emil Jannings in ''The Way of All Flesh'' (1928), Lewis Stone in ''The Patriot'' (1928), and Lawrence Tibbett in ''The Rogue Song'' (1930), of which only a short fragment and the soundtrack survives.
The earliest nominee in this category who is still alive is Mickey Rooney (1939), followed by Kirk Douglas (1949). The earliest winner in this category who is still alive is Ernest Borgnine (1955), followed by Maximilian Schell (1962)—both won over Spencer Tracy The few remaining living nominees from the 1940s–50s Hollywood era include Kirk Douglas (3 nominations). Sidney Poitier also received his first nomination in 1958.
Ernest Borgnine is the only Best Actor winner to ever turn 90. He is also one of the few actors from that era who still work in films.
The earliest Oscars where all 5 Best Actor nominations are still alive is the 56th Academy Awards. While the most recent where all 5 have died was the 38th Academy Awards.
As of 2011 the earliest Oscars where all 4 acting winners are alive is the 34th Academy Awards, while the most recent where all 4 have died is the 39th Academy Awards.
Multiple nominations
The following 48 winners of the Academy Award for Best Actor have received multiple nominations for the award. This list is sorted by the number of total awards (with the number of total nominations listed in parentheses).
Life expectancy of winners
In 2001 Donald A. Redelmeier, MD, and Sheldon M. Singh, BSc published a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine in which they found:"Winning an Academy Award was associated with a large gain in life expectancy for actors and actresses...Winning an Academy Award can increase a performer’s stature and may add to their longevity. The absolute difference in life expectancy is about equal to the societal consequence of curing all cancers in all people for all time (22, 23). Moreover, movie stars who have won multiple Academy Awards have a survival advantage of 6.0 years (CI, 0.7 to 11.3 years) over performers with multiple films but no victories. Formal education is not the only way to improve health, and strict poverty is not the only way to worsen health. The main implication is that higher status may be linked to lower mortality rates even at very impressive levels of achievement."The aforementioned authors did an update to 29 March 2006 in which they found 122 more individuals and 144 more deaths since their first publication. Their unadjusted analysis showed a smaller survival advantage of 3.6 years for winners compared to their fellow nominees and costars in the films in which their performance garnered them their award. However, in a 2006 published study by Marie-Pierre Sylvestre, MSc, Ella Huszti, MSc, and James A. Hanley, PhD, the authors found:
"The statistical method used to derive this statistically significant difference gave winners an unfair advantage because it credited an Oscar winner's years of life before winning toward survival subsequent to winning. When the authors of the current article reanalyzed the data using methods that avoided this "immortal time" bias, the survival advantage was closer to 1 year and was not statistically significant. The bias in Redelmeier and Singh's study is not limited to longevity comparisons of persons who reach different ranks within their profession."
Winners and nominees
Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by year of their Los Angeles qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) the film's year of release. For example, the Oscar for Best Actor of 1999 was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000. Winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees.For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. For example, the 2nd Academy Awards presented on April 3, 1930, recognized films that were released between August 1, 1928 and July 31, 1929. Starting with the 7th Academy Awards, held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.
1920s
| Year | Actor | Film | Role |
| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center">1927/28(1st)''' | |||
| Gen. Dolgorucki / Grand Duke Sergius Alexander | |||
| August Schilling | |||
| Nickie Elkins | |||
| ''The Patent Leather Kid'' | Patent Leather Kid | ||
1929 in film| 1928/29(2nd)''' | |
||
| Warner Baxter | ''In Old Arizona'' | The Cisco Kid | |
| Thunderbolt Jim Lang | |||
| Chester Morris | Chick Williams (No. 1065) | ||
| Paul Muni | James Dyke | ||
| Lewis Stone | Count Pahlen | ||
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
| Year | Actor | Film | Role(s) |
| rowspan=6 style="text-align:center">2010(83rd)''' | |||
| Colin Firth | ''The King's Speech'' | ||
| Javier Bardem | ''Biutiful'' | Uxbal | |
| Jeff Bridges | |||
| Jesse Eisenberg | ''The Social Network'' | Mark Zuckerberg | |
| James Franco | ''127 Hours'' | Aron Ralston |
International presence
There is significant international presence at the awards, as evidenced by the following list of winners for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
There have been two years in which all four of the top acting Academy Awards were presented to non-Americans.
See also
References
External links
Category:Academy Awards Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Film awards for lead actor Category:Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award winning performance
ar:جائزة الأوسكار لأفضل ممثل an:Premio Oscar a o Millor Actor bar:Oscar/Bester Hauptdarsteller bs:Oskar za najbolju glavnu mušku ulogu bg:Оскар за най-добра мъжка роля ca:Oscar al millor actor cs:Oscar za nejlepší mužský herecký výkon v hlavní roli da:Oscar for bedste mandlige hovedrolle de:Oscar/Bester Hauptdarsteller es:Anexo:Óscar al mejor actor eu:Gizonezko aktore onenaren Oscar Saria fa:جایزه اسکار بهترین بازیگر نقش اول مرد fr:Oscar du meilleur acteur gl:Oscar ó mellor actor hr:Oscar za najboljeg glavnog glumca ilo:Kalaingan nga Aktor (Oscar) id:Aktor Terbaik (Academy Awards) it:Oscar al miglior attore he:פרס אוסקר לשחקן הטוב ביותר ka:ოსკარი საუკეთესო მსახიობი მამაკაცისთვის lv:Labākais aktieris galvenajā lomā ("Oskars") hu:Oscar-díj a legjobb férfi főszereplőnek nl:Academy Award voor Beste Acteur ja:アカデミー主演男優賞 no:Oscar for beste mannlige hovedrolle nds:Oscar/Best Hööftdorsteller pl:Oscar dla najlepszego aktora pierwszoplanowego pt:Oscar de melhor ator ro:Premiul Oscar pentru cel mai bun actor ru:Премия «Оскар» за лучшую мужскую роль sk:Academy Award za najlepší mužský herecký výkon v hlavnej úlohe sr:Оскар за најбољег главног глумца sh:Oscar za najboljeg glavnog glumca fi:Parhaan miespääosan Oscar-palkinto sv:Lista över vinnare av Oscar för bästa manliga huvudroll th:รางวัลออสการ์ สาขานักแสดงนำชายยอดเยี่ยม tr:En İyi Erkek Oyuncu Akademi Ödülü uk:Премія «Оскар» за найкращу чоловічу роль vi:Giải Oscar cho nam diễn viên chính xuất sắc nhất zh:奥斯卡最佳男主角奖This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| name | Academy Award |
|---|---|
| alt | An Academy Award statuette, depicting a knight, rendered in Art Deco style, holding a crusader's sword |
| description | Excellence in cinematic achievements |
| presenter | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |
| country | United States |
| year | May 16, 1929 |
| website | www.Oscars.org }} |
The AMPAS was originally conceived by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio boss Louis B. Mayer as a professional honorary organization to help improve the film industry’s image and help mediate labor disputes. The Oscar itself was later initiated by the Academy as an award "of merit for distinctive achievement" in the industry.
The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of the 1927/1928 film season. The most recent ceremony, honoring films in 2010, was held at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on February 27, 2011.
History
The first awards were presented on May 16, 1929, at a private brunch at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post Academy Awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night's ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other personalities of the filmmaking industry of the time for their works during the 1927–1928 period.Winners had been announced three months earlier of their triumphs; however that was changed in the second ceremony of the Academy Awards in 1930. Since then and during the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11 pm on the night of the awards. This method was used until the ''Los Angeles Times'' announced the winners before the ceremony began; as a result, the Academy has used a sealed envelope to reveal the name of the winners since 1941.
For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. For example, the 2nd Academy Awards presented on April 3, 1930, recognized films that were released between August 1, 1928 and July 31, 1929. Starting with the 7th Academy Awards, held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.
The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in ''The Last Command'' and ''The Way of All Flesh''. He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier; this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. The honored professionals were awarded for all the work done in a certain category for the qualifying period; for example, Emil Jannings received the award for two movies in which he starred during that period. Since the fourth ceremony, the system changed, and the professionals were honored for a specific performance in a single film. As of the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony held in 2010, a total of 2,789 Oscars have been given for 1,825 awards. A total of 302 actors have won Oscars in competitive acting categories or been awarded Honorary or Juvenile Awards.
The 1939 film ''Beau Geste'' is the only movie that features as many as four Academy Award winners for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Susan Hayward, Broderick Crawford) prior to any of the actors receiving the Best Actor Award.
At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27, 1957, the Best Foreign Language Film category was introduced. Until then, foreign language films were honored with the Special Achievement Award.
Oscar statuette
Design
Although there are seven other types of awards presented by the Academy (the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, the Scientific and Engineering Award, the Technical Achievement Award, the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, and the Student Academy Award), the best known one is the ''Academy Award of Merit'' more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. Made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.MGM's art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the original Academy members, supervised the design of the award trophy by printing the design on a scroll. In need of a model for his statuette Gibbons was introduced by his then wife Dolores del Río to Mexican film director and actor Emilio "El Indio" Fernández. Reluctant at first, Fernández was finally convinced to pose nude to create what today is known as the "Oscar". Then, sculptor George Stanley (who also did the Muse Fountain at the Hollywood Bowl) sculpted Gibbons's design in clay and Sachin Smith cast the statuette in 92.5 percent tin and 7.5 percent copper and then gold-plated it. The only addition to the Oscar since it was created is a minor streamlining of the base. The original Oscar mold was cast in 1928 at the C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois, which also contributed to casting the molds for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Emmy Awards statuettes. Since 1983, approximately 50 Oscars are made each year in Chicago by Illinois manufacturer R.S. Owens & Company.
In support of the American effort in World War II, the statuettes were made of plaster and were traded in for gold ones after the war had ended.
Naming
The root of the name ''Oscar'' is contested. One biography of Bette Davis claims that she named the Oscar after her first husband, band leader Harmon Oscar Nelson; one of the earliest mentions in print of the term ''Oscar'' dates back to a ''Time'' magazine article about the 1934 6th Academy Awards. Walt Disney is also quoted as thanking the Academy for his Oscar as early as 1932. Another claimed origin is that the Academy's Executive Secretary, Margaret Herrick, first saw the award in 1931 and made reference to the statuette's reminding her of her "Uncle Oscar" (a nickname for her cousin Oscar Pierce). Columnist Sidney Skolsky was present during Herrick's naming and seized the name in his byline, "Employees have affectionately dubbed their famous statuette 'Oscar'". The trophy was officially dubbed the "Oscar" in 1939 by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Another legend reports that the Norwegian-American Eleanor Lilleberg, executive secretary to Louis B. Mayer, saw the first statuette and exclaimed, "It looks like King Oscar II!". At the end of the day she asked, "What should we do with Oscar, put him in the vault?" and the name stuck.
Ownership of Oscar statuettes
Since 1950, the statuettes have been legally encumbered by the requirement that neither winners nor their heirs may sell the statuettes without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for US$1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette. Academy Awards not protected by this agreement have been sold in public auctions and private deals for six-figure sums.While the Oscar is under the ownership of the recipient, it is essentially not on the open market. The case of Michael Todd's grandson trying to sell Todd's Oscar statuette illustrates that there are some who do not agree with this idea. When Todd's grandson attempted to sell Todd's Oscar statuette to a movie prop collector, the Academy won the legal battle by getting a permanent injunction. Although Oscar sales transactions have been successful, some buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the Academy, which keeps them in its treasury.
Nomination
Since 2004, Academy Award nomination results have been announced to the public in late January. Prior to 2004, nomination results were announced publicly in early February.
Voters
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 5,835 as of 2007.Academy membership is divided into different branches, with each representing a different discipline in film production. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 73 annual awards ceremonies.
All AMPAS members must be invited to join by the Board of Governors, on behalf of Academy Branch Executive Committees. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contribution to the field of motion pictures.
New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its membership, although as recently as 2007 press releases have announced the names of those who have been invited to join. The 2007 release also stated that it has just under 6,000 voting members. While the membership had been growing, stricter policies have kept its size steady since then.
Rules
Currently, according to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31, in Los Angeles County, California, to qualify (except for the Best Foreign Language Film). For example, the 2010 Best Picture winner, ''The Hurt Locker'', was actually first released in 2008, but did not qualify for the 2009 awards as it did not play its Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009, thus qualifying for the 2010 awards.Rule 2 states that a film must be feature-length, defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short subject awards, and it must exist either on a 35 mm or 70 mm film print or in 24 frame/s or 48 frame/s progressive scan digital cinema format with native resolution not less than 1280x720.
Producers must submit an Official Screen Credits online form before the deadline; in case it is not submitted by the defined deadline, the film will be ineligible for Academy Awards in any year. The form includes the production credits for all related categories. Then, each form is checked and put in a Reminder List of Eligible Releases.
In late December ballots and copies of the Reminder List of Eligible Releases are mailed to around 6000 active members. For most categories, members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories (i.e. only directors vote for directors, writers for writers, actors for actors, etc.); there are some exceptions though in the case of certain categories, like Foreign Film, Documentary and Animated Feature Film in which movies are selected by special screening committees made up of members from all branches. In the special case of Best Picture, all voting members are eligible to select the nominees for that category. Foreign films must include English subtitles, and each country can only submit one film per year.
The members of the various branches nominate those in their respective fields while all members may submit nominees for Best Picture. The winners are then determined by a second round of voting in which all members are then allowed to vote in most categories, including Best Picture.
Ceremony
Telecast
The major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. It is the culmination of the film awards season, which usually begins during November or December of the previous year. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion designers of the day. Black tie dress is the most common outfit for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bow-tie, and musical performers sometimes do not adhere to this. (The artists who recorded the nominees for Best Original Song quite often perform those songs live at the awards ceremony, and the fact that they are performing is often used to promote the television broadcast).
The Academy Awards is televised live across the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, the United Kingdom, and gathers millions of viewers elsewhere throughout the world. The 2007 ceremony was watched by more than 40 million Americans. Other awards ceremonies (such as the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Grammys) are broadcast live in the East Coast but are on tape delay in the West Coast and might not air on the same day outside North America (if the awards are even televised). The Academy has for several years claimed that the award show has up to a billion viewers internationally, but this has so far not been confirmed by any independent sources. The Awards show was first televised on NBC in 1953. NBC continued to broadcast the event until 1960 when the ABC Network took over, televising the festivities through 1970, after which NBC resumed the broadcasts. ABC once again took over broadcast duties in 1976; it is under contract to do so through the year 2020.
After more than sixty years of being held in late March or early April, the ceremonies were moved up to late February or early March starting in 2004 to help disrupt and shorten the intense lobbying and ad campaigns associated with Oscar season in the film industry. Another reason was because of the growing TV ratings success of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, which would cut into the Academy Awards audience. The earlier date is also to the advantage of ABC, as it now usually occurs during the highly profitable and important February sweeps period. (Some years, the ceremony is moved into early March in deference to the Winter Olympics.) Advertising is somewhat restricted, however, as traditionally no movie studios or competitors of official Academy Award sponsors may advertise during the telecast. The Awards show holds the distinction of having won the most Emmys in history, with 47 wins and 195 nominations.
After many years of being held on Mondays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m Pacific, in 1999 the ceremonies were moved to Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Pacific. The reasons given for the move were that more viewers would tune in on Sundays, that Los Angeles rush-hour traffic jams could be avoided, and that an earlier start time would allow viewers on the East Coast to go to bed earlier. For many years the film industry had opposed a Sunday broadcast because it would cut into the weekend box office.
On March 30, 1981, the awards ceremony was postponed for one day after the shooting of President Ronald Reagan and others in Washington, D.C.
In 1993, an ''In Memoriam'' segment was introduced, honoring those who had made a significant contribution to cinema who had died in the preceding 12 months, a selection compiled by a small committee of Academy members. This segment has drawn criticism over the years for the omission of some names.
In 2010, the organizers of the Academy Awards announced that winners' acceptance speeches must not run past 45 seconds. This, according to organizer Bill Mechanic, was to ensure the elimination of what he termed "the single most hated thing on the show" – overly long and embarrassing displays of emotion.
The Academy has also had recent discussions about moving the ceremony even further back into January, citing TV viewers' fatigue with the film industry's long awards season. But such an accelerated schedule would dramatically decrease the voting period for its members, to the point where some voters would only have time to view the contending films streamed on their computers. Also, a January ceremony may have to compete with National Football League playoff games.
Past ceremonies and ratings
The following is a listing of all Academy Awards ceremonies and ratings since 1929.Historically, the "Oscarcast" has pulled in a bigger haul when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture trophy. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast for the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, the year of ''Titanic'', which generated close to US$600 million at the North American box office pre-Oscars. The 76th Academy Awards ceremony in which ''The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (pre-telecast box office earnings of US$368 million) received 11 Awards including Best Picture drew 43.56 million viewers. The most watched ceremony based on Nielsen ratings to date, however, was the 42nd Academy Awards (Best Picture ''Midnight Cowboy'') which drew a 43.4% household rating on April 7, 1970.
By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings. The 78th Academy Awards which awarded low-budgeted, independent film ''Crash'' (with a pre-Oscar gross of US$53.4 million) generated an audience of 38.64 million with a household rating of 22.91%. In 2008, the 80th Academy Awards telecast was watched by 31.76 million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating, the lowest rated and least watched ceremony to date, in spite of celebrating 80 years of the Academy Awards. The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another low-budget, independently financed film (''No Country for Old Men'').
Venues
In 1929, the first Academy Awards were presented at a banquet dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. From 1930–1943, the awards were presented first at the Ambassador Hotel in Hollywood. Then the Oscar ceremonies were held at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles from 1930 to 1943.Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood then hosted the awards from 1944 to 1946, followed by the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1948. The 21st Academy Awards in 1949 were held at the Academy Award Theater at what was the Academy's headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.
From 1950 to 1960, the awards were presented at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. With the advent of television, the 1953–1957 awards took place simultaneously in Hollywood and New York first at the NBC International Theatre (1953) and then at the NBC Century Theatre (1954–1957), after which the ceremony took place solely in Los Angeles. The Oscars moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California in 1961. By 1969, the Academy decided to move the ceremonies back to Los Angeles, this time to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Music Center.
In 2002, Hollywood's Kodak Theatre became the permanent home of the award ceremonies.
Academy Awards of merit
Current awards
In the first year of the awards, the Best Director award was split into two separate categories (Drama and Comedy). At times, the Best Original Score award has also been split into separate categories (Drama and Comedy/Musical). From the 1930s through the 1960s, the Art Direction, Cinematography, and Costume Design awards were likewise split into two separate categories (black-and-white films and color films).
Another award, entitled the Academy Award for Best Original Musical, is still in the Academy rulebooks and has yet to be retired. However, due to continuous insufficient eligibility each year, it has not been awarded since 1984 (when ''Purple Rain'' won).
Retired awards
Proposed awards
The Board of Governors meets each year and considers new awards. To date, the following proposed awards have not been approved:Best Casting: rejected in 1999 Best Stunt Coordination: rejected in 1999; rejected in 2005 Best Title Design: rejected in 1999
Special Academy Awards
These awards are voted on by special committees, rather than by the Academy membership as a whole, but the individual selected to receive the special award may decline the offer. They are not always presented on a consistent annual basis.
Current special awards
Retired special awards
Criticism
Due to the positive exposure and prestige of the Academy Awards, studios spend millions of dollars and hire publicists specifically to promote their films during what is typically called the "Oscar season." This has generated accusations of the Academy Awards being influenced more by marketing than quality. William Friedkin, an Academy Award-winning film director and former producer of the ceremony, expressed this sentiment at a conference in New York in 2009, describing it as "the greatest promotion scheme that any industry ever devised for itself."In addition, some winners critical of the Academy Awards have boycotted the ceremonies and refused to accept their Oscars. The first to do so was Dudley Nichols (Best Writing in 1935 for ''The Informer''). Nichols boycotted the 8th Academy Awards ceremony because of conflicts between the Academy and the Writer's Guild. George C. Scott became the second person to refuse his award (Best Actor in 1970 for ''Patton'') at the 43rd Academy Awards ceremony. Scott described it as a 'meat parade', saying 'I don't want any part of it." The third winner, Marlon Brando, refused his award (Best Actor in 1972 for ''The Godfather''), citing the film industry's discrimination and mistreatment of Native Americans. At the 45th Academy Awards ceremony, Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to read a 15-page speech detailing his criticisms.
It has been observed that several of the Academy Award winners – particularly Best Picture – have not stood the test of time or defeated worthier efforts. Tim Dirks, editor of AMC's filmsite.org, has written of the Academy Awards,
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Best Picture is not the only category to come under criticism. In his review of ''The Lives of Others'', Nick Davis argued,
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Acting prizes in certain years have been criticized for not recognizing superior performances so much as being awarded for sentimental reasons, personal popularity, atonement for past mistakes, or presented as a "career honor" to recognize a distinguished nominee's entire body of work.
Associated events
The following events are closely associated with the annual Academy Awards ceremony:
See also
Notes
References
External links
Category:Academy Awards Category:American film awards Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Awards established in 1929
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| Name | Heath Ledger |
|---|---|
| Alt | Close up of a man's face with brown eyes, tousled brown hair and scraggly beard growth. He is looking toward his left. He is wearing a grey jumper with an orange stripe near his left shoulder and upper left arm. The background is blue with out of focus writing. |
| Birth name | Heath Andrew Ledger |
| Birth date | April 04, 1979 |
| Birth place | Perth, Australia |
| Death date | January 22, 2008 |
| Death place | New York City, United States |
| Death cause | Accidental prescription drug overdose |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1992–2008 |
| Domesticpartner | Michelle Williams (2004–2007) }} |
For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in ''Brokeback Mountain'', Ledger won the 2005 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the 2006 "Best Actor" award from the Australian Film Institute and was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the 2006 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Posthumously he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the ensemble cast, the director, and the casting director for the film ''I'm Not There'', which was inspired by the life and songs of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In the film, Ledger portrayed a fictional actor named Robbie Clark, one of six characters embodying aspects of Dylan's life and persona. Ledger received numerous accolades for his critically acclaimed portrayal of the Joker in ''The Dark Knight'', including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards, for which he became the first actor to win an award posthumously, the 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Ledger died in January 2008, from an accidental "toxic combination of prescription drugs". A few months before his death, Ledger had finished filming his penultimate performance, as the Joker in ''The Dark Knight'', his death coming during editing of the film and casting a shadow over the subsequent promotion of the $180 million production. At the time of his death, on 22 January 2008, he had completed about half of his work performing the role of Tony in Terry Gilliam's film ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus''.
Early life
Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia, the son of Sally Ledger (née Ramshaw), a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing-car driver and mining engineer, whose family established and owned the Ledger Engineering Foundry. The Sir Frank Ledger Charitable Trust is named after his great-grandfather. Ledger attended Mary's Mount Primary School, in Gooseberry Hill, and later Guildford Grammar School, where he had his first acting experiences, starring in a school production as Peter Pan at age 10. His parents separated when he was 10 and divorced when he was 11. Ledger's older sister Kate, an actress and later a publicist, to whom he was very close, inspired his acting on stage, and his love of Gene Kelly inspired his successful choreography, leading to Guildford Grammar's 60-member team's "first all-boy victory" at the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge. Heath's and Kate's other siblings include two half-sisters, Ashleigh Bell (b. 1989), his mother's daughter with her second husband and his stepfather Roger Bell, and Olivia Ledger (b. 1997), his father's daughter with second wife and his stepmother Emma Brown.
Career
1990s
After sitting for early graduation exams at 16, Ledger left school to pursue an acting career. With Trevor DiCarlo, his best friend since he was three years old, Ledger drove across Australia from Perth to Sydney, returning to Perth to take a small role in ''Clowning Around'' (1992), the first part of a two-part television series, and to work on the TV series ''Sweat'' (1996), in which he played a gay cyclist. From 1993 to 1997, Ledger also had parts in the Perth television series ''Ship to Shore'' (1993); in the short-lived Fox Broadcasting Company fantasy-drama ''Roar'' (1997); in ''Home and Away'' (1997), one of Australia's most successful television shows; and in the Australian film ''Blackrock'' (1997), his feature film debut. In 1999, he starred in the teen comedy ''10 Things I Hate About You'' and in the acclaimed Australian crime film ''Two Hands'', directed by Gregor Jordan.
2000s
From 2000 to 2005, he starred in supporting roles as Gabriel Martin, the eldest son of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), in ''The Patriot'' (2000), and as Sonny Grotowski, the son of Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton), in ''Monster's Ball'' (2000); and in leading or title roles in ''A Knight's Tale'' (2001), ''The Four Feathers'' (2002), ''The Order'' (2003), ''Ned Kelly'' (2003), ''Casanova'' (2005), ''The Brothers Grimm'' (2005), and ''Lords of Dogtown'' (2005). In 2001, he won a ShoWest Award as "Male Star of Tomorrow".Ledger received "Best Actor of 2005" awards from both the New York Film Critics Circle and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle for his performance in ''Brokeback Mountain'', in which he plays Wyoming ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, who has a love affair with aspiring rodeo rider Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He also received a nomination for Golden Globe Best Actor in a Drama and a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor for this performance, making him, at age 26, the ninth-youngest nominee for a Best Actor Oscar. In ''The New York Times'' review of the film, critic Stephen Holden writes: "Both Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhaal make this anguished love story physically palpable. Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn." In a review in ''Rolling Stone'', Peter Travers states: "Ledger's magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides. Ledger doesn't just know how Ennis moves, speaks and listens; he knows how he breathes. To see him inhale the scent of a shirt hanging in Jack's closet is to take measure of the pain of love lost."
After ''Brokeback Mountain,'' Ledger costarred with fellow Australian Abbie Cornish in the 2006 Australian film ''Candy,'' an adaptation of the 1998 novel ''Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction,'' as young heroin addicts in love attempting to break free of their addiction, whose mentor is played by Geoffrey Rush; for his performance as sometime poet Dan, Ledger was nominated for three "Best Actor" awards, including one of the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards, which both Cornish and Rush won in their categories. Shortly after the release of ''Candy,'' Ledger was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As one of six actors embodying different aspects of the life of Bob Dylan in the 2007 film ''I'm Not There,'' directed by Todd Haynes, Ledger "won praise for his portrayal of 'Robbie [Clark],' a moody, counter-culture actor who represents the romanticist side of Dylan, but says accolades are never his motivation." Posthumously, on 23 February 2008, he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the film's ensemble cast, its director, and its casting director.
In his next to last film performance, Ledger played the Joker in ''The Dark Knight'', directed by Christopher Nolan, first released, in Australia, on 16 July 2008, nearly six months after his death. While still working on the film, in London, Ledger told Sarah Lyall, in their interview published in the ''New York Times'' on 4 November 2007, that he viewed ''The Dark Knight'''s Joker as a "psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."
To prepare for the role, Ledger told ''Empire'', "I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices – it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath – someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts"; after reiterating his view of the character as "just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown", he added that Nolan had given him "free rein" to create the role, which he found "fun, because there are no real boundaries to what the Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke." For his work in ''The Dark Knight,'' Ledger won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, his family accepting it on his behalf, as well as numerous other posthumous awards including the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, which Christopher Nolan accepted for him.
At the time of his death, on 22 January 2008, Ledger had completed about half of the work for his final film performance as Tony in ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.''
Directorial work
Ledger had aspirations to become a film director and had made some music videos, which director Todd Haynes praised highly in his tribute to Ledger upon accepting the ISP Robert Altman Award, which Ledger posthumously shared, on 23 February 2008. In 2006 Ledger directed music videos for the title track on Australian hip-hop artist N'fa's CD debut solo album ''Cause An Effect'' and for the single "Seduction Is Evil (She's Hot)". Later that year, Ledger inaugurated a new record label, Masses Music, with singer Ben Harper and also directed a music video for Harper's song "Morning Yearning".At a news conference at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, Ledger spoke of his desire to make a documentary film about the British singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1974, at the age of 26, from an overdose of an antidepressant. Ledger created and acted in a music video set to Drake's recording of the singer's 1974 song about depression "Black Eyed Dog"—a title "inspired by Winston Churchill’s descriptive term for depression" (''black dog''); it was shown publicly only twice, first at the Bumbershoot Festival, in Seattle, held from 1 to 3 September 2007; and secondly as part of "A Place To Be: A Celebration of Nick Drake", with its screening of ''Their Place: Reflections On Nick Drake,'' "a series of short filmed homages to Nick Drake" (including Ledger's), sponsored by American Cinematheque, at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, in Hollywood, on 5 October 2007. After Ledger's death, his music video for "Black Eyed Dog" was shown on the Internet and excerpted in news clips distributed via YouTube.
He was working with Scottish screenwriter and producer Allan Scott on an adaptation of the 1983 novel ''The Queen's Gambit'' by Walter Tevis, for which he was planning both to act and to direct, which would have been his first feature film as a director. Ledger's final directorial work, in which he shot two music videos before his death, premiered in 2009. The music videos, completed for Modest Mouse and Grace Woodroofe, include an animated feature for Modest Mouse's song, "King Rat", and the Woodroofe video for her cover of David Bowie's "Quicksand". The "King Rat" video premiered on 4 August 2009.
Personal life
Ledger was an avid chess player, winning Western Australia's junior chess championship at the age of 10. As an adult, he often played with other chess enthusiasts at Washington Square Park. Allan Scott's film adaptation of the chess-related 1983 novel ''The Queen's Gambit'', by Walter Tevis, which at the time of his death he was planning to both perform in and direct, would have been Ledger's first feature film as a director.Among his most notable romantic relationships, Ledger dated actress Heather Graham for several months in 2000 to 2001, and he had a serious on-and-off-again long-term relationship with actress Naomi Watts, whom he met during the filming of ''Ned Kelly'' and with whom he lived at times from 2002 to 2004. According to the 10th Anniversary commentary by his co-stars for "10 Things I Hate About You", he and Julia Stiles began dating during the film and dated for several years. In the summer of 2004, he met and began dating actress Michelle Williams on the set of ''Brokeback Mountain'', and their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born on 28 October 2005 in New York City. Matilda Rose's godparents are Ledger's ''Brokeback'' co-star Jake Gyllenhaal and Williams's ''Dawson's Creek'' castmate Busy Philipps. Ledger sold his residence in Bronte, New South Wales, and moved to the United States, where he shared an apartment with Williams, in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, from 2005 to 2007. In September 2007, Williams' father confirmed to Sydney's ''Daily Telegraph'' that Ledger and Williams had ended their relationship. After his break-up with Williams, in late 2007 and early 2008, the tabloid press and other public media linked Ledger romantically with supermodels Helena Christensen and Gemma Ward and with former child star, actress Mary-Kate Olsen.
Press controversies
Ledger's relationship with the press in Australia was sometimes turbulent, and it led to his relocating to New York City. In 2004 he strongly denied press reports alleging that "he spat at journalists on the Sydney set of the film ''Candy''," or that one of his relatives had done so later, outside Ledger's Sydney home. On 13 January 2006, "Several members of the paparazzi retaliated ... squirting Ledger and Williams with water pistols on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of ''Brokeback Mountain.''"After his performance on stage at the 2005 Screen Actors Guild Awards, when he had giggled in presenting ''Brokeback Mountain'' as a nominee for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, the ''Los Angeles Times'' referred to his presentation as an "apparent gay spoof." Ledger called the ''Times'' later and explained that his levity resulted from stage fright, saying that he had been told that he would be presenting the award only minutes earlier; he stated: "I am so sorry and I apologise for my nervousness. I would be absolutely horrified if my stage fright was misinterpreted as a lack of respect for the film, the topic and for the amazing filmmakers."
Ledger was quoted in January 2006 in Melbourne's ''Herald Sun'' as saying that he heard that West Virginia had banned ''Brokeback Mountain'', which it had not; actually, a cinema in Utah had banned the film. He had also referred mistakenly to West Virginia's having had lynchings as recently as the 1980s, but state scholars disputed his statement, observing that, whereas lynchings did occur in Alabama as recently as 1981, according to "the director of state archives and history" quoted in ''The Charleston Gazette'', "The last documented lynching in West Virginia took place in Lewisburg in 1931."
Sleep difficulties and other work-related health issues
In their ''New York Times'' interview, published on 4 November 2007, Ledger told Sarah Lyall that his recently completed roles in ''I'm Not There'' (2007) and ''The Dark Knight'' (2008) had taken a toll on his ability to sleep: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. ... I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." At that time, he told Lyall that he had taken two Ambien pills, after taking just one had not sufficed, and those left him in "a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing."Prior to his return to New York from his last film assignment, in London, in January 2008, while he was apparently suffering from some kind of respiratory illness, he reportedly complained to his co-star Christopher Plummer that he was continuing to have difficulty sleeping and taking pills to help with that problem: "Confirming earlier reports that Ledger hadn't been feeling well on set, Plummer says, 'we all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath's went on and I don't think he dealt with it immediately with the antibiotics.... I think what he did have was the walking pneumonia.' [...] On top of that, 'He was saying all the time, "dammit, I can't sleep"... and he was taking all these pills to help him.' "
In talking with ''Interview'' magazine after his death, Ledger's former fiancée Michelle Williams "also confirmed reports the actor had experienced trouble sleeping. "For as long as I'd known him, he had bouts with insomnia. He had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning turning – always turning."
Death
At about 2:45 p.m. (EST), on 22 January 2008, Ledger was found unconscious in his bed by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, in his fourth-floor loft apartment at 421 Broome Street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.According to the police, Wolozin, who had arrived early for a 3:00 pm appointment with Ledger, called Ledger's friend, actress Mary-Kate Olsen, for help. Olsen, who was in California, directed a New York City private security guard to go to the scene. At 3:26 pm, "[fewer] than 15 minutes after Wolozin first saw him in bed and only a few moments" after first calling Olsen and then calling her a second time to express her fears that Ledger was dead, Wolozin telephoned 9-1-1 "to say that Mr. Ledger was not breathing." At the urging of the 9-1-1 operator, Wolozin administered CPR, which was unsuccessful in reviving him.
Emergency medical technicians (EMT) arrived seven minutes later, at 3:33 pm ("at almost exactly the same moment as a private security guard summoned by Ms. Olsen"), but were also unable to revive him. At 3:36 pm, Ledger was pronounced dead and his body removed from the apartment.
Memorial tributes and services
As the news of Ledger's death became public, throughout the night of 22 January 2008, and the next day, media crews, mourners, fans, and other onlookers began gathering outside his apartment building, with some leaving flowers or other memorial tributes.The next day, at 10:50 a.m., Australian time, Ledger's parents and sister appeared outside his mother's house in Applecross, a riverside suburb of Perth, and read a short statement to the media expressing their grief and desire for privacy. Within the next few days, memorial tributes were communicated by family members, Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, Deputy Premier of Western Australia Eric Ripper, Warner Bros. (distributor of ''The Dark Knight''), and thousands of Ledger's fans around the world.
Several actors made statements expressing their sorrow at Ledger's death, including Daniel Day-Lewis, who dedicated his Screen Actors Guild Award to Ledger, saying that he was inspired by Ledger's acting; Day-Lewis praised Ledger's performances in ''Monster's Ball'' and ''Brokeback Mountain'', describing the latter as "unique, perfect." Verne Troyer, who was working with Ledger on ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' at the time of his death, had a heart shape, an exact duplicate of a symbol that Ledger scrawled on a piece of paper with his email address, tattooed on his hand in remembrance of Ledger because Ledger "had made such an impression on [him]."
On 1 February, in her first public statement after Ledger's death, Michelle Williams expressed her heartbreak and described Ledger's spirit as surviving in their daughter.
After attending private memorial ceremonies in Los Angeles, Ledger's family members returned with his body to Perth.
On 9 February, a memorial service attended by several hundred invited guests was held at Penrhos College, garnering considerable press attention; afterward Ledger's body was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery, followed by a private service attended by only 10 closest family members, with his ashes to be interred later in a family plot at Karrakatta Cemetery, next to two of his grandparents. Later that night, his family and friends gathered for a wake on Cottesloe Beach.
Autopsy and toxicological analysis
After two weeks of intense media speculation about possible causes of Ledger's death, on 6 February 2008, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York released its conclusions, based on an initial autopsy of 23 January 2008, and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis. The report concludes, in part, "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." It states definitively: "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications." The medications found in the toxicological analysis are commonly prescribed in the United States for insomnia, anxiety, depression, pain, and/or common cold symptoms. Although the Associated Press and other media reported that "police estimate Ledger's time of death between 1 pm and 2:45 pm" (on 22 January 2008), the Medical Examiner's Office announced that it would not be publicly disclosing the official estimated time of death. The official announcement of the cause and manner of Ledger's death heightened concerns about the growing problems of prescription drug abuse or misuse and Combined Drug Intoxication (CDI).
Federal investigation
Late in February 2008, a DEA investigation of medical professionals relating to Ledger's death exonerated two American physicians, who practice in Los Angeles and Houston, of any wrongdoing, determining that "the doctors in question had prescribed Ledger other medications – not the pills that killed him."On 4 August 2008, citing unnamed sources, Murray Weiss, of the ''New York Post'', first reported that Mary-Kate Olsen had "refused [through her attorney, Michael C. Miller] to be interviewed by federal investigators probing the accidental drug death of her close friend Heath Ledger ... [without] ... immunity from prosecution," and that, when asked about the matter, Miller at first declined further comment. Later that day, after the police confirmed the gist of Weiss's account to the Associated Press, Miller issued a statement denying that Olsen supplied Ledger with the drugs causing his death and asserting that she did not know their source." In his statement, Miller said specifically: "Despite tabloid speculation, Mary-Kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do with the drugs found in Heath Ledger's home or his body, and she does not know where he obtained them," emphasizing that media "descriptions [attributed to an unidentified source] are incomplete and inaccurate."
After a flurry of further media speculation, on 6 August 2008, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan closed its investigation into Ledger's death without filing any charges and rendering moot its subpoena of Olsen. With the clearing of the two doctors and Olsen, and the closing of the investigation because the prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office "don't believe there's a viable target," it is still not known how Ledger obtained the oxycodone and hydrocodone in the lethal drug combination that killed him.
Eleven months after Ledger's death, on 23 December 2008, Jake Coyle, writing for the Associated Press, announced that "Heath Ledger's death was voted 2008's top entertainment story by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by The Associated Press," as it resulted in: "shock and confusion" about "the circumstances", the ruling of the death as an accident caused by "a toxic combination of prescription drugs", and the continuation of "his legacy... [i]n a roundly acclaimed performance as the Joker in the year's biggest box office hit ''The Dark Knight''."
Controversy over will
After Ledger's death, in response to some press reports about his will, filed in New York City on 28 February 2008, and his daughter's access to his financial legacy, his father, Kim Ledger, said that he considered the financial well-being of his granddaughter Matilda Rose the Ledger family's "absolute priority" and her mother, Michelle Williams, "an integral part of our family", adding "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be". Some of Ledger's relatives may be challenging the legal status of his will signed in 2003, prior to his involvement with Williams and the birth of their daughter and not updated to include them, which divides half of his estate between his parents and half among his siblings; they claim that there is a second, unsigned will, which leaves most of that estate to Matilda Rose. Williams' father, Larry Williams, has also joined the controversy about Ledger's will as it was filed in New York City soon after his death.On 31 March 2008, stimulating another controversy pertaining to Ledger's estate, Gemma Jones and Janet Fife-Yeomans published an "Exclusive" report, in ''The Daily Telegraph'', citing Ledger's uncle Haydn Ledger and other family members, who "believe the late actor may have fathered a secret love child" when he was 17, and stating that "If it is confirmed that Ledger is the girl's biological father, it could split his multi-million dollar estate between ... Matilda Rose ... and his secret love child." A few days later, reports citing telephone interviews with Ledger's uncles Haydn and Mike Ledger and the family of the other little girl, published in ''OK!'' and ''Us Weekly'', "denied" those "claims", with Ledger's uncles and the little girl's mother and stepfather describing them as unfounded "rumors" distorted and exaggerated by the media.
On 15 July 2008, Fife-Yeomans reported further, via Australian ''News Limited,'' that "While Ledger left everything to his parents and three sisters, it is understood they have legal advice that under WA law, Matilda Rose is entitled to the lion's share" of his estate; its executors, Kim Ledger's former business colleague Robert John Collins and Geraldton accountant William Mark Dyson, "have applied for probate in the West Australian Supreme Court in Perth, advertising "for 'creditors and other persons' having claims on the estate to lodge them by 11 August 2008 ... to ensure all debts are paid before the estate is distributed...." According to this report by Fife-Yeomans, earlier reports citing Ledger's uncles, and subsequent reports citing Ledger's father, which do not include his actual posthumous earnings, "his entire fortune, mostly held in Australian trusts, is likely to be worth up to [A]$20 million."
On 27 September 2008, Ledger's father Kim stated that "the family has agreed to leave the [US]US$16.3 million fortune to Matilda," adding: "There is no claim. Our family has gifted everything to Matilda." In October 2008, ''Forbes.com'' estimated Ledger's annual earnings from October 2007 through October 2008 – including his posthumous share of ''The Dark Knight'''s gross income of "[US]US$991 million in box office revenue worldwide" –– as "[US]US$20 million."
Posthumous films and awards
Ledger's death affected the marketing campaign for Christopher Nolan's ''The Dark Knight'' (2008) and also both the production and marketing of Terry Gilliam's film ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'', with both directors intending to celebrate and pay tribute to his work in these films. Although Gilliam temporarily suspended production on the latter film, he expressed determination to "salvage" it, perhaps using computer-generated imagery (CGI), and dedicated it to Ledger. In February 2008, as a "memorial tribute to the man many have called one of the best actors of his generation," Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell signed on to take over Ledger's role, becoming multiple incarnations of his character, Tony, transformed in this "magical re-telling of the Faust story," and the three actors have donated their fees for the film to Ledger's and Williams' daughter.Speaking of editing ''The Dark Knight,'' on which Ledger had completed his work in October 2007, Nolan recalled, "It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day. ... But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish." All of Ledger's scenes appear as he completed them in the filming; in editing the film, Nolan added no "digital effects" to alter Ledger's actual performance posthumously. Nolan dedicated the film in part to Ledger's memory, as well as to the memory of technician Conway Wickliffe, who was killed during a car accident while preparing one of the film's stunts.
Released in July 2008, ''The Dark Knight'' broke several box office records and received both popular and critical accolades, especially with regard to Ledger's performance as the Joker. Even film critic David Denby, who does not praise the film overall in his pre-release review in ''The New Yorker'', evaluates Ledger's work highly, describing his performance as both "sinister and frightening" and Ledger as "mesmerising in every scene", concluding: "His performance is a heroic, unsettling final act: this young actor looked into the abyss." Attempting to dispel widespread speculations that Ledger's performance as the Joker had in any way led to his death (as Denby and others suggest), Ledger's co-star and friend Christian Bale, who played opposite him as Batman, has stressed that, as an actor, Ledger greatly enjoyed meeting the challenges of creating that role, an experience that Ledger himself described as "the most fun I’ve ever had, or probably ever will have, playing a character."
Ledger received numerous awards for his Joker role in ''The Dark Knight''. On 10 November 2008, he was nominated for two People's Choice Awards related to his work on the film, "Best Ensemble Cast" and "Best Onscreen Match-Up" (shared with Christian Bale), and Ledger won an award for "Match-Up" in the ceremony aired live on CBS in January 2009.
On 11 December 2008, it was announced that Ledger had been nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for his performance as the Joker in ''The Dark Knight''; he subsequently won the award at the 66th Golden Globe Awards ceremony telecast on NBC on 11 January 2009 with ''Dark Knight'' director Christopher Nolan accepting on his behalf.
Film critics, co-stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and Michael Caine and many of Ledger's colleagues in the film community joined Bale in calling for and predicting a nomination for the 2008 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in recognition of Ledger's achievement in ''The Dark Knight.'' Ledger's subsequent nomination was announced on 22 January 2009, the anniversary of his death; Ledger went on to win the award, becoming the second person to win a posthumous Academy Award for acting, after fellow Australian actor Peter Finch, who won for 1976's ''Network''. The award was accepted by Ledger's family.
Filmography
Television
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | ''Ship to Shore'' | Cyclist | |
| 1996 | Snowy Bowles | Series regular | |
| ''Home and Away'' | Scott Irwin | Guest | |
| Conor | Leading role |
Film
Music videos
See also
References
Additional resources
External links
Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1979 births Category:2008 deaths Category:Accidental deaths in New York Category:Actors from Western Australia Category:Australian expatriate actors in the United States Category:Australian film actors Category:Australian music video directors Category:Australian television actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Category:Drug-related deaths in New York Category:People educated at Guildford Grammar School Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Perth, Western Australia Category:Rock Eisteddfod Challenge participants Category:Saturn Award winners
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| birth date | June 09, 1963 |
|---|---|
| birth place | Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S. |
| birth name | John Christopher Depp II |
| spouse | Lori Anne Allison (1983–1986) |
| partner | Sherilyn Fenn (1985–1988)Winona Ryder (1989–1993)Kate Moss (1994–1998)Vanessa Paradis (1998–present) |
| children | Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 1999)John Christopher "Jack" Depp III (born 2002) |
| years active | 1984–present |
| occupation | Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, musician }} |
Depp has gained acclaim for his portrayals of people such as Edward D. Wood, Jr., in ''Ed Wood'', Joseph D. Pistone in ''Donnie Brasco'', Hunter S. Thompson in ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'', George Jung in ''Blow'', and the bank robber John Dillinger in Michael Mann's ''Public Enemies''. Films featuring Depp have grossed over $3.1 billion at the United States box office and over $7.6 billion worldwide. He has been nominated for top awards many times, winning the Best Actor Awards from the Golden Globes for ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' and from the Screen Actors Guild for ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''. He also has garnered a sex symbol status in American cinema, being twice named as the Sexiest man alive by People magazine in 2003 and 2009.
Early life
Childhood
Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, the son of John Christopher Depp, Sr., a civil engineer, and his wife, the former Betty Sue Wells, a waitress. He has one brother, Daniel, who is a novelist, and two sisters, Christie (now his personal manager) and Debbie. The Depp family in the United States began with a French Huguenot immigrant, Pierre Deppe or Dieppe, who settled in Virginia around 1700, part of a refugee colony situated above the falls on the James River. The actor has also surmised that he is part Native American, saying in 2011, "I guess I have some Native American [in me] somewhere down the line. My great-grandmother was quite a bit of Native American, she grew up Cherokee or maybe Creek Indian. Makes sense in terms of coming from Kentucky, which is rife with Cherokee and Creek." More recently a hereditary connection between Depp and Queen Elizabeth II was discovered possibly making him her twentieth cousin.The family moved frequently during Depp's childhood, and he and his siblings lived in more than 20 different locations, settling in Miramar, Florida, in 1970. In 1978, Depp's parents divorced. His mother married, as her second husband, Robert Palmer (died 2000), whom Depp called "an inspiration to me". He engaged in self-harm as a child, due to the stress of dealing with family problems. He has seven or eight self-inflicted scars. In a 1993 interview, he explained his self-injury by saying, "My body is a journal in a way. It's like what sailors used to do, where every tattoo meant something, a specific time in your life when you make a mark on yourself, whether you do it yourself with a knife or with a professional tattoo artist".
1980s
With the gift of a guitar from his mother when he was twelve, Depp began playing in various garage bands. His first band was in honor of his girlfriend, Meredith. A year after his parents' divorce, Depp dropped out of high school to become a rock musician. He attempted to go back to school two weeks later, but the principal told him to follow his dream of being a musician. He played with The Kids, a band that enjoyed modest local success. The Kids set out together for Los Angeles in pursuit of a record deal, changing their name to Six Gun Method, but the group split up before signing a record deal. Depp subsequently collaborated with the band Rock City Angels and co-wrote their song "Mary", which appeared on Rock City Angels' debut for Geffen Records titled ''Young Man's Blues''.On December 24, 1983, Depp married Lori Anne Allison, a makeup artist and sister of his band's bass player and singer. During Depp's marriage, his wife worked as a makeup artist, while he worked a variety of odd jobs, including a telemarketer for pens. His wife introduced him to actor Nicolas Cage, who advised Depp to pursue an acting career. Depp and his wife divorced in 1985. Depp later dated and was engaged to actress Sherilyn Fenn (whom he met on the set of the 1985 short film ''Dummies''). Both Fenn and Depp auditioned for the 1986 film ''Thrashin''' and they were both cast, with Depp being chosen by the film's director to star as the lead, which would have been Depp's second major role. Depp was later turned down by the film's producer, who rejected the director's decision.
Career
Television
Depp starred in a lead role on the Fox television series, ''21 Jump Street'', which premiered in 1987. Depp accepted this role to work with actor Frederic Forrest, who inspired him. Depp's long time friend Sal Jenco joined the cast as a semi-co-star as the janitor named Blowfish. The series' success turned Depp into a popular teen idol during the late 1980s. He felt "forced into the role of product." Depp decided to appear only in films that he felt were right for him.
Film roles
Depp's first major role was in the 1984 classic horror film ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'', playing the boyfriend of the heroine, Nancy Thompson (played by Heather Langenkamp) and one of Freddy Krueger's victims. Depp was the first choice and was cast to star in the 1986 American skater drama film ''Thrashin''', chosen and cast by the director but ultimately rejected by the film's producer. In 1986, he appeared in a secondary role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's ''Platoon''. In 1990, he undertook the quirky title role of the Tim Burton film, ''Edward Scissorhands''. The film's success began his long association with Burton.Depp, a fan and long-time friend of writer Hunter S. Thompson, played a version of Thompson (named Raoul Duke) in 1998's ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'', based on the writer's pseudobiographical novel of the same name. Depp accompanied Thompson as his road manager on one of the author's last book tours. In 2006, Depp contributed a foreword to ''Gonzo: Photographs by Hunter S. Thompson'', a posthumous biography published by ammobooks.com. In 2008, he narrated the documentary film ''Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson''. Depp paid for most of Thompson's memorial event, complete with fireworks and the shooting of Thompson's ashes by a cannon, in Aspen, Colorado, where Thompson lived. He returned to Thompson's work with a film adaptation of the novel ''The Rum Diary'', released in 2011.
Critics have described Depp's roles as characters who are "iconic loners." Depp has noted this period of his career was full of "studio defined failures" and films that were "box office poison," but he thought the studios never understood the films and did not do a good job of marketing. Depp has chosen roles which he found interesting, rather than those he thought would succeed at the box office. The 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' was a major success, in which Depp's performance as the suave pirate Captain Jack Sparrow was highly praised. Studio bosses were more ambivalent at first, but the character became popular with the movie-going public. According to a survey taken by Fandango, Depp was a major draw for audiences. The film's director, Gore Verbinski, has said that Depp's character closely resembles the actor's personality, but Depp said he modeled the character after Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Depp was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.
In 2004, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, for playing Scottish author J. M. Barrie in the film ''Finding Neverland''. Depp next starred as Willy Wonka in the 2005 film ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', a major success at the box office and earning him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
Depp returned to the role of Jack Sparrow for the sequel ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', which opened on July 7, 2006 and grossed $135.5 million in the first three days of its U.S. release, breaking a box office record of the highest weekend tally. The next sequel to ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''At World's End'', was released May 24, 2007. Depp has said that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me", and he wants to play the role in further sequels. Depp voiced Sparrow in the video game, ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow''. Johnny Depp's swashbuckling sword talents as developed for the character of Jack Sparrow, were highlighted in the documentary film ''Reclaiming the Blade''. Within the film, Swordmaster Bob Anderson shared his experiences working with Depp on the choreography for ''The Curse of the Black Pearl''. Anderson described in the film Depp's ability as an actor to pick up the sword to be "about as good as you can get."
Depp and Gore Verbinski were executive producers of the album ''Rogues Gallery, Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys.'' Depp played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Depp thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and praised Tim Burton for his "unwavering trust and support."
Depp played the former Heath Ledger character in the 2009 film, ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell. All three actors gave their salaries from the film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda. He portrayed the Mad Hatter in Burton's ''Alice in Wonderland'', and the titular character in ''Rango''.
Future roles
Depp will appear in a film version of writer Hunter S. Thompson's book, ''The Rum Diary'', portraying the main character, Paul Kemp. In 2007, Depp accepted Warner Bros.' proposal to make a film of the gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', a series that aired on ABC from 1966 to 1971. He had been a fan as a child. Depp and Graham King will produce the movie with David Kennedy, who ran Dan Curtis Productions inc. until Curtis died in 2006. Depp will also produce ''Hugo'', based on the novel ''The Invention of Hugo Cabret'', film a documentary about Keith Richards, and have a cameo appearance in ''Jack & Jill''. Depp will make a cameo appearance in a film adaptation of ''21 Jump Street'', the show he starred in during the late 1980s. Depp will star in and produce an adaptation of the comic book ''Rex Mundi''. Depp will collaborate with ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' director Rob Marshall again to create a remake of ''The Thin Man''. Depp also showed interest in starring in the next ''Sin City'' films, with Robert Rodriguez wanting him to star as Wallace. Depp was going to star as Tonto in an upcoming ''Lone Ranger'' film, but the project has currently been shelved due to budgetary concerns as well as a lack-lustre response to a recently-released Western-genre film (''Cowboys & Aliens''). Depp plans to star as Carl Kolchak in the project ''Night Stalker'', and has bought rights to the comic book ''The Vault''.
Collaboration with Tim Burton
Depp has collaborated with director and close friend Tim Burton in seven films, beginning with ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), opposite Winona Ryder and Vincent Price. His next role with Burton was in the 1994 film, ''Ed Wood''. Depp later said that "within 10 minutes of hearing about the project, I was committed." At the time, the actor was depressed about films and filmmaking. This part gave him a "chance to stretch out and have some fun"; he said working with Landau "rejuvenated my love for acting".Depp did not work with Burton again until 2005 in ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', in which he played Willy Wonka. Depp modeled the character's hair on Anna Wintour. The film was a box office success and received positive critical reception. Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 film, initially criticized this version. ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' was released in July, followed by ''Corpse Bride'', for which Depp voiced the character Victor Van Dort, in September.
''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'' (2007) followed, bringing Depp his second major award win, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy as well as his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Burton first gave him an original cast recording of the 1979 stage musical in 2000. Although not a fan of the musical genre, Depp grew to like the tale's treatment. He cited Peter Lorre in ''Mad Love'' (1935) as his main influence for the role, and practiced the songs his character would perform while filming ''Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''. Although he had performed in musical groups, Depp was initially unsure that he would be able to sustain Stephen Sondheim's lyrics. Depp recorded demos and worked with Bruce Witkin to shape his vocals without a qualified voice coach. In the ''DVD Reviews'' section, ''Entertainment Weekly'''s Chris Nashawaty gave the film an A minus, stating, "Depp's soaring voice makes you wonder what other tricks he's been hiding... Watching Depp's barber wield his razors... it's hard not to be reminded of ''Edward Scissorhands'' frantically shaping hedges into animal topiaries 18 years ago... and all of the twisted beauty we would've missed out on had [Burton and Depp] never met." In his introduction to ''Burton on Burton'', a book of interviews with the director, Depp called Burton "...a brother, a friend,...and [a] brave soul". The next Depp-Burton collaboration was ''Alice in Wonderland'' (2010). Depp played the Mad Hatter alongside Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Alan Rickman.
Production company
In 2004, Depp formed his production company Infinitum Nihil to develop projects where he will serve as actor and/or producer. Depp is the founder and CEO, while his sister, Christi Dembrowski, serves as president. The company's first production came in 2011 with ''The Rum Diary'', adapted from the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. The film is written and directed by Bruce Robinson. Also in 2011, ''Hugo'', directed by Martin Scorsese, was released. In 2012, they will release ''Dark Shadows'', directed by Tim Burton.
Other interests
Music
As a guitar player, Depp has played slide guitar on the Oasis song "Fade In-Out" (from ''Be Here Now,'' 1997), as well as on "Fade Away (Warchild Version)" (b-side of the "Don't Go Away" single). He also played acoustic guitar in the movie ''Chocolat'' and on the soundtrack to ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico.'' He is a friend of The Pogues' Shane MacGowan, and performed on MacGowan's first solo album. He was also a member of P, a group featuring Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones. He has appeared in Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' music video "Into the Great Wide Open". He made a cameo as the Mad Hatter in the music video for Avril Lavigne's "Alice" in 2010.
Winemaker and restaurateur
Depp and Paradis grow grapes and have wine making facilities in their vineyard in Plan-de-la-Tour north of Saint-Tropez. He is known for a fondness of French wines: among Depp's favorites are the Bordeaux wines Château Calon-Ségur, Château Cheval Blanc and Château Pétrus, and the Burgundy wine Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Interviewed in ''Madame Figaro'', he stated, "With those wines, you reach nirvana". Along with Sean Penn, John Malkovich and Mick Hucknall, Depp co-owned the Parisian restaurant-bar Man Ray, located near the Champs-Élysées.
Personal life
Family and relationships
Depp was engaged to actress Winona Ryder for three years beginning in July 1990. They met at the ''Great Balls of Fire!'' premiere in June 1989; two months later they began dating. The relationship was highly publicized and received much scrutiny by the media and tabloid press.Since 1998, following a four year relationship with British supermodel Kate Moss, Depp has had a relationship with Vanessa Paradis, a French actress and singer whom he met while filming ''The Ninth Gate''.
The couple have two children. Daughter Lily-Rose Melody Depp was born May 27, 1999, and son John "Jack" Christopher Depp III was born April 9, 2002. To thank Great Ormond Street Hospital, Depp visited the hospital in November 2007 dressed in his Captain Jack Sparrow outfit and spent 4 hours reading stories to the children. In 2008 he donated £1 million (about $2 million) to the hospital.
Although Depp has not remarried, he has stated that having children has given him "real foundation, a real strong place to stand in life, in work, in everything." "You can't plan the kind of deep love that results in children. Fatherhood was not a conscious decision. It was part of the wonderful ride I was on. It was destiny; kismet. All the math finally worked." The family divides its time between their home in Meudon, located in the suburbs of Paris, Los Angeles, an island he bought in The Bahamas, and their villa in Le Plan-de-la-Tour, a small town 20 km from Saint-Tropez, in the south of France. Depp also acquired a vineyard estate in the Plan-de-la-Tour area in 2007.
Legal issues
In 1994, Depp was arrested and questioned by police for allegedly causing serious damage to a New York City hotel suite.He was arrested again in 1999 for brawling with paparazzi outside a restaurant while dining in London with Paradis.
Tattoos
Depp has around 13 tattoos, many of them signifying important persons or events in his life. They include a Native American in profile and a ribbon reading "Wino Forever" (originally "Winona Forever", altered after his breakup with Winona Ryder) on his right biceps, "Lily-Rose" (his daughter's name) over his heart, "Betty Sue" (his mother's name) on his left biceps, and a sparrow flying over water with the word "Jack" (his son's name; the sparrow is flying towards him rather than away from him as it is in ''Pirates of the Caribbean'') on his right forearm.
Unannounced appearance on set
On October 8, 2010, Depp made an unannounced appearance at a London Primary School near where he was filming scenes for ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. He turned up dressed as his character Jack Sparrow after receiving a letter from a pupil asking for his help with a class mutiny.
Controversy
Comments on U.S.
In 2003, Depp's comments about the United States appeared in Germany's ''Stern'' magazine: "America is dumb, is something like a dumb puppy that has big teeth — that can bite and hurt you, aggressive." Although he later asserted that the magazine misquoted him and the quotation was taken out of context, Stern stood by its story, as did CNN.com in its coverage of the interview. CNN added his remark that he would like his children "to see America as a toy, a broken toy. Investigate it a little, check it out, get this feeling and then get out." The July 17, 2006 edition of ''Newsweek'' reprinted the "dumb puppy" quotation, verbatim, in the context of a Letter to the Magazine. Depp has also disagreed with subsequent media reports that he says paint him as a "European wannabe", saying that he likes the anonymity of living in France and his simpler life there.
Awards and nominations
Some of the awards that Depp has won include honors from the London Film Critics Circle (1996), Russian Guild of Film Critics (1998), Screen Actors Guild Awards (2004) and a Golden Globe for Best Actor. At the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, he won the award for "Best Villain" for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd and "Best Comedic Performance" for Jack Sparrow. Depp has been nominated for three Academy Awards, in 2004 for ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'', in 2005 for ''Finding Neverland'', and in 2008 for ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. Depp won his first Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in 2008.
Filmography
| + | |||||
| ! Year | ! Title | ! Role | Notes | ! Budget | ! Gross |
| 1984 | '''' | $1.8 million | $25,504,513 | ||
| 1985 | ''Private Resort'' | Jack Marshall | N/A | $331,816 | |
| 1986 | Specialist Gator Lerner | $6 million | $138,530,565 | ||
| 1990 | ''Cry-Baby'' | Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker | $12 million | $8,266,343 | |
| 1990 | ''Edward Scissorhands'' | Edward Scissorhands | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | $20 million | $86,024,005 |
| 1991 | ''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'' | Teen on TV | Cameo (as Oprah Noodlemantra) | $11 million | $34,872,033 |
| 1993 | ''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' | Gilbert Grape | $11 million | $10,032,765 | |
| 1993 | ''Benny & Joon'' | Sam | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | N/A | $23,261,580 |
| 1993 | ''Arizona Dream'' | Axel Blackmar | N/A | $112,547 | |
| 1994 | Edward D. Wood, Jr. | London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor also for ''Don Juan DeMarco''Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | $18 million | $5,887,457 | |
| 1995 | Gene Watson | N/A | $8,175,346 | ||
| 1995 | ''Dead Man'' | William Blake | $9 million | $1,037,847 | |
| 1995 | ''Don Juan DeMarco'' | Don Juan/John R. DeMarco | $25 million | $68,792,531 | |
| 1996 | Himself | N/A | N/A | ||
| 1997 | Donnie Brasco/Joseph D. Pistone | $35 million | $124,909,762 | ||
| 1997 | '''' | Raphael | Nominated—Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival) | N/A | N/A |
| 1998 | Raoul Duke | playing Hunter S. Thompson | $18.5 million | $10,680,275 | |
| 1998 | ''L.A. Without a Map'' | Himself/William Blake | Cameo | N/A | N/A |
| 1999 | Ichabod Crane | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor | $70 million | $206,071,502 | |
| 1999 | '''' | Spencer Armacost | $75 million | $19,598,588 | |
| 1999 | '''' | Dean Corso | $38 million | $58,401,898 | |
| 2000 | Roux | Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | $25 million | $152,699,946 | |
| 2000 | Lt. Victor, Bon Bon | N/A | $8,527,517 | ||
| 2001 | Frederick Abberline | Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor | $35 million | $74,558,115 | |
| 2000 | '''' | Cesar | (Limited release) | $1,790,840 | |
| 2001 | George Jung | $53 million | $83,282,296 | ||
| 2003 | ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' | Sheldon Sands | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | $29 million | $98,185,582 |
| 2003 | ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' | Empire Award for Best ActorIrish Film Award for Best International ActorScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Academy Award for Best ActorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor | $140 million | $654,264,015 | |
| 2004 | L'inconnu | Cameo | N/A | $6,204,504 | |
| 2004 | ''Finding Neverland'' | J. M. Barrie | $25 million | $118,676,606 | |
| 2004 | ''Secret Window'' | Mort Rainey | $40 million | $92,913,171 | |
| 2004 | '''' | John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester | $20 million | $10,852,064 | |
| 2005 | Willy Wonka | Sony Ericsson Empire Awards | $150 million | $474,968,763 | |
| 2005 | ''[[Corpse Bride'' | $40 million | $117,195,061 | ||
| 2006 | ''Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'' | Captain Jack Sparrow | Sony Ericsson Empire Awards | $225 million | $1,066,179,725 |
| 2007 | ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' | Captain Jack Sparrow | Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Male Movie StarMTV Movie Award for Best Comedic PerformanceRembrandt Award for Best International ActorNominated—National Movie Award for Best Performance by a MaleNominated—Teen Choice Award for Best Action Adventure Actor | $300 million | $963,420,425 |
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd/Benjamin Barker | $50 million | $152,523,164 | ||
| 2009 | John Dillinger | Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama | $100 million | $214,104,620 | |
| 2009 | '''' | Tony (1st transformation) | Shared role with Colin Farrell and Jude Law after the death of Heath Ledger | $30 million | $61,808,775 |
| 2010 | Mad Hatter | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated—MTV Movie Award for Global SuperstarNominated—National Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated—Teen Choice Award for Best Fantasy Actor | $200 million | $1,024,299,904 | |
| 2010 | '''' | Frank Tupelo/Alexander Pearce | $100 million | $278,346,189 | |
| 2011 | Rango | Voice acting | $135 million | $242,605,737 | |
| 2011 | ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' | Captain Jack Sparrow | $250 million | $1,032,828,392 | |
| 2011 | '''' | Paul Kemp | post-production | $65 million | |
| 2011 | Cameopost-production | ||||
| 2012 | Cameopost-production | ||||
| 2012 | Barnabas Collins | filming |
| + Producer | ||
| ! Year | ! Title | Notes |
| 2011 | post-production | |
| 2011 | post-production | |
| 2012 | filming |
| + Director | ||
| ! Year | ! Title | Notes |
| 1992 | short film | |
| 1997 | ''The Brave'' | |
| 2012 | ''Keith Richards Documentary'' | filming |
| + Writer | |
| ! Year | ! Title |
| 1997 | ''The Brave'' |
| + Documentary | |||
| ! Year | ! Title | ! Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Jack Kerouac | ||
| 2002 | ''Lost in La Mancha'' | Himself | Uncredited role |
| 2006 | ''Deep Sea 3D'' | Narrator | |
| 2007 | Himself | ||
| 2008 | ''Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson'' | Narrator | |
| 2010 | ''When You're Strange'' | Narrator |
| + Music | ||
| ! Year | ! Title | Songs |
| 2000 | "Minor Swing","They're Red Hot","Caravan" | |
| 2003 | ''Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' | "Sands' Theme" |
| 2007 | "No Place Like London","My Friends","Pirelli's Miracle Elixir","Pretty Women","Epiphany","A Little Priest","Johanna (Act II)","By The Sea","The Judge's Return","Final Scene (Part 1)","Final Scene (Part 2)" |
| + Television | |||
| Year | ! Production | ! Role | Notes |
| 1985 | Lionel Viland | Episode: "Beasts of Prey" | |
| 1986 | Donnie Fleischer | TV film | |
| 1987–1991 | ''21 Jump Street'' | Officer Thomas "Tom" Hanson, Jr. | TV series (57 episodes) |
| 1987 | Rob Cameron | Episode: "Unfinished Business" | |
| 1999 | ''The Vicar of Dibley'' | Himself | Episode: "Celebrity Party" |
| 2000 | ''The Fast Show'' | Himself | Episode: "The Last Ever Fast Show" |
| 2004 | ''King of the Hill'' | Yogi Victor (voice) | |
| 2009 | ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' | Jack Kahuna Laguna (voice) | Episode: "SpongeBob vs. The Big One" |
References
Bibliography
External links
Category:1963 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from Florida Category:Actors from Kentucky Category:American expatriates in France Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American people of French descent Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Living people Category:People from Owensboro, Kentucky Category:People of Huguenot descent ar:جوني ديب an:Johnny Depp az:Conni Depp bn:জনি ডেপ bs:Johnny Depp bg:Джони Деп ca:Johnny Depp cs:Johnny Depp cy:Johnny Depp da:Johnny Depp de:Johnny Depp et:Johnny Depp el:Τζόνι Ντεπ es:Johnny Depp eo:Johnny Depp eu:Johnny Depp fa:جانی دپ fr:Johnny Depp fy:Johnny Depp ga:Johnny Depp gv:Johnny Depp gl:Johnny Depp ko:조니 뎁 hi:जॉनी डेप hr:Johnny Depp id:Johnny Depp is:Johnny Depp it:Johnny Depp he:ג'וני דפ jv:Johnny Depp ka:ჯონი დეპი csb:Johnny Depp kk:Джонни Депп sw:Johnny Depp la:Iohannes Depp lv:Džonijs Deps lb:Johnny Depp lt:Johnny Depp li:Johnny Depp hu:Johnny Depp mk:Џони Деп mg:Johnny Depp ml:ജോണി ഡെപ്പ് ms:Johnny Depp mn:Жонни Депп nl:Johnny Depp ja:ジョニー・デップ no:Johnny Depp nn:Johnny Depp uz:Johnny Depp pl:Johnny Depp pt:Johnny Depp ro:Johnny Depp ru:Депп, Джонни sq:Johnny Depp simple:Johnny Depp sk:Johnny Depp sl:Johnny Depp sr:Џони Деп sh:Johnny Depp fi:Johnny Depp sv:Johnny Depp tl:Johnny Depp ta:ஜானி டெப் tt:Джонни Депп te:జానీ డెప్ th:จอห์นนี เดปป์ tg:Ҷоннӣ Депп tr:Johnny Depp uk:Джонні Депп vi:Johnny Depp diq:Johnny Depp zh:強尼·戴普This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| name | Gregory Peck |
|---|---|
| birth name | Eldred Gregory Peck |
| birth date | April 05, 1916 |
| birth place | La Jolla, California, U.S. |
| death date | June 12, 2003 |
| death place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| death cause | Bronchopneumonia |
| nationality | American |
| education | San Diego High School |
| alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| party | Democratic |
| resting place | Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, California |
| occupation | Actor |
| religion | Roman Catholic |
| years active | 1942–2000 |
| spouse | Greta Kukkonen (1942-55; divorce)Veronique Passani (1955-2003; his death) |
| children | With Greta: Jonathan, Stephen, Carey PaulWith Veronique: Tony, Cecilia |
| parents | Bernice Mae (nee Ayres),Gregory Pearl Peck |
| relations | Ethan Peck (grandson) |
| signature | }} |
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor.
One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', for which he won an Academy Award. President Lyndon Johnson honored Peck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 for his lifetime humanitarian efforts. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking at #12.
Early life
Eldred Gregory Peck was born in La Jolla, California, the son of Missouri-born Bernice Mae "Bunny" (née Ayres) and Gregory Pearl Peck, who was a chemist and pharmacist. Peck's father was of English (paternal) and Irish (maternal) heritage, and his mother was of Scots (paternal) and English (maternal) ancestry. Peck's father was a Catholic and his mother converted upon marrying his father. Peck's Irish-born paternal grandmother, Catherine Ashe, was related to Thomas Ashe, who took part in the Easter Rising fewer than three weeks after Peck's birth and died while on hunger strike in 1917. Peck's parents divorced by the time he was six years old and he spent the next few years being raised by his maternal grandmother.Peck was sent to a Roman Catholic military school, St. John's Military Academy, in Los Angeles at the age of 10. His grandmother died while he was enrolled there, and his father again took over his upbringing. At 14, Peck attended San Diego High School and lived with his father. When he graduated, he enrolled briefly at San Diego State Teacher's College, (now known as San Diego State University), joined the track team, took his first theatre and public-speaking courses, and joined the Epsilon Eta fraternity. He stayed for just one academic year, thereafter obtaining admission to his first-choice college, the University of California, Berkeley. For a short time, he took a job driving a truck for an oil company. In 1936, he declared himself a pre-medical student at Berkeley, and majored in English. Standing 6'3" (1.905m) he rowed on the university crew.
The Berkeley acting coach decided Peck would be perfect for university theater work. Peck developed an interest in acting and was recruited by Edwin Duerr, director of the university's Little Theater. He went on to appear in five plays during his senior year. Although his tuition fee was only $26 per year, Peck still struggled to pay, and had to work as a "hasher" (kitchen helper) for the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority in exchange for meals. Peck would later say about Berkeley that, "it was a very special experience for me and three of the greatest years of my life. It woke me up and made me a human being." In 1997 Peck donated $25,000 to the Berkeley crew in honor of his coach, the renowned Ky Ebright.
Acting career
Stage
After graduating from Berkeley with a BA degree in English, Peck dropped the name "Eldred" and headed to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse with the legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner. He was often broke and sometimes slept in Central Park. He worked at the 1939 World's Fair and as a tour guide for NBC's television broadcasting. In 1940, Peck learned more of the acting craft, working in exchange for food, at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA, appearing in five plays including ''Family Portrait'' and ''On Earth as It Is''.His stage career started in 1941 when he played the secretary in a Katharine Cornell production of George Bernard Shaw's play The Doctor's Dilemma. Unfortunately, the play opened in San Francisco just one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He made his Broadway debut as the lead in Emlyn Williams' ''The Morning Star'' in 1942. His second Broadway performance that year was in ''The Willow and I'' with Edward Pawley. Peck's acting abilities were in high demand during World War II, since he was exempt from military service owing to a back injury suffered while receiving dance and movement lessons from Martha Graham as part of his acting training. Twentieth Century Fox claimed he had injured his back while rowing at university, but in Peck's words, "In Hollywood, they didn't think a dance class was macho enough, I guess. I've been trying to straighten out that story for years."
In 1949 Peck co-founded The La Jolla Playhouse, at his birthplace, with Mel Ferrer and Dorothy McGuire. This local community theater and landmark (now in a new home at the University of California, San Diego) still thrives today. It has attracted Hollywood film stars on hiatus both as performers and enthusiastic supporters since its inception.
Film
Peck's first film, ''Days of Glory'', was released in 1944. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor five times, four of which came in his first five years of film acting: for ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' (1944), ''The Yearling'' (1946), ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), and ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949).''The Keys of the Kingdom'' emphasized his stately presence. As the farmer Ezra "Penny" Baxter in ''The Yearling'' his good-humored warmth and affection toward the characters playing his son and wife confounded critics who had been insisting he was a lifeless performer. ''Duel in the Sun'' (1946) showed his range as an actor in his first "against type" role as a cruel, libidinous gunslinger. ''Gentleman's Agreement'' established his power in the "social conscience" genre in a film that took on the deep-seated but subtle antisemitism of mid-century corporate America.''Twelve O'Clock High'' was the first of many successful war films in which Peck embodied the brave, effective, yet human fighting man.
Among his other films were ''Spellbound'' (1945), ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), ''The Gunfighter'' (1950), ''Moby Dick'' (1956), ''On the Beach'' (1959), which brought to life the terrors of global nuclear war, ''The Guns of Navarone'' (1961), and ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), with Audrey Hepburn in her Oscar-winning role. Peck and Hepburn were close friends until her death; Peck even introduced her to her first husband, Mel Ferrer. Peck once again teamed up with director William Wyler in the epic Western ''The Big Country'' (1958), which he co-produced. Peck won the Academy Award with his fifth nomination, playing Atticus Finch, a Depression-era lawyer and widowed father, in a film adaptation of the Harper Lee novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. Released in 1962 during the height of the US civil rights movement in the South, this movie and his role were Peck's favorites. In 2003 Atticus Finch was named the top film hero of the past 100 years by the American Film Institute.
Peck served as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1967, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute from 1967 to 1969, Chairman of the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund in 1971, and National Chairman of the American Cancer Society in 1966. He was a member of the National Council on the Arts from 1964 to 1966.
A physically powerful man, he was known to do a majority of his own fight scenes, rarely using body or stunt doubles. In fact, Robert Mitchum, his on-screen opponent in ''Cape Fear'', told about the time Peck once accidentally punched him for real during their final fight scene in the movie, he felt the impact for days afterward. Peck's rare attempts at unsympathetic albeit provocative roles usually fell short. Early on, he played the renegade son in the Western ''Duel in the Sun'' and, later in his career, the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele in ''The Boys from Brazil'' co-starring Laurence Olivier.
Later work
In the 1980s Peck moved to television, where he starred in the mini-series ''The Blue and the Gray'', playing Abraham Lincoln. He also starred with Christopher Plummer, Sir John Gielgud, and Barbara Bouchet in the television film ''The Scarlet and The Black'', about a real-life Roman Catholic priest in the Vatican who smuggled Jews and other refugees away from the Nazis during World War II.Peck, Mitchum, and Martin Balsam all had roles in the 1991 remake of ''Cape Fear'' directed by Martin Scorsese. All three were in the original 1962 version. In the remake, Peck played Max Cady's lawyer. His last prominent film role also came in 1991, in ''Other People's Money'', directed by Norman Jewison and based on the stage play of that name. Peck played a business owner trying to save his company against a hostile takeover bid by a Wall Street liquidator played by Danny DeVito.
Peck retired from active film-making at that point. Like Cary Grant before him, Peck spent the last few years of his life touring the world doing speaking engagements in which he would show clips from his movies, reminisce, and take questions from the audience. He did come out of retirement for a 1998 miniseries version of one of his most famous films, ''Moby Dick'', portraying Father Mapple (played by Orson Welles in the 1956 version), with Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab, the role Peck played in the earlier film.
Peck had been offered the role of Grandpa Joe in the 2005 film ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', but died before he could accept it. David Kelly was then given the part.
Politics
In 1947, while many Hollywood figures were being blacklisted for similar activities, Peck signed a letter deploring a House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of alleged communists in the film industry. President Richard Nixon placed Peck on his enemies list due to his liberal activism.A lifelong supporter of the Democratic Party, Peck was suggested in 1970 as a possible Democratic candidate to run against Ronald Reagan for the office of Governor of California. Although he later admitted that he had no interest in being a candidate himself for public office, Peck encouraged one of his sons, Carey Peck, to run for political office. Carey was defeated both times he tried for Congress, in 1978 and in 1980, by Republican Congressman Robert K. Dornan, both times by slim margins.
In an interview with the Irish media, Peck revealed that former President Lyndon Johnson had told him that, had he sought re-election in 1968, he intended to offer Peck the post of U.S. ambassador to Ireland — a post Peck, due to his Irish ancestry, said he might well have taken, saying "[It] would have been a great adventure". Author Michael Freedland, in his biography of Peck, substantiates the report and says that Johnson indicated that his presentation of the Medal of Freedom to Peck would perhaps make up for his inability to confer the ambassadorship.
Peck was outspoken against the Vietnam War, while remaining supportive of his son, Stephen, who fought there. In 1972 Peck produced the film version of Daniel Berrigan's play ''The Trial of the Catonsville Nine'' about the prosecution of a group of Vietnam protesters for civil disobedience. Despite his reservations about American general Douglas MacArthur as a man, Peck had long wanted to play him on film, and did so in ''MacArthur'' in 1976.
In 1987 Peck did the voice-over on television commercials opposing President Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nomination of conservative jurist Robert Bork. Bork's nomination was defeated. Peck was also a vocal supporter of ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
Personal life
In October 1942 Peck married Finnish-born Greta Kukkonen, with whom he had three sons, Jonathan (1944–1975), Stephen (b. 1946), and Carey Paul (b. 1949). They were divorced on December 30, 1955, but maintained a very good relationship. Jonathan Peck, a television news reporter, committed suicide in 1975. Stephen Peck is active in support of American veterans from the Vietnam War; his first wife is screenwriter Kimi Peck, who co-wrote ''Little Darlings'' with Dalene Young. Carey Peck had political ambitions, running for Congress in California in 1978 and again in 1980 with the support of his father and family. He narrowly lost to conservative Republican Bob Dornan.On December 31, 1955, the day after his divorce was finalized, Peck married Veronique Passani, a Paris news reporter who had interviewed him in 1953 before he went to Italy to film ''Roman Holiday''. He asked her to lunch six months later and they became inseparable. They had a son, Anthony, and a daughter Cecilia Peck. The couple remained married until Gregory Peck's death.
Peck had grandchildren from both marriages. Stephen has a stepdaughter and a son from his third marriage to artist Francine Matarazzo. His stepdaughter Marisa Matarazzo is a fiction writer and her brother Ethan Peck is an actor. Carey has a daughter Marisa from his marriage to Kathy Peck as well as two stepdaughters, Isabelle and Jasmine, and a son Christopher with artist Lita Albuquerque. Anthony has a son, Zack, from his marriage to model Cheryl Tiegs. Cecilia has two children with writer Daniel Voll, son Harper and daughter Ondine.
Peck owned the thoroughbred steeplechase race horse Different Class, which raced in England. The horse was favored for the 1968 Grand National but finished third. Peck was close friends with French president Jacques Chirac.
Peck was a practicing Roman Catholic, although he disagreed with the Church's positions on abortion and the ordination of women.
Death
On June 12, 2003, Peck died in his sleep at home from bronchopneumonia. His wife Veronique was by his side.Gregory Peck is entombed in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels mausoleum in Los Angeles, California. His eulogy was read by Brock Peters, whose character, Tom Robinson, was defended by Peck's Atticus Finch in ''To Kill A Mockingbird''.
Awards and honors
Peck was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning once. He was nominated for ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' (1945), ''The Yearling'' (1946), ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949). He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Atticus Finch in the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. In 1968 he received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.Peck also received many Golden Globe awards. He won in 1947 for ''The Yearling'', in 1963 for ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', and in 1999 for the TV mini series ''Moby Dick''. He was nominated in 1978 for ''The Boys from Brazil''. He received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1969, and was given the Henrietta Award in 1951 and 1955 for ''World Film Favorite — Male''.
In 1969 US President Lyndon Johnson honored Peck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. In 1971 the Screen Actors Guild presented Peck with the SAG Life Achievement Award. In 1989 the American Film Institute gave Peck the AFI Life Achievement Award. He received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema in 1996.
In 1986 Peck was honored alongside actress Gene Tierney with the first Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival Spain for their body of work.
In 1993, Peck was awarded with an Honorary Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.
In 1998 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
In 2000 Peck was made a Doctor of Letters by the National University of Ireland. He was a founding patron of the University College Dublin School of Film, where he persuaded Martin Scorsese to become an honorary patron. Peck was also chairman of the American Cancer Society for a short time.For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Gregory Peck has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6100 Hollywood Blvd. In November 2005 the star was stolen, and has since been replaced.
On April 28, 2011, a ceremony was held in Beverly Hills, California celebrating the first day of issue of a U.S. postage stamp commemorating Peck. The stamp is the 17th commemorative stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series.
Filmography
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |rowspan="2"|1944 |''Days of Glory'' | Vladimir | |- |''The Keys of the Kingdom'' | Father Francis Chisholm | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |- |rowspan="2"|1945 |''The Valley of Decision'' | Paul Scott | |- |''Spellbound'' | John Ballantyne | |- |rowspan="2"|1946 |''The Yearling'' | Ezra "Penny" Baxter | Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |- |''Duel in the Sun'' | Lewton 'Lewt' McCanles | |- |rowspan="3"|1947 |''The Macomber Affair'' | Robert Wilson | |- |''Gentleman's Agreement'' | Philip Schuyler Green | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |- |''The Paradine Case'' | Anthony Keane | |- |rowspan="3"|1949 |''Yellow Sky'' | James 'Stretch' Dawson | |- |''The Great Sinner'' | Fedja | |- |''Twelve O'Clock High'' | Gen. Frank Savage | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |- | 1950 |''The Gunfighter'' |Jimmy Ringo | |- |rowspan="5"|1951 |''Captain Horatio Hornblower'' | Captain Horatio Hornblower | |- |''Only the Valiant'' | Captain Richard Lance | |- |''Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Awards'' | |Short subject |- |''David and Bathsheba'' | King David | |- |''Pictura: An Adventure in Art'' | Narrator | Documentary |- |rowspan="2"|1952 |''The Snows of Kilimanjaro'' | Harry Street | |- |''The World in His Arms'' | Capt. Jonathan Clark | |- |rowspan="2"|1953 |''The Million Pound Note'' | Henry Adams | |- |''Roman Holiday'' | Joe Bradley | |- |rowspan="2"|1954 |''Night People'' | Col. Steve Van Dyke | |- |''The Purple Plain'' | Squadron Leader Bill Forrester | |- |rowspan="2"|1956 |''The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit'' | Tom Rath | |- |''Moby Dick'' | Captain Ahab | |- | 1957 |''Designing Woman'' |Mike Hagen | |- |rowspan="3"|1958 |''The Hidden World'' |Narrator |Documentary |- |''The Bravados'' | Jim Douglass | |- |''The Big Country'' | James McKay |Also producer |- |rowspan="3"|1959 |''Pork Chop Hill'' |Lt. Joe Clemons | |- |''Beloved Infidel'' | F. Scott Fitzgerald | |- |''On the Beach'' | Cmdr. Dwight Lionel Towers, USS Sawfish | |- |1961 |''The Guns of Navarone'' |Capt. Keith Mallory | |- |rowspan="4"|1962 |''Cape Fear'' |Sam Bowden | |- |''Lykke og krone'' | |Documentary |- |''How the West Was Won'' | Cleve Van Valen | |- |''To Kill a Mockingbird'' | Atticus Finch | Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |- |1963 |''Captain Newman, M.D.'' | Capt. Josiah J. Newman, MD | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |1964 |''Behold a Pale Horse'' | Manuel Artiguez | |- |1965 |''Mirage'' | David Stillwell | |- |rowspan="2"|1966 |''John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums'' |Narrator |Documentary |- |''Arabesque'' | Prof. David Pollock | |- |1967 |''Pähkähullu Suomi'' | |Cameo |- |rowspan="4"|1969 |''The Stalking Moon'' |Sam Varner | |- |''Mackenna's Gold'' | MacKenna | |- |''The Chairman'' |John Hathaway | |- |''Marooned'' | Charles Keith | |- |1970 |''I Walk the Line'' | Sheriff Tawes | |- |1971 |''Shoot Out'' | Clay Lomax | |- |rowspan="2"|1974 |''Billy Two Hats'' |Arch Deans | |- |''The Dove'' | |Producer |- |1976 |''The Omen'' |Robert Thorn | |- |1977 |''MacArthur'' |Gen. Douglas MacArthur | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |1978 |''The Boys from Brazil'' |Josef Mengele | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |- |1980 |''The Sea Wolves: The Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse'' |Col. Lewis Pugh | |- |1982 |''The Blue and the Gray'' |Abraham Lincoln | |- |1983 |''The Scarlet and the Black'' |Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty | |- |1984 |''Terror in the Aisles'' | |Documentary. Archival footage. |- |1985 |''Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret'' | |Documentary |- |1986 |''Directed by William Wyler'' | |Documentary |- |1987 |''Amazing Grace and Chuck'' |President |Documentary |- |rowspan="2"|1989 |''Old Gringo'' |Ambrose Bierce | |- |''Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren'' |Narrator |Documentary |- |rowspan="3"|1991 |''Other People's Money'' |Andrew Jorgenson | |- |''Frederic Remington: The Truth of Other Days'' |Narrator |Documentary |- |''Cape Fear'' |Lee Heller | |- |1993 |''The Portrait'' |Gardner Church | |- |1994 |''L'Hidato Shel Adolf Eichmann'' |Narrator |Documentary |- |1996 |''Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick'' | |Documentary |- |1998 |''Moby Dick |Father Mapple |TV Miniseries Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |- |rowspan="2"|1999 |''The Art of Norton Simon'' |Narrator |Short subject |- |''American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith'' |Narrator | |- |2000 |''A Conversation With Gregory Peck'' |Himself |Documentary |- |}
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Category:1916 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from La Jolla, San Diego Category:Actors from San Diego, California Category:American film actors Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:American stage actors Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Presidents of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Category:Actors from California Category:California Democrats Category:César Award winners Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:San Diego State University alumni Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Western (genre) film actors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients
an:Gregory Peck az:Qreqori Pek bn:গ্রেগরি পেক bs:Gregory Peck bg:Грегъри Пек ca:Gregory Peck cs:Gregory Peck da:Gregory Peck de:Gregory Peck el:Γκρέγκορι Πεκ es:Gregory Peck eo:Gregory Peck eu:Gregory Peck fa:گریگوری پک fr:Gregory Peck fy:Gregory Peck ga:Gregory Peck gl:Gregory Peck ko:그레고리 펙 hr:Gregory Peck io:Gregory Peck id:Gregory Peck it:Gregory Peck he:גרגורי פק kn:ಗ್ರೆಗೊರಿ ಪೆಕ್ ka:გრეგორი პეკი la:Gregorius Peck hu:Gregory Peck nl:Gregory Peck ja:グレゴリー・ペック no:Gregory Peck nn:Gregory Peck oc:Gregory Peck pl:Gregory Peck pt:Gregory Peck ro:Gregory Peck ru:Пек, Грегори sq:Gregory Peck simple:Gregory Peck sk:Gregory Peck sr:Грегори Пек sh:Gregory Peck fi:Gregory Peck sv:Gregory Peck tl:Gregory Peck th:เกรกอรี เป็ก tr:Gregory Peck uk:Грегорі Пек ur:گریگری پیک vi:Gregory Peck yo:Gregory Peck zh:格里高利·派克This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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