Joey Magidson
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re back at it with the most popular series on the site! Continuing a tradition I’ve been doing for years, I’m ranking the newest crop of Academy Award winners. For nearly all of the Oscar categories, you’ll see me list the top 25 recipients of that prize. Sometimes, our newest winner will appear. Other times, they’ll be relegated to the Honorable Mention category. Who knows, maybe one or two won’t even make the cut? It’s a list series that I’ll do each and every single year, in the weeks after the ceremony concludes. So, while this is a fun way to think about the Oscars in the aftermath of the latest telecast, it’s also a beginning for another column here on the site. Of course, definitely show us your own lists as well, in the comments section below. We’re more than keen to know what you think!
This week, we’re kicking it off with a big one, as it’s Best Supporting Actress time. As I like to say, this category can often be a hard one to peg down. Some years, it’s an embarrassment of riches in the category. Other years, it can lag a bit behind. Regardless, the winners are a wide assortment of some of the best the business has to offer. Spoiler alert: I have a controversial number one pick, in that I still rank Marisa Tomei‘s turn in My Cousin Vinny as the best of the Supporting Actress Oscar winners. It remains one of the best things that the Academy Awards have ever done. Where does our newest winner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers, rank as compared to prior ones like Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All At Once and Ariana DeBose for her role in the remake of West Side Story? Does Randolph even make the cut after Curtis couldn’t last year? Find out below…
Here are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, to date:
25. Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
24. Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck)
23. Dianne Wiest (Bullets over Broadway)
22. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
21. Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
20. Patty Duke (The Miracle Worker)
19. Beatrice Straight (Network)
18. Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer)
17. Viola Davis (Fences)
16. Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago)
15. Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby)
14. Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
13. Cate Blanchett (The Aviator)
12. Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted)
11. Tatum O’Neal (Paper Moon)
10. Cloris Leachman (The Last Picture Show)
9. Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
8. Mo’Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire)
7. Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite)
6. Rita Moreno (West Side Story)
5. Anna Paquin (The Piano)
4. Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)
3. Dianne Wiest (Hannah and her Sisters)
2. Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire)
1. Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny)
Honorable Mention: Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), and Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)
Stay tuned for another category early next week!
A couple of these I don’t have the best memory of, but my top five are more-or-less locked in:
25) Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby
24) Whoopi Goldberg – Ghost
23) Olympia Dukakis – Moonstruck
22) Viola Davis – Fences
21) Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener
20) Shelley Winters – The Diary of Anne Frank
19) Jo Van Fleet – East of Eden
18) Jessica Lange – Tootsie
17) Eva Marie Saint – On the Waterfront
16) Yuh-jung Youn – Minari
15) Dorothy Malone – Written on the Wind
14) Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
13) Celeste Holm – Gentleman’s Agreement
12) Anna Paquin – The Piano
11) Hattie McDaniel – Gone with the Wind
10) Sandy Dennis – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
9) Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
8) Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India
7) Dianne Wiest – Hannah and Her Sisters
6) Mercedes McCambridge – All the King’s Men
5) Fay Bainter – Jezebel
4) Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath
3) Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton
2) Vanessa Redgrave – Julia
1) Rita Moreno – West Side Story
Terrific list!
Rewatching a lot changes some but others remain solid even if they move up or down the list .My top three doesn’t seem to change .
25.Anne Revere -Nationa Velvet
24.Hattie McDaniel -Gone With The Wind
23.Tilda Swinton -Michael Clayton
22.Meryl Streep -Kramer vs Kramer
21.Viola Davis -Fences
20.Cate Blanchett -The Aviator
19.Whoopi Goldberg -Ghosts
18.Marcia Gay Harden -Pollock
17.Mo’Nique -Precious
16.Mary Steenburgen -Melvin and Howard
15.Dianne Wiest -Bulletts Over Broadway
14,Juliette Binoche -The English Patient
13.Rita Moreno -West Side Story
12.Da’Vine Joy Randolph -The Holdovers
11.Patty Duke -The Miracle Worker
10.Cloris Leachman -The Last Picture Show
9.Allison Janney -I Tonya
8.Youn Yuh -jung -Minari
7.Mira Sorvino -Mighty Aphordite
6.Linda Hunt -The Year of Living Dangerously
5.Marisa Tomei -My Cousin Vinny
4.Jane Darwell -The Grapes of Wrath
3.Olympia Dukakis -Moonstruck
2.Octavia Spencer -The Help
1.Catherine Zeta -Jones -Chicago
HM Probably too many but it was hard to cut it off. Dorothy Malone -Written on The Wind ,Regina King -If Beale Steet Could Talk
Lupita Nyong’o -12 Years A Slave ,Dianne Wiest Hannah and Her Sisters ,
Jennifer Connlley -A Beautiful Mind ,Rachel Weisz -The Constant Gardner ,
Brenda Fricker -My Left Foot ,Eileen Heckert -Butterfies Are Free
Ariana DeBose West Side Story ,Kim Bassinger L.A.Confidential ,
Shelley Winters -The Diary of Anne Frank ,Jamie Lee Crutis -Everything Everywhere All At Once
The tops do usually stay the same, right?
They seem to for the most part,Favorites are favorites .
For sure.