Where are these forgotten Oscar stars now? From celeb who ‘vanished’ to award given ‘by mistake’ & ‘blacklisted’ actor
THE OSCARS is back for another year, and will see the crème de la crème of Hollywood clamouring to snatch one of those famous golden statues.
But despite the prestigious nature of the Academy Awards, they don’t always guarantee an A-list life forever in Tinseltown – as these past winners have found out…
Mo’Nique
Let’s kick off our look at forgotten Oscar winners with Mo’Nique, who claimed she was “blacklisted” after her win at the Academy Awards.
When she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for her performance in Precious it was her acceptance speech that got people talking, which began: “First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics.”
Mo’Nique was referring to a fallout which started long before the Oscars.
It came when she refused to travel the world to promote the film – against the advisement of director Lee Daniels and producers Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey – despite the movie having “Oscar buzz”.
Following this fallout, Mo’Nique declined to thank filmmaker Lee during her acceptance speech, leading to a HUGE Hollywood feud – during which the actress alleged that he had “blackballed” her from the industry.
And shortly after winning the coveted statue she practically vanished from Tinseltown.
The star has since reflected on being a victim of so-called “Oscarscurse” – where stars suffer bad luck in their career after winning an Academy Award.
Speaking to CNN in 2020, Mo’Nique said: “I believe winning that Oscar award, just as Hattie McDaniel, she said, ‘I felt like I was cursed instead of winning something that should be congratulated’.
“That award was something that I did not ask for, but because I didn’t respond the way people thought that I should have responded, as Lee Daniels said, I was blackballed.”
Mercedes Ruehl
At the 1992 Oscars, Mercedes Ruehl was having the time of her life after scooping the Best Supporting Actress gong.
Despite her movie The Fisher King being led by Hollywood heavyweights Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, Mercedes was the one who took home that coveted gold statue.
But even though she won such a huge award, the movie roles failed to pour in after her night of glory and the actress “vanished” from Hollywood.
Reflecting on the “curse” of winning such a top prize, she told the HuffPost: “It’s hard to get a job after that.
“People think you want more money.”
Instead, Mercedes returned to the stage and went on to win a Tony award the same year as her Oscar – she has remained a fixture of Broadway ever since.
Harold Russell
Harold Russell’s Oscars tale is very different to the others.
The late star lost both his hands in World War II and had them replaced by hooks.
Harold had never acted before when he played the role of Homer Parrish in The Best Years of Our Lives in 1946.
He was cast after the director of the film saw him in Diary of a Sergeant, an Army film about rehabilitating war veterans.
Despite his lack of acting experience, Harold proved to be a huge hit in The Best of Our Lives, and he won not one, but TWO Oscars for his role.
At the 1947 Academy Awards he was awarded the Best Supporting Actor and a special Honorary Academy Award for bringing hope and courage to fellow veterans.
Harold was also the first non-professional actor to ever win an Oscar.
But despite all this glory, he took a step back from acting and didn’t appear in another film until 1980.
Instead, he decided to get a business degree and devoted his life to charity.
Speaking about why he didn’t continue his Hollywood career, he told the Los Angeles Times in 1996: “Wyler (the director) told me I should go back to college because there wasn’t much call for a guy with no hands in the motion picture industry.
“I figured he was right. [In the handful of roles I’ve taken since then,] I always play a disabled veteran.
“And this is what Wyler said, ‘After a while they’re going to run out of ideas’—and he was absolutely right. How many times can you play the same role?”
Harold died in 2002 at the age of 88.
Roberto Benigni
Next up we have Italian actor Roberto Benigni, whose double Oscar win in 1999 caused quite a reaction.
The star won two gongs for the foreign film La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful), taking home the statues for Best Actor and Best International Feature Film – as he directed the movie too.
The film was the first non-English speaking picture to win the Best Actor award.
But Roberto, who was up against Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Nick Nolte and Ed Norton for the award, faced a huge backlash for his “over the top” reaction to winning the coveted gong.
He was seen climbing over audience seats to accept the award, which was slammed as being “chaotic”.
Roberto was also criticised for his “disingenuous” acceptance speech, where he appeared to make light of winning such a huge award.
“This is a terrible mistake. I used up all my English!” he joked, upon being handed the award.
Despite his big win, the actor retreated back to his native-Italy to make films instead of in Hollywood.
Speaking about life as a two-time Oscar winner, Roberto once told The Guardian: “The most important thing is to continue to be yourself.
“The day after the Oscars, you have to get on with your life. To be honest and true to yourself. I could have made a small film and kept all the money from Life is Beautiful. Instead, I spent more money than I had on Pinocchio, a very risky film.”
The actor is referring to his 2002 movie Pinocchio, which was only released in Italy and received mixed reviews from critics, with one calling it “the worst movie ever made”.
Marcia Gay Harden
Marcia Gay Harden beat the odds to scoop the Best Supporting Actress award for Pollack in 2000.
The actress was up against massive stars including Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Frances McDormand and Julie Walters, so her win was the HUGE surprise of the night that everyone was talking about.
Critics were also shocked that Marcia won the Oscar as she hadn’t been nominated for any other major award in the run-up to the ceremony.
Despite the actress’s huge win, her movie career stalled and she headed back to the small screen.
Reflecting on being a victim of the “Oscar curse”, Marcia once told the LA Times: “It’s disastrous on a professional level.
“Suddenly the parts you’re offered and the money become smaller. There’s no logic to it.”
Mira Sorvino
Mira Sorvino
Fans of the quirky movie Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion may be surprised to know that the film’s co-leading actress, Mira Sorvino, actually won an Oscar before starring in the cult classic movie.
A few years before, the actress won a huge amount of praise when she played a prostitute in Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite.
She wowed so much, she scooped the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1996 for the role.
Despite going on to star in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion the following year, the movie roles after that failed to pour in and she has switched her focus to TV.
Marisa Tomei
Last but not least, we have Marisa Tomei.
It may come as a surprise to film fans to find out that the actress won an Oscar in 1993 – but that is nothing compared to what happened on the actual night.
Shockwaves went through the prestigious ceremony when the relatively-unknown actress at the time scooped the gong for Best Supporting Actress, beating veteran stars like Joan Plowright and Vanessa Redgrave.
But it didn’t stop there, as poor Marisa, who won the award for her role in My Cousin Vinny, faced rumours that she had been given the Oscar “by mistake”.
Vicious gossip began to circulate that suggested that presenter Jack Palance had misread the envelope and mistakenly given the Oscar to Marisa instead of “its rightful owner”, Vanessa.
However, the Academy addressed the conspiracy theory and denied that she had been given it by “mistake.”
Speaking about the cruel rumour, Marisa once said: “That was really hurtful at first.”
Despite the fall out from her Oscar three decades ago, she has been nominated for two more since.
These days Marisa is best known for playing Spider-Man‘s mum in the famous franchise.