© Paramount/Everett Collection.
Dianne Wiest — 1995
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
“Don’t speak!” Dianne Wiest is unstoppable as the actress Helen Sinclair, one of the all-time great “diva” roles in Woody Allen’s zany gangland comedy Bullets Over Broadway. (This was one of the few Allen films in which he had a cowriter; in this case, it was the humor columnist, playwright, director, and actor Doug McGrath.) With this win, Wiest became just the second woman to win two best-supporting-actress Academy Awards, tying Shelley Winters for the honor.
Anna Paquin — 1994
The Piano (1993)
Just 11 years old when she won (but still not the youngest winner in this category!), Anna Paquin bolted out of her seat in a fetchingpurple hat when Gene Hackman read her name at the Oscar ceremony. Adorable! Then she stood behind the podium in a state of shock, half-giggling, half-hyperventilating. It’s a great moment! Then a little Hollywood kicked in and she started thanking people. If you can believe it, Jane Campion was only the second woman ever to be nominated in the best-director category.
Marisa Tomei — 1993
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
A great performance, a great film, a great and righteous win. We’re saying that because, back in the day, there were some who felt Marisa Tomei’s comedic turn in the admittedly light My Cousin Vinny was some kind of blight on the Oscars. It even spun into a conspiracy theory that the announcement of her name was some kind of accident. Tomei was also a former soaps and sitcom star up against three heavyweight Brits (Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave, and Miranda Richardson), as well as Australian Judy Davis in Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives. But time has washed all that away—and Tomei has had two more nominations since.
Mercedes Ruehl — 1992
The Fisher King (1991)
Mercedes Ruehl is probably a bigger name to Broadway aficionados than movie lovers, but her turn in Terry Gilliam’s outstanding fantasy-drama The Fisher King was absolutely the right choice for the best-supporting-actress prize this year. She is marvelous as the hard-working video store owner who helps get Jeff Bridges back on his feet after he abandons his career as a talk radio host who inadvertently inspires a killing spree. (Today, someone like that would just say, “Hit like and subscribe!”)
Whoopi Goldberg — 1991
Ghost (1990)
The second Black woman to win in this category (after a 51-year gap), Whoopi Goldberg, who would later host the Oscars four times, was hilarious and touching in the part of the medium Oda Mae Brown in the blockbuster sensation Ghost. As it happened, she was handed her Oscar by Denzel Washington, who had become the second Black man to win the best-supporting-actor prize the year before. Whoopi’s win also added her name to the list of Star Trek alumni who have won an Oscar.
Brenda Fricker — 1990
My Left Foot (1989)
Somehow, Brenda Fricker is the only Irish woman to win an Oscar for either supporting or lead actress. This doesn’t seem right, considering Irish contributions to film arts, but it’s the truth. (There have been wins for Irish women in other Oscar categories, so that’s something, until Saoirse Ronan eventually wins one for acting—she’s got four nominations already.) Accepting her award for My Left Foot (which also got Daniel Day-Lewis his first of three trophies), she thanked the real “Mrs. Brown” and said that “anybody who gives birth 22 times deserves one of these.”
Geena Davis — 1989
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
Perhaps a bit of an upset over Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl (her third nomination and third loss), Geena Davis won the best-supporting-actress prize for her role as the zany dog trainer who teaches William Hurt how to embrace life after tragedy in Lawrence Kasdan’s terrific comic drama. Oscar producers were probably rooting for Weaver, too, as her costar Melanie Griffith (and then husband Don Johnson) were the presenters for this category.
Olympia Dukakis — 1988
Moonstruck (1987)
This was one of three wins for Moonstruck, which also received a best-actress trophy for Cher and best original screenplay for John Patrick Shanley. (Alas, Vincent Gardenia had tough competition for best supporting actor opposite Sean Connery in The Untouchables. Olympia Dukakis was the obvious best-supporting-actress winner as Rose, head of the Castorini family in one of the all-time great romantic comedies. She concluded her acceptance speech by adding, “Okay, Michael, let’s go!”—a reference to her cousin Michael Dukakis, who was running for president at the time (and would lose by a considerable margin).
Dianne Wiest — 1987
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
She may not have deserved Cole Porter, but she deserved this Oscar win. This was Dianne Wiest’s first of two best-supporting-actress Oscars, both of which came from appearing in Woody Allen films. Hannah and Her Sisters is such a sweeping view of New York City characters that she barely shares any screen time with her costar Michael Caine, who also won a best-supporting-actor award for this film. (Allen won best original screenplay, too, and was nominated for best director while the film was nominated for best picture.)
Anjelica Huston — 1986
Prizzi’s Honor (1985)
With this award, Anjelica Huston became the only person to win an Oscar in a film directed by their parent, in this case John Huston. (Nearly 40 years earlier, John Huston directed his father, Walter Huston, to an Oscar in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Not sure if this double record will ever be broken!) Prizzi’s Honor, an ahead-of-its-time mafia comedy, costarred Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner and has one of the most shocking endings in the history of movies.
Peggy Ashcroft — 1985
A Passage to India (1984)
“Mrs. Mooooooooore!” Sir David Lean’s final film was nominated for 11 Oscars, including best picture, but won only two: best score for Maurice Jarre (his third after Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, all Lean films) and best supporting actress for Dame Peggy Ashcroft, who was 77 at the time of her win, making her the oldest winner in this category. Based on E.M. Forster’s novel, costarring Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, James Fox, Alec Guinness, Roshan Seth, and others, the film is either progressive for its time or a reactionary ode to the days of the British Raj, depending on your point of view. All can agree, though, that Peggy Ashcroft’s performance as the kind British lady who prefers to travel in comfort is terrific.
Linda Hunt — 1984
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
An unusual award in the sense that Linda Hunt (a white woman from New Jersey) plays the part of Billy Kwan, a Chinese Australian man. This would likely not fly today, but 40 years ago it was seen as a brave—and even noble—casting choice. The film is beyond canceled, despite being a stern look at Indonesia’s attempted military coup and democratic struggles during the late 1960s.
Jessica Lange — 1983
Tootsie (1982)
This was one wild night for Jessica Lange at the Oscars. She won best supporting actress over her costar Teri Garr from Tootsie (tough choice!), but also over her costar Kim Stanley in the Frances Farmer biopic Frances. For a brief moment, it looked like Lange might be a double-winner, as she was nominated for best actress for Frances too—but that prize went to Meryl Streep for Sophie’s Choice. Anyhow, despite Tootsie’s 10 nominations (including best picture), this was its only win. That it lost best original screenplay to Gandhi (a terrific movie, sure) is a bit of a scandal.
Maureen Stapleton — 1982
Reds (1981)
A three-hour-plus movie about internecine squabbles between leftists sounds like more of an obligatory chore than a good time, but Warren Beatty’s exhilarating and juicy Reds is absolutely terrific. Part of that is due to Maureen Stapleton’s performance as the community’s den mother (inasmuch as anarchists can have den mothers) Emma Goldman. She had been nominated three times previously (first in 1958, for Lonelyhearts), and when she accepted her award, she said she was “thrilled, happy, delighted,” paused to add “sober,” then said she wanted to thank “everyone she ever met in her entire life.”
Mary Steenburgen — 1981
Melvin and Howard (1980)
Jonathan Demme’s breezy tall tale about Melvin Dummar, a drifter, gas station employee, game show contestant, and American dreamer who claimed that Howard Hughes bequeathed him his fortune, is one of the great movies of this era that doesn’t get enough attention. This shaggy indie included a juicy part for Mary Steenburgen as the put-upon wife trying to keep a family together in the face of a doofus husband.