The 1980s was a great time to “go to the movies.” You had John McClane, action films, comedies, sequels, war movies,  movies featuring male ballet dancers, movies about boxing, and even some great science fiction movies. If you had a hankering for seeing Jeff Goldblum turn into a fly, fuhgettaboutit! Want to see Bruce Willis run around barefooted on broken glass and fighting  hot long haired Euro dudes? Yo! Like tall actresses (I know I do)?  The tallest woman to ever win an acting Oscar won her Oscar in the 1980s (Geena Davis, for The Accidental Tourist).

Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist. At 6-feet tall, she is the tallest female owner of an acting Oscar. For inquiring minds, Tim Robbins is the tallest male to have an acting Oscar!

 

Another tall actress getting some Oscar nods in the 1980s was Sigourney Weaver, who proved she could play gorilla researcher Dian Fossey (Gorillas In The Mist) just as well as she could play a raging bitch of a boss (Working Girl). Plenty of other movies were good enough to receive Oscar nods even if they DIDN’T feature any actresses hovering around 6 feet tall (LOL). That is, if a movie has to actually be good to get an Oscar nod (honestly I don’t know how all of this works). I don’t know how the Oscar machine works, I just try  to study this topic for trivial pursuits! The purpose of this blog is to look at ALL of the nominated actors/films from the decade of the 1980s. Just to avoid confusion, the years given are the years the movies were released, not the years they won their Oscar statuettes. Starting with…

1980

Nastassja Kinski in Tess, a 1980 film directed by Roman Polanski nominated for best picture.

Winner – Best Picture – Ordinary People

Nominees: Coal Miner’s Daughter; The Elephant Man, Raging Bull, Tess

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Robert De Niro – Raging Bull

Nominees: Robert Duvall, The Great Santini; John Hurt, The Elephant Man; Jack Lemmon, Tribute, Peter O’Toole, The Stunt Man.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Timothy Hutton Ordinary People

Nominees – Judd Hirsch, Ordinary People; Michael O’Keefe, The Great Santini; Joe Pesci, Raging Bull; Jason Robards, Melvin and Howard.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner’s Daughter

Nominees – Ellen Burstyn, Resurrection; Goldie Hawn, Private Benjamin; Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary People; Gena Rowlands, Gloria.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard

Nominees – Eileen Brennan, Private Benjamin; Eva La Galienne, Resurrection; Cathy Moriarty, Raging Bull; Diane Scarwid; Inside Moves.

Winner – Best Original Song – Fame

1981

Actor Paul Newman had several Oscar nominations in the 1980s, including a lead  actor nod for the 1981 film, Absence of Malice. Now there’s reading the paper…and reading the paper like Paul Newman!

Winner – Best Picture – Chariots of Fire

Nominees – Atlantic City, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond

Nominees – Warren Beatty, Reds; Burt Lancaster, Atlantic City; Dudley Moore, Arthur; Paul Newman, Absence of Malice.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – John Gielgud, Arthur

Nominees – James Coco, Only When I Laugh; Ian Holm, Chariots of Fire; Jack Nicholson, Reds; Howard E. Rollins, Ragtime.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond

Nominees – Diane Keaton, Reds; Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh; Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City; Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Maureen Stapleton, Reds

Nominees – Melinda Dillon, Absence of Malice; Jane Fonda, On Golden Pond; Joan Hackett, Only When I Laugh; Elizabeth McGovern, Ragtime.

Winner – Best Original Song – Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do), Christopher Cross (etc.)

 

1982

Richard Gere tells Debra Winger she can “leave his hat on” in a sex scene from  An Officer and a Gentleman…

Winner – Best Picture – Gandhi

Nominees – E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial; Missing, Tootsie, The Verdict.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Ben Kingsley, Gandhi

Nominees – Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie; Jack Lemmon, Missing; Paul Newman, The Verdict; Peter O’Toole, My Favorite Year.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Lou Gossett Jr., An Officer and a Gentleman

Charles Durning, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas; John Lithgow, The World According to Garp; James Mason, The Verdict; Robert Preston, Victor/Victoria.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice

Nominees – Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria; Jessica Lange, Francis; Sissy Spacek, Missing; Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Jessica Lange, Tootsie

Nominees – Glenn Close, The World According to Garp; Teri Garr, Tootsie; Kim Stanley, Francis; Lesley Ann Warren, Victor/Victoria.

Winner – Best Original Song – Up Where We Belong, An Officer and a Gentleman.

1983

Robert Duvall, best lead actor in the 1983 film Tender Mercies.

Winner – Best Picture – Terms of Endearment

Nominees – The Big Chill, The Dresser, The Right Stuff, Tender Mercies.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Robert Duvall, Tender Mercies.

Nominees – Michael Caine, Educating Rita; Tom Conti, Reuben, Reuben; Tom Courtenay, The Dresser.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Jack Nicholson, Terms of Endearment.

Nominees – Charles Durning, To Be Or Not To Be; John Lithgow, Terms of Endearment; Sam Shepard, The Right Stuff, Rip Torn, Cross Creek.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Shirley Maclaine, Terms of Endearment.

Nominees – Jane Alexander, Testament; Meryl Streep, Silkwood; Glenn Close, The Big Chill; Julie Walters, Educating Rita; Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Linda Hunt – The Year Of Living Dangerously

Nominees – Cher, Silkwood; Glenn Close, The Big Chill; Amy Irving, Yentl; Alfre Woodward, Cross Creek.

Winner – Best Original Song – Flashdance, What a Feeling.

 

 

1984

Jeff Bridges, best leading actor nominee in Starman

Winner – Best Picture – Amadeus

Nominees – The Killing Fields, A Passage to India; Places in the Heart; A Soldier’s Story.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – F. Murray Abraham

Nominees – Jeff Bridges, Starman; Albert Finney, Under the Volcano; Tom Hulce, Amadeus; Sam Waterston, The Killing Fields.

Winner – Best Leading Actress –  Sally Field, Places in the Heart

Nominees – Judy Davis, A Passage to India; Jessica Lange, Country; Vanessa Redgrave, The Bostonians; Sissy Spacek, The River.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Peggy Ashcroft, A Passage to India

Nominees – Glenn Close, The Natural; Lindsay Crouse, Places in the Heart; Christine Lahti, Swing Shift; Geraldine Page, The Pope of Greenwich Village.

Winner – Best Original Song – I Just Called to Say I Love You, Stevie Wonder, from The Woman In Red.

1985

I wanted to use a photo of Meg Tilly from the 1985 film Agnes of God, for which she was nominated for best supporting actress. But she was wearing a very unsexy nun’s outfit in most of the photos. So here is Meg Tilly (left) and Gina Gershon from the 1996 film Bound instead. Which has kind of a Fifty Shades of Grey vibe to it, but involves just chicks. Ahem!

Winner – Best Picture – Out of Africa

Nominees – The Color Purple; Kiss of the Spider Woman; Witness.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – William Hurt – Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Nominees – Harrison Ford, Witness; James Garner, Murphy’s Romance; Jack Nicholson, Prizzi’s Honor; Jon Voight, Runaway Train.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Don Ameche, Cocoon.

Nominees – Klaus Maria Brandauer, Out of Africa; William Hickey, Prizzi’s Honor; Robert Loggia, Jagged Edge; Eric Roberts, Runaway Train.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Geraldine Page, The Trip To Bountiful.

Nominees – Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God; Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple, Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams; Meryl Streep, Out of Africa.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Angelica Huston, Prizzi’s Honor.

Nominees – Margaret Avery, The Color Purple, Amy Madigan, Twice in a Lifetime; Meg Tilly, Agnes of God, Oprah Winfrey, The Color Purple.

Winner – Best Original Song – Say You, Say Me, White Nights.

 

1986

Oh ALL right…maybe I have a bit of a crush on Paul Newman, since this is the second photo of Paul Newman I’ve used in this blog! No apologies (hey it’s MY blog)…here he is as “Fast Eddie” in the 1986 film The Color of Money, for which he won the best actor Oscar.

 

Winner – Best Picture – Platoon

Nominees – Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, A Room With a View.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Paul Newman, The Color of Money.

Nominees – Dexter Gordon, ‘Round Midnight, Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa; William Hurt, Children of a Lesser God, James Woods, Salvador.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Michael Caine, Hannah and Her Sisters

Nominees – Tom Berenger, Platoon; William DaFoe, Platoon; Denholm Elliott, A Room With a View, Dennis Hopper, Hoosiers.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser God

Nominees- Jane Fonda, The Morning After; Sissy Spacek, Crimes of the Heart; Kathleen Turner, Peggy Sue Got Married; Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas in the Mist.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Dianne Wiest, Hannah and Her Sisters

Nominees – Tess Harper, Crimes of the Heart; Piper Laurie, Children of a Lesser God, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, The Color of Money.

Winner – Best Original Song – Take My Breath Away, Top Gun.

 

1987

Perennial ’80s Oscar nominee Glenn Close and Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction, where apparently she was batshit insane or something…I think she cooked someone’s pet rabbit in this movie. And she DIDN’T win the Oscar for this? The humanity!

Winner – Best Picture – The Last Emperor

Nominees – Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction, Hope and Glory, Moonstruck.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Michael Douglas, Wall Street.

Nominees – William Hurt, Broadcast News; Marcello Mastroianni, Dark Eyes; Jack Nicholson, Ironweed; Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Sean Connery, The Untouchables.

Nominees – Albert Brooks, Broadcast News; Morgan Freeman, Street Smart, Vincent Gardenia, Moonstruck, Denzel Washington, Cry Freedom.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Cher, Moonstruck.

Nominees – Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction; Holly Hunter, Broadcast News; Sally Kirkland, Anna; Meryl Streep, Ironweed.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress- Olympia Dukakis, Moonstruck

Nominees – Norma Alexander, Gaby, A True Story; Anne Archer, Fatal Attraction; Anne Ramsey, Throw Momma From A Train; Anne Sothern, The Whales of August.

Winner – Best Original Song – (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, Dirty Dancing.

1988

 

River Phoenix in Running on Empty, for which he was nominated for best supporting actor.

Winner – Best Picture – Rain Man

Nominees – The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Dustin Hoffman – Rain Man

Nominees – Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning; Tom Hanks, Big; Edward James Olmos, Stand and Deliver, Max Von Sydow, Pelle the Conqueror.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda.

Nominees – Alec Guinness, Little Dorrit; Martin Landau, Tucker: The Man And His Dream; River Phoenix, Running on Empty, Dean Stockwell, Married to the Mob.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Jodie Foster, The Accused

Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons; Melanie Griffith, Working Girl; Meryl Streep,  A Cry In The Dark; Sigourney Weaver, Gorillas In The Mist.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Geena Davis, The Accidental Tourist

Nominees – Frances McDormand, Mississippi Burning; Michelle Pfeiffer, Dangerous Liaisons; Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl.

Winner – Best Original Song – Let the River Run, Working Girl (Carly Simon).

 

1989

Best supporting actor winner Denzel Washington in the Civil War drama Glory. He also received an Oscar nod for supporting actor (playing South African activist Steven Biko) in the 1987 film Cry Freedom.

Winner – Best Picture – Driving Miss Daisy

Nominees – Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, My Left Foot.

Winner – Best Leading Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot

Nominees – Kenneth Branagh, Henry V; Tom Cruise, Born On the Fourth Of July; Morgan Freeman, Driving Miss Daisy; Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society.

Winner – Best Supporting Actor – Denzel Washington, Glory

Nominees – Danny Aiello, Do The Right Thing; Dan Aykroyd, Driving Miss Daisy; Marlon Brando, A Dry White Season; Martin Landau, Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Winner – Best Leading Actress – Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy

Nominees – Isabelle Adjani, Camille Claudel; Pauline Collins, Shirley Valentine; Jessica Lange, Music Box, Michelle Pfeiffer, The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Winner – Best Supporting Actress – Brenda Fricker, My Left Foot

Nominees – Angelica Huston, Enemies, a Love Story; Lena Olin, Enemies, a Love Story; Julia Roberts, Steel Magnolias.

Winner – Best Original Song – Under the Sea, the Little Mermaid.