Saturday Night Live and the Oscars. Alumni who have been nominated.

Having just watched SNL alum Will Forte's great performance in Nebraska and wondering why he wasn't nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar, lead me to think about other SNL alumni who have actually had dates with Oscar. And that answer is: only 7. Some might say 9; but 2: George Coe and Randy Quaid, received their nominations before being a cast member on SNL. That technically makes them the only Oscar alums to become cast members on SNL. Not the other way around. But if you are wondering, George Coe received an Oscar nomination in 1969 for a live action short called De Duva. The Dove, a short film that poked fun at the directorial style of Ingmar Bergman. Coe became a cast member on SNL in 1975, six years after his nomination. Randy Quaid (I forgot he was an Oscar nominee and I forgot he was on SNL) was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1973 for the Navy drama The Last Detail opposite Jack Nicholson. Quaid lost to John Houseman in The Paper Chase and joined SNL for their 1985-1986 season, twelve years after his nomination.

Now let's move on to, technically, the only 7 SNL alumni to receive Oscar nominations...

And the nominees were...

Joan Cusack - SNL Cast Member 1985 - 1986.  Since leaving Saturday Night Live, Cusack was nominated for an Academy Award twice in the Best Supporting Actress category. Her first nomination was in 1988 for the comedy classic Working Girl. Fellow co-star Sigourney Weaver was also nominated but they both lost the award to Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist. Her second nomination came in 1997 for the comedy In & Out starring Kevin Kline. She lost that year to Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential.

Dan Aykroyd - SNL Cast Member 1975-1979. Aykroyd was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for the film Driving Miss Daisy. He lost the award to Denzel Washington in Glory. However, Miss Daisy went on to win Best Picture of the year.

Robert Downey Jr. - SNL Cast Member 1985-1986. RDJ has been nominated for two Academy Awards since leaving Saturday Night Live. His first nomination came in 1992 for Leading Actor for playing non-other than Charlie Chaplin in the film Chaplin. He lost the award to Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman. His second nomination, and a surprising one at that, came in the Supporting Actor category for the 2008 comedy Tropic Thunder. He lost that award to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Bill Murray - SNL Cast Member 1977 - 1980. Murray was nominated for Leading Actor in 2003 for the film Lost in Translation, directed by Sophia Coppola. He lost the award to Sean Penn in Mystic River.

Michael McKean - SNL Cast Member 1994-1995. McKean was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category for "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from the 2003 film A Mighty Wind. He lost the award to Annie Lennox, Fran Walsh and Howard Shore for the song "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Eddie Murphy - SNL Cast Member 1980-1984. Eddie Murphy was nominated for Supporting Actor in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls. Murphy was considered by many to be the frontrunner for the award but previews for his next film, Norbit, where he spends half the movie in a black lady fat suit, gave voters pause. He lost the award to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine.

Kristen Wiig - SNL Cast Member 2005-2012. Wiig received a nomination in 2011 in the Best Original Screenplay category for Bridesmaids, shared with Annie Mumolo. They lost the award to Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris.


To date, no SNL alum has ever won an Academy Award.

Back to Back Oscars? I'm Talking To You Ms. Jennifer Lawrence.

(thanks to Peggy at the Movies Supporting Actress picks for inspiring this post)

There have been only 5 Actors to win back to back Oscars in the 85 years since the Academy Awards has been around. I'd like to know why people aren't talking about the fact Jennifer Lawrence can make history by becoming the YOUNGEST performer to win back to back Oscars and the first to win in 2 different acting categories. And she has a real shot of doing it.

Here's who has done it already in one form or another....

Luise Rainer in 1936 for The Great Ziegfeld and in 1937 for The Good Earth. Many Oscar enthusiasts consider her 2nd win for The Good Earth to be one of the Academy's great blunders. Many believe, to this day, Greta Garbo deserved it for her iconic performance in Camille. But Oscar doesn't always get it right and Luise Rainer became the 1st performer and actress to win consecutive Oscars






Spencer Tracy in 1938 for Captains Courageous and in 1939 for Boys Town. He is the first actor and 2nd performer to win back to back Oscars and most people are ok with this. No scandalous Luise Rainer shit here. Tracy went on to have 9 career nominations, all for leading actor, his last being Guess Who's Coming To Dinner with our next consecutive Oscar
winner....






Katherine Hepburn. Wow. Not only did she garner 12 Best Actress nominations, all in the leading category, she won back to back Oscars for in 1968 for Guess Who's Coming To Dinner and in 1969 for The Lion in the Winter (where she tied with Ms. Streisand for Funny Girl but who really
cares about that dated performance? Have you seen it lately? Borders annoying. Sorry Babs.) Meryl Streep may have more nominations than Hepburn but she has yet to win back to back Oscars. Also, Hepburn has won a total of 4 Oscars, all in the leading actress category. Streep only has 3 and one of them is for supporting. Hepburn reigns supreme.

Jason Robards in 1976 for All the President's Men and in 1977 for Julia. He thus became the first performer to win back to back Supporting Acting Oscars. He was also nominated for an Oscar for playing Howard Hughes in the 1980 film Melvin and Howard. He had a very successful film career in the 1980's and 1990's. His last role was in the 1999 film Magnolia.

and... Tom Hanks in 1993 for Philadelphia and in 1994 for Forrest Gump. Personally, I cannot believe he won an Oscar for Forrest Gump. Morgan Freeman was nominated for The Shawshank Redemption that year, there is no contest. Also, that brings me to my point; when Tom Hanks had the opportunity to win back to back Oscars, the media flocked to the story, perhaps giving him an unfair advantage by focusing in his narrative, "First actor in 60 years to win back to back leading actor Oscars." I haven't seen anything about poor J. Law's opportunity to make history. After winning Best Actress just last year for Silver Lining's Playbook, she may very well win Best Supporting Actress this year for American Hustle (please see review here.) Let's talk about it people! You know we love her.