Comments on: And the Oscar goes to...

Question: And the Oscar goes to...

AlliKat75 — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:36:04 -0800

Has an openly gay man or lesbian ever won an Academy Award (in any category)?

By: matteo

matteo — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:42:13 -0800

Jodie Foster is not technically out but she's really not in the closet either

By: MasonDixon

MasonDixon — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:43:14 -0800

Didn't Melissa Etheridge win for Best Song this year?

By: ThePinkSuperhero

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:46:49 -0800

Yes, she did.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:47:01 -0800

Elton John won Best Original Song for Lion King in 1995.

Marcia Gay Harden won Supporting Actress in 2000. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

By: iguanapolitico

iguanapolitico — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:49:09 -0800

*Any* category? We at least have Elton John, yes?

I'm sure of the bazillions of set designers, costume designers, and other behind-the-scenes folk, at least one must be openly gay.

It's proving too difficult for my lazy ass to find a simple list of all actor/actress winners for me to look over it. How many openly gay actors/actresses are there? (Ian McKellen, I was disappointed to imdb, has only been nominated.)

By: backwards guitar

backwards guitar — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:49:55 -0800

Pedro Almodóvar

By: Saucy Intruder

Saucy Intruder — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:51:16 -0800

Somebody in a minor category thanked his partner last year. As did Melissa Etheridge this year.

By: pasici

pasici — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:53:08 -0800

John Gielgud.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:55:24 -0800

Nigel Hawthorne was nominated in 1995 for Best Actor. Lost to Forrest Gump though.

By: PetiePal

PetiePal — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:58:44 -0800

Errm Sir Ian McKellan. Didn't he win one or two?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:03:14 -0800

It's proving too difficult for my lazy ass to find a simple list of all actor/actress winners for me to look over it.

It's easy to find at IMDB. That also reveals the insane number of winners each year, of which you recognize perhaps 10% of the names. I'm sure that some gay producers have won Best Picture, but who can ID producers?

By: solid-one-love

solid-one-love — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:04:23 -0800

Errm Sir Ian McKellan. Didn't he win one or two?

Nope. Nominated twice. Won neither time.

By: pasici

pasici — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:05:47 -0800

Alan Ball, screenplay for American Beauty

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:11:43 -0800

John Schlesinger.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:13:46 -0800

To expand on my answer: he won Best Picture in 1969 for Midnight Cowboy.

By: ericb

ericb — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:15:09 -0800

Sir Ian 'came out' in 1988 during an interview with BBC Radio.

By: hoverboards don't work on water

hoverboards don't work on water — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:17:44 -0800

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:nndb.com+%22sexual+orientation:+gay%22+oscar may help produce a shortlist. Not sure how you'd determine their enclosetment status at the time though.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:20:19 -0800

Noel Coward was openly, if quietly gay.

By: spicynuts

spicynuts — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:33:19 -0800

I made the assumption that the poster meant that the person was openly gay when they won the award. Was John Schlesinger openly gay in 69? Or John Gielgud?

By: blueshammer

blueshammer — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 08:54:49 -0800

Bill Condon for his Gods & Monsters screenplay in 1999?

By: AlliKat75

AlliKat75 — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 09:18:58 -0800

Wow...I can't believe I forgot about Sir Elton and the Almighty Etheridge! So stupid!! Thanks for the answers.

By: ethnomethodologist

ethnomethodologist — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 09:23:57 -0800

Jodie Foster is 100% in the closet. Everybody "knowing" she's a lesbian doesn't make her any less of a closet case.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 09:54:58 -0800

The question said "openly gay". Jodie Foster is not openly gay.

By: saffry

saffry — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:02:54 -0800

There is also the fantastic lyricist Howard Ashman, who won Oscars for "Beauty and the Beast" in 1991 and "Under the Sea" in 1989. IMDB says he has the sad honor of being the first AIDS victim to receive a posthumus Oscar.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:21:22 -0800

[a few comments removed, take the Jodie Foster love/hate to MetaTalk or email, otherwise stick to the question, thanks.]

By: pasici

pasici — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:32:40 -0800

I made the assumption that the poster meant that the person was openly gay when they won the award. Was John Schlesinger openly gay in 69? Or John Gielgud?

Gielgud's wikipedia entry is ambiguous on this point. It would appear that, due to his arrest, everyone "knew" he was gay, but he did not officially come out until after he won the Oscar in 1981.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:31:17 -0800

John Schlesinger didn't come out 'til 20 years after Midnight Cowboy so I don't think that counts.

By: tim_in_oz

tim_in_oz — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:53:46 -0800

Adam Elliot, an Australian animator, won an Oscar for best animated film with Harvie Krumpet. And you don't get more openly gay than thanking your boyfriend in the acceptance speech.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:49:36 -0800

John Schlesinger didn't come out 'til 20 years after Midnight Cowboy so I don't think that counts.

He publicly came out in 1971 - two years after Cowboy - but he was already in a long term homosexual relationship at that point. If he wasn't openly gay then he wasn't really unopenly gay either.