Entertainment

Is Oscar Gold A Lasting Treasure?

By Mary-Jayne McKay

March 27, 2000 / 3:46 PM EST / CBS

After the movie industry's top performers take home their Oscars, what will it mean after the euphoria of celebration wears off?

When Frank Sinatra won the coveted Academy Award in 1953 for From Here To Eternity, it was a landmark moment that turned him from just a singer to an acting powerhouse.

But Oscar's muscle appears to have diminished over time.

For example, Helen Hunt won best actress in 1997 for her performance in As Good As It Gets and did not grace the big screen for at least two years after that. Believe it or not, sometimes having the foresight to turn down projects is as good as it gets.

Sally Field once said that she believed that after she had won an Academy Award, people would be bringing her scripts on a silver platter. It didn't happen that way. After winning an Oscar for her performance in Norma Rae, she made Beyond the Poseidon Adventure and was actually criticized for doing that film.

There are strategies following an Oscar win that can help sustain the wave of good fortune. Gwyneth Paltrow has hung on to her Oscar-winning aura by keeping it wrapped up in small parts.

She followed 1998's Oscar-winning role for Shakespeare In Love with a smaller role in The Talented Mr. Ripley, in which she got star billing but wasn't the focus and didn't have to carry the picture.

Getting attention in Hollywood doesn't only ride on the number of Oscars on your mantel. There are these other formulas for fame:

Having a good agent.
Having luck on your side.
Having the right look for a specific role.
Knowing Harvey Weinstein at Miramax Pictures, or whoever is hot at the moment.

If an Oscar victory doesn't guarantee future success, what exactly does it do for someone's career?

Michael Caine always said the one reason he wanted an Academy Award was because it would put him in a league with legends like Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Clark Gable.

"I'm not in if I don't have an Academy Award," he said, and he's right.

Caine, who previously won in 1986 for a role in Hannah and Her Sisters, added to his Oscar total in 1999, winning as best supporting actor for his role in The Cider House Rules.

Another multiple Oscar winner was Kevin Spacey, who won best actor in 1999 for his performance in the best picture winner, American Beauty. He won in 1995 for a supporting role in The Usual Suspects.

Spacey also is an intelligent chooser of roles and picks projects from the heart rather than going for the bucks.

Which is one difference between award-winning actors and actresses. Both can choose well, but women usually have fewer opportunities than men do to get good scripts.
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