It’s human nature that we tend to return to the scene of our our previous successes. Why wouldn’t we? In honor of awards season, here are twenty-one (or so) actors and the Oscar winning roles they couldn’t stay away from.
Charles Laughton
Laughton won his 1936 Oscar for “The Private Life of Henry VIII.” In 1952 he played Henry again in “Young Bess,” a film about the early days of QEI.
Spencer Tracy
Tracy was the first actor to pull off the “two Oscars in two years” trick for 1937‘s “Captains Courageous” and 1938‘s “Boys Town.” In 1941 he reprised his 1938 role of Father Flanagan in “Men of Boys Town.”
Greer Garson
“Mrs. Miniver” was a 1942 English film about a family living in wartime England in 1942 that was shot in wartime England in 1942. An engaging if not exciting melodrama, it gained popularity in the United States as a piece of subtle propaganda, endorsed by President Roosevelt, rallying Yanks in defense of the Brits. Garson won an Oscar as the titular character. In 1950 a sequel was made, “The Miniver Story” where Greer reprised her role as Mrs. Miniver.
By the way, who names their daughter Greer? Even after she was a big star, no one named their daughters Greer. What the hell kind of name is that?
James Cagney
Cagney gave the performance of a lifetime as George M. Cohan in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and walked away with a well-earned Oscar in 1942. In that same film, Eddie Foy Jr. made a cameo as his famous father. When Paramount cast Bob Hope as Eddie Foy in 1955’s “The Seven Little Foys,” Cagney came on board to appear in a musical number as Cohan. This is the number and it’s delightful. Two old Vaudville pros playing two even older Vaudville pros.
Bing Crosby
Crosby won the 1944 Best Actor Oscar for playing Father Chuck O’Malley in “Going My Way.” The next year saw a sequel, “The Bells of St. Mary’s” co-starring Ingrid Bergman. Crosby not only played Father O’Malley again, but was nominated for an Oscar again, becoming the only performer to pull that off.
Yul Brynner
Brynner owned the role of King Mongkut of Siam, first on Broadway and then on film in 1956’s “The King and I” for which he won his Oscar. Of course he returned to play the role in a few Broadway revivals, but I’m not counting that. I’m referring to the short-lived 1972 CBS series “Anna and the King.” Yes, I’m counting television reprisals and, yes, this was a show.
Barbra Streisand
Similar to Brynner, Streisand rode her Broadway triumph as Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” to a 1968 Oscar in the film version. In 1975 she reprised the role in the film musical “Funny Lady.”
John Wayne
Wayne was never a great actor, but he did give performances that were more nuanced than his Oscar winning role as Rooster Cogburn in 1969‘s “True Grit.” He won because he was John Wayne movie star and hooray for that. 1975‘s “Rooster Cogburn” paired him with Katherine Hepburn in what was basically a western re-tread of “The African Queen.” It’s a good movie.
George C. Scott
1970‘s Best Actor Oscar went to George C. Scott for his iconic portrayal of Gen. George S. Patton in the appropriately titled “Patton.” In 1986’s “The Last Days of Patton,” a television film about…the last days of Patton… we saw Scott return to his most famous role.
Gene Hackman
“The French Connection” is one of many gritty, ugly films set in New York City in the 70s. This one had a memorable chase scene. Hackman played anti-hero policeman Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle and copped (haha! get it?) the 1971 Oscar for Best Actor. In 1975 he did the “Popeye” again in “The French Connection II.”
Cloris Leachman
That same year, Cloris Leachman earned her Supporting Actress Oscar for the film adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel “The Last Picture Show.” McMurtry wrote a sequel called “Texasville” and when that novel was turned into a film nineteen years later in 1990, Leachman reprised her role.
John Houseman
Houseman was awarded 1973’s Best Supporting Actor Oscar less for his performance in “The Paper Chase,” which was pretty basic, than for his estimable contributions to theater, radio and film throughout his career. He spun his role as Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. into four seasons on the CBS television series “The Paper Chase.”
For me, he’ll always be the driving instructor from “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad.”
Shirley MacLaine & Jack Nicholson
Larry McMurtry (“The Last Picture Show”) also wrote a novel called “Terms of Endearment” which won Shirley her long-deserved Oscar in 1983. Jack picked up another Oscar also, this time for Supporting Actor. Larry McMurtry also wrote a sequel to this novel, “The Evening Star” which became a movie in 1996 where both actors reprised their winning roles. Shirley as a principle, Jack as a cameo.
Don Ameche
Ameche played Art Selwyn in “Cocoon” and returned to that role in “Cocoon: The Return.”
Michael Douglas
Gordon Gekko was a great character from writer/director Oliver Stone that Douglas polished into an unforgettable performance that landed him the 1987 award for Best Actor in “Wall Street.” In Stone‘s unremarkable 2010 sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” Douglas played Gekko again.
Anthony Hopkins
Tony Hopkins turned sixteen minutes of screen time in “The Silence of the Lambs” into a Best Actor Oscar. Not the shortest time for an actor. David Niven got his Best Actor Oscar for fifteen minutes in 1958’s “Separate Tables.” Hopkins’ performance is certainly iconic, but Lecter in this film is at best a supporting role.
I guess that’s a moot point.
Hopkins is thus far the only person to reprise his Oscar winning role not once, but twice in “Hannibal” and “Red Dragon.”
Tommy Lee Jones
One can argue here whether it was the written role of Samuel Gerard in 1993‘s “The Fugitive” or whether it was Jones performance in that role that won the Oscar. Probably both. He replayed Gerard in 1998‘s “U.S. Marshalls.”
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren was Queen Elizabeth II in 2006‘s “The Queen” and she won her Oscar for a wonderful performance. In 2015, she won a Tony award playing QEII again in the play “The Audience.” That’s a neat trick.
————————————————————————–
Now we come down to some peculiar outliers. Jack Palance won his Oscar in 1991 for “City Slickers,” a film where he played a character named simply Curly. Spoiler alert…he died at the end. The film was a big hit and a sequel was immediately put into production. In “City Slicker’s II: The Search for Curly’s Gold,” Palance played Curly’s identical twin brother Duke, this time with the last name Washburn.
Sorry. That doesn’t count. Even though he was basically playing the same character, it technically wasn’t Curly.
John Geilgud
I’m counting this one. Geilgud gave one of the screen’s great comic performances in 1981‘s “Arthur, ” one of the funniest film comedies written. But like Curly, his character Hobson died at the end of the first film. In the far inferior sequel “Arthur 2: On the Rocks” Geilgud returned as Hobson, only this time in ghost form. He’s still the same character though, so I’m counting that as a reprise.
Paul Newman
The lord of salad dressings and acting did things a bit in reverse. You remember that Bing was the only person to be nominated for the same part after winning the first time. Newman is the only person to do that backwards. Yes, he was nominated for Best Actor in 1961 for “The Hustler,” but he lost. It was when he played Fast Eddie Felson again in 1986’s “The Color of Money” that he won the gold. I’m counting that.
- Groovy Friday Remembers Burt Bacharach - February 9, 2023
- Groovy Friday remembers GF alumnus Olivia Newton John - August 8, 2022
- The Day I Married Shirley MacLaine - November 21, 2021
