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Here’s A Look At Every Oscars Host Over The Years Ahead Of Academy Awards 2025 ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Hollywood is getting decked up for one of the biggest award nights. The 97th Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2. The ceremony will be broadcast live in India at 5:00 a.m. on Monday, March 3, 2025. Conan O’Brien will host the award ceremony. O’Brien has previously hosted many prestigious events, including the Emmys and the MTV Movie Awards.

The Oscar committee is known for experimenting with its formats when selecting its host. As Conan O’Brien is gearing up to take the stage, here’s a list of star hosts, including Anne Hathaway, Chris Rock, Hugh Jackman, and others, who have made headlines with their humor and hosting skills over the years at the Academy Awards.

Bob Hope

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Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the acting champ when it comes to Academy Awards.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins finished second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1942), and Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the champ of all actors.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins ranked second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). Just above that film performance in the rankings are George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine...

Jack Lemmon was the two-time Oscar-winner who starred in dozens of films, working until his death in 2001 at the age of 76. But how many of those titles are classics? Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best.

Lemmon won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for “Mister Roberts” (1955). A second Oscar for Best Actor followed for “Save the Tiger” (1973), making him the first person to pull off victories in both categories. He competed six more times for Best Actor throughout his career.

He is perhaps best known for his long collaboration with Walter Matthau, with whom he made 11 films. In films such as “The Fortune Cookie” (1966), “The Odd Couple” (1968), and “Grumpy Old Men” (1993), Lemmon’s fastidiousness played beautifully off of Matthau’s scruffiness.

On the small screen, Lemmon earned Emmys for “‘S Wonderful, ‘S Marvelous, ‘S Gershwin” (Best Variety Performer in 1972) and...

The Sting, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, made groundbreaking history with one of its Academy Award wins. Considered one of the best heist movies of all time, The Sting sees Henry Gondorff (Newman) and Johnny Hooker (Redford) teaming up to con the crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). The 1973 film is among Robert Redford and Paul Newman's best movies, with its heist being among one of the most iconic in cinematic history.

The Sting's critical and commercial success led to ten nominations and seven wins at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974. It won for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Scoring. Redford also received a Best Actor nomination, with Jack Lemmon going on to win the honor for Save the Tiger. However, only one of The Sting's Academy Award wins would change the future of movie awards.

Happy Holidays from The B-Side! Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today we discuss the great Jack Lemmon with the great Mitchell Beaupre! Our B-Sides today include Cowboy, The April Fools, Tribute, and Out to Sea. There’s also a lengthy appreciation of Save the Tiger, which won Lemmon his second Oscar.

The three of us try to define how exactly Lemmon so perfectly encapsulated the average, American male for so many decades, while digging into his long career, that includes both filmmaker Billy Wilder and Walter Matthau. We discuss how Cowboy was ahead of its time, how The April Fools skates by on immense, charming chemistry, and how Tribute falters due to a stunted co-lead (sorry Robby Benson!).

There’s a lot in this episode. A true holiday gift! We...

Since its creation nearly a century ago, the Oscars has seen many talented actors receive nominations across the Academy's different acting categories. The Oscars are recognized as the most coveted awards in the movie industry. Since its first award ceremony in 1929, many actors have had the honor of winning the Oscar for their acting abilities in various acclaimed movies.

The Academy has four different categories where a person's acting abilities are recognized: Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Dozens of actors, such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr, received several nominations before ever winning an Oscar. Others have a mix of nominations and wins between all four of the available categories.

Peter O'Toole Received 8 Academy Award Nominations Across 4 Decades

Irish-British actor Peter O'Toole holds the distinctive record of having the most Oscars nominations, without any wins. He made his film debut in the 1962 epic movie Lawrence of Arabia,...

“Slow Horses” star Gary Oldman is the frontrunner to win Best Drama Actor at the upcoming Emmys. Oldman earned his first and only Oscar six years ago for his portrayal of World War II-era British prime minister Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” That win was sandwiched between two other lead bids for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2012) and “Mank” (2021). His sole Emmy nomination to date came in 2001 for his guest appearance in the two-part seventh season finale of “Friends”; he lost to Derek Jacobi (“Frasier”).

On Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses,” which is based on a series of novels by Mick Herron, Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, a particularly uncouth MI5 officer saddled with the responsibility of supervising a group of service rejects. This constitutes his very first regular role on a continuing series and his first live action TV performance at all in over two decades.

Oldman would be the 12th...

Spoilers for "Deadpool & Wolverine" to follow.

In "Deadpool & Wolverine," Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) learns from the Time Variance Authority (Tva) that his universe is dying. This is mostly because Marvel Studios parent company Disney bought 20th Century Fox (home of the "X-Men" movie franchise since Marvel Comics sold off the rights in the 1990s). It's also, though, because in 2017's "Logan," Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) died.

The "X-Men" franchise made Logan its star and did not do a good job getting the audience hooked on the other characters. So, without Logan, the sustaining-interest in the setting is gone. It's typical "Deadpool" metatext, especially since with this film, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is bringing Jackman back as Logan to renew interest in itself.

After getting the news his universe is due for a pruning, Deadpool begins hopping across the multiverse. He thinks if he can find a Wolverine to fill his world's Logan-shaped hole,...

The red carpet will soon roll out for the 77th Festival de Cannes. The international film festival, playing out May 14-25, has a distinct American voice this year. “Barbie” filmmaker Greta Gerwig is the first U.S. female director name jury president. Many veteran American helmers are heading to the French Rivera resort town. George Lucas, who turns 80 on May 14, will receive an honorary Palme d’Or. Francis Ford Coppola’s much-anticipated “Megalopolis” is screening in competition, as is Paul Schrader’s “Oh Canada.” Kevin Costner’s new Western “Horizon, An American Saga” will premiere out of competition and Oliver Stone’s “Lula” is part of the special screening showcase.

Fifty years ago, Coppola was the toast of the 27th Cannes Film Festival. His brilliant psychological thriller “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman won the Palme D’Or and well as a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. The film would earn three Oscar nominations: picture,...

Marlon Brando – the man whom Time magazine crowned the greatest actor of the 20th century back in 1998 – would be celebrating his 100th birthday today had he not died 20 years ago. Born on April 3, 1924, Brando was a fascinating if divisive character, a perpetually enigmatic figure whose impact not only on the acting profession but on American popular culture itself can’t be overstated. He starred in numerous iconic roles, from Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” to Terry Malloy in “On the Waterfront” to Julius Caesar in “Julius Caesar” to Vito Corleone in “The Godfather.”

While he wound up nominated for eight Academy Awards and six Golden Globes and won two of each, it was the one honor Brando rejected, of course, that came to define his awards legacy: his Best Actor win for “The Godfather” in 1973 in which he sent actress and purported Native American representative Sacheen Littlefeather (a.

A lucky 13 performers have won both Oscars for acting. That is one hell of an exclusive club that even the likes of four-time Best Actress champion Katharine Hepburn and triple Best Actor victor Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t manage to join. Here’s the breakdown of thespians who taken home both lead and supporting Academy Awards in order of their achievement:

Helen Hayes won Best Actress in 1932 for “The Sin of Madelon Claudet.” She won Best Supporting Actress in 1971 for “Airport.” Hayes, who was the first performer to pull off this double feature, had the longest time between wins.

Jack Lemmon won for his supporting turn in “Mister Roberts” in 1956 before he took home Best Actor in 1974 for “Save the Tiger.”

Ingrid Bergman won Best Actress in 1945 for “Gaslight” and again in 1957 for “Anastasia” before she took home a supporting award in 1975 for “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Maggie Smith won...

This month has been full of sad reports of celebrity passings… and unfortunately, today is no different. It has been brought to our attention that Lara Parker, best known for starring in the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and the 1975 horror classic Race with the Devil, has passed away at the age of 84. Her daughter confirmed to Variety that she died in her sleep at her home in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles on October 12th.

If you’re not familiar with Parker’s work on Dark Shadows, Variety has the information: “From 1967 to 1971, the Memphis native starred in Dark Shadows as the central antagonist Angelique Bouchard. Set in the fictional setting of Collinsport, Maine, the series follows the town’s founding family, the Collins family. In the show, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) spurns the besotted Angelique after a brief dalliance with her, unaware that she is a witch.

Lara Parker, who played fan-favorite witch Angelique Bouchard on “Dark Shadows,” has died at 84.

Kathryn Leigh Scott, her co-star on the 1960s gothic soap opera, posted the news to Facebook on Monday.

“I have sad news . . . my beautiful, beloved friend Lara Parker passed away Thursday, October 12. I’m heartbroken, as all of us are who knew and loved her,” Scott wrote.

“She graced our lives with her beauty and talent, and we are all richer for having had her in our lives. Family meant more than anything to Lara, and they have wanted these few days since her passing to themselves. Rest in peace, my cherished friend,” Scott concluded.

The actress died in her sleep at her home in Topanga Canyon, her daughter said.

The series ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971 and spawned several follow-up movies from creator Dan Curtis.

Parker, along with other surviving “Dark Shadows” stars, made cameos...

Lara Parker, known for her role as the witch Angelique in the ABC gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows,” died in her sleep on Oct. 12 at her home in the Topanga Canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, her daughter confirmed. She was 84.

From 1967 to 1971, the Memphis native starred in “Dark Shadows” as the central antagonist Angelique Bouchard. Set in the fictional setting of Collinsport, Maine, the series follows the town’s founding family, the Collins family. In the show, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) spurns the besotted Angelique after a brief dalliance with her, unaware that she is a witch.

An angry Angelique vows revenge and curses Barnabas into becoming a vampire, which precipitates a volatile love-hate relationship that lasts over multiple centuries.

Parker’s role as Angelique ended after her character’s death, but she continued appearing in the series in another role as Collins family member Catherine Harridge Collins.

After the end of the daytime serial,...

Lara Parker, known for her role as the vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard on the gothic ABC soap opera Dark Shadows, passed away at 84. Her daughter, Caitlin, confirmed that Parker peacefully passed away in her sleep at her home in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Parker made her mark in films as a character in John G. Avildsen’s Save the Tiger (1973), where she portrayed a prostitute whose client suffered a heart attack, alongside Jack Lemmon‘s Oscar-winning performance. She also played the wife of Peter Fonda‘s character in the 1975 satanic horror film Race With the Devil, alongside Warren Oates and Loretta Swit. In 1967, shortly after arriving in New York, Parker auditioned for Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis and was cast as Angelique as part of a storyline that delved into the origin of the tormented vampire Barnabas Collins. (It was her second-ever professional audition in New York.

Lara Parker, who as the vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard spent centuries entangled in a love-hate relationship with Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas Collins on the gothic ABC soap opera Dark Shadows, has died. She was 84.

Parker died Thursday in her sleep at her home in Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles, her daughter, Caitlin, told The Hollywood Reporter.

On the big screen, Parker stood out as a prostitute whose client has a heart attack in John G. Avildsen’s Save the Tiger (1973), starring Jack Lemmon in an Oscar-winning turn, and she played the wife of Peter Fonda‘s character in the satanic horror film Race With the Devil (1975), also featuring Warren Oates and Loretta Swit.

Mere days after arriving in New York in 1967, the green-eyed Parker auditioned for Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis, who cast her as Angelique in a story arc that would detail the origin of the tortured vampire Barnabas.

Since making his screen debut at age eight opposite his father, Lloyd Bridges, on TV’s “Sea Hunt,” Jeff Bridges has enjoyed an acting career that now spans a whopping 65 years. His resume mainly consists of film roles, but he has occasionally ventured back to the small screen, most recently as the star of “The Old Man.” Having already picked up Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his performance on the FX series, he is naturally one of the strongest contenders for this year’s Best Drama Actor Emmy. If his likely bid results in a victory, the Best Actor Oscar winner will join a distinguished group of leading men who were lauded by the film and then TV academies.

Bridges earned his first and only Oscar 13 years ago for his portrayal of recovering alcoholic country singer Bad Blake in “Crazy Heart.” He had previously...

It was an epic night for the Academy, with now-classic films and performances in competition, an anomaly between Best Picture and Best Director nominations, a young actress redefining the acting categories and the culmination of a decades-long feud. Let’s flashback to when first-time host Frank Sinatra guided the 35th Academy Awards ceremony on April 8, 1963.

In the years of the Best Picture category being limited to five films, the Best Director category typically fell in line with those productions, with maybe one variation. In 1963, only two directors from Best Picture nominees received bids; unsurprisingly, those two films also had the most nominations and the most wins. David Lean‘s sprawling epic biopic “Lawrence of Arabia” led the pack, coming into the night with ten bids and leaving with seven statues, including Best Picture and Lean’s second career win for Best Director. It has the unusual distinction of being the...

Nothing is more compelling in sports than an underdog. Whenever people root for dynasties or debate who the Goat of a given sport is, I am immediately uninterested. Dominance is boring. It's impressive, but it's boring. Underdogs always make for the best stories and end up making the best protagonists in movies about sports. Nowhere is that more evident than in "Rocky," which is basically the prototype of this kind of story and has been endlessly ripped off since its release in 1976.

Part of the reason none of the "Rocky" sequels work for me is that he loses that underdog status. When Rocky Balboa is on top, he no longer becomes interesting to me, in the same way John Rambo is no longer interesting once Stallone decides he's the ultimate badass and not a Ptsd-haunted veteran. Stallone wrote "Rocky" when he himself was an underdog, a guy trying to get...

In the 34 years since Denzel Washington first caught the attention of Oscar voters with his work in “Cry Freedom,” he has amassed a whopping total of nine acting nominations. This makes him one of the six most-recognized male performers in academy history alongside Paul Newman, Al Pacino, and Spencer Tracy and behind Jack Nicholson (12) and Laurence Olivier (10). With his 2022 Best Actor bid for “The Tragedy of Macbeth” factored in, his nine nominated performances add up to 11 hours, 26 minutes, and 45 seconds of screen time, which is the second highest male total behind Nicholson’s.

Having triumphed for his featured turn in “Glory” (1990) and his starring role in “Training Day” (2002), Washington is one of only six men who have conquered both male acting categories. He was preceded by Jack Lemmon, Robert De Niro, Nicholson, Gene Hackman, and Kevin Spacey. Nicholson later won a second Best Actor award for “As Good As It Gets...

The couple that gets nominated together can do the same upgrade together. With their Best Actor and Best Actress Oscar bids for “Being the Ricardos” and “Parallel Mothers,” respectively, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz became the sixth married couple to score acting nominations in the same year, and since they’re both already winners in supporting, they can now join the elite circle of performers who’ve claimed both acting prizes.

Bardem, who won Best Supporting Actor for “No Country for Old Men” (2007), would be the seventh man to win lead and supporting Oscars — and the first since Denzel Washington accomplished it 20 years ago. Washington, of course, is one of Bardem’s rivals this year, nominated for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Cruz, who collected the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” a year after her future hubby triumphed, would be the eighth woman to pull off the sweep.

Edward S. Feldman, the longtime Hollywood movie and TV producer whose credits included the Oscar-nominated Witness and K-19 The Widowmaker both starring Harrison Ford, died October 2 in Los Angeles, his publicist said. He was 91.

Feldman was nominated for the Oscar for producing Witness, Peter Weir’s 1985 drama starring Ford as a cop who goes undercover in Amish country to protect a boy who witnessed a murder. It scored eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture and won for its writing and editing.

Feldman would later reunite with Weir for 1998’s The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey which scored three Oscar nominations. His other film credits include Save the Tiger, The Other Side of the Mountain, Near Dark, The Hitcher, Honey I Blew Up The Kid, Hot Dog…The Movie, The Golden Child, Wired, Green Card, The Doctor, Forever Young, the live-action The Jungle Book, and the live-action 101 Dalmatians and its sequel 102 Dalmatians.

Academy Award nominated film producer Edward S. Feldman, known for producing hits such as 1985’s “Witness” and 1998’s “The Truman Show,” died Friday night Oct. 2, in Los Angeles at the age of 91, according to his spokesperson.

Feldman, whose career began during the golden age of Hollywood and lasted for over six decades, worked with such Hollywood legends as Glen Close, Debbie Reynolds, Harrison Ford, Jack Lemmon, Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, Rutger Hauer, Burt Reynolds, Yul Brynner, Eddie Murphy, Mel Gibson and Gerard Depardieu. Feldman’s final film in 2002 reunited him with Harrison Ford at Paramount, “K-19 The Widowmaker,” when he decided to retire and spend more time with his family.

Feldman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for “Witness” and the BAFTA Award for Best Film for “Witness” and “The Truman Show.” In 2001, the Hollywood Film Festival honored him for Outstanding Achievement in Producing.

Born in The Bronx,...

Film producer Edward S. Feldman, who received an Academy Award best picture nomination for “Witness,” died on Oct. 2 in Los Angeles, according to his publicist. He was 91.

He was also nominated for BAFTA Awards for “Witness” and “The Truman Show.” In 1977, he received an Emmy nomination in the limited series category for “21 Hours at Munich” and was nominated the following year in the same category for “King.”

His feature film producing credits included “What’s the Matter With Helen?,” “Save the Tiger,” “The Other Side of the Mountain,” “Two-Minute Warning,” “The Last Married Couple in America,” “Hot Dog…The Movie,” “The Golden Child,” “Wired,” “Green Card,” the 1994 live-action “The Jungle Book,” the live-action “101 Dalmatians,” its sequel “102 Dalmatians” and “K-19: The Widowmaker.”

“Witness” starred Harrison Ford as a detective protecting a young Amish boy who becomes a target after he witnesses a murder in Philadelphia. The film received eight Oscar nominations,...

Edward S. Feldman, the studio publicist turned producer who guided such films as the best picture nominee Witness, The Truman Show and The Hitcher, died Friday in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 91.

During his six-decade career, the Bronx native also produced movies including Save the Tiger (1973), an Oscar winner for Jack Lemmon; The Golden Child (1986), starring Eddie Murphy; the live-action features The Jungle Book (1994), 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000); and Harrison Ford’s K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), his final film.

For television, Feldman produced such miniseries as the fact-based 1976’s 21 Hours at Munich, 1978’s King — both of which earned him Emmy ...

Edward S. Feldman, the publicist turned producer who guided such films as the best picture nominee Witness, The Truman Show and The Hitcher, died Friday in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 91.

During his six-decade career, the Bronx native also produced movies including Save the Tiger (1973), an Oscar winner for Jack Lemmon; The Golden Child (1986), starring Eddie Murphy; the live-action features The Jungle Book (1994), 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000); and Harrison Ford’s K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), his final film.

For television, Feldman produced such miniseries as the fact-based 1976’s 21 Hours at Munich, 1978’s King — both of which earned him Emmy Award ...

Jack Lemmon was considered one of the most diversely talented actors in the history of Hollywood. After getting his start on television in 1949, Lemmon amassed exactly 100 big and small screen credits between then and 2000. Equally lauded for his comedic and dramatic performances during that span, Lemmon earned two Oscar Awards and six Golden Globes over his illustrious 50-year career.

Related: The 10 Greatest Everyman Actors Of The Last Century

Lemmon's first Oscar victory came in 1956 for his comedic role in Mister Roberts. His second Academy Award win came following his dramatic turn in the 1973 film Save the Tiger. For a better picture of his filmography, here are his best movies.

Jack Lemmon would’ve celebrated his 94th birthday on February 8, 2019. The two-time Oscar-winner starred in dozens of films, working until his death in 2001 at the age of 76. But how many of those titles are classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest movies, ranked worst to best.

SEEOscar Best Supporting Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History

Lemmon won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for “Mister Roberts” (1955). A second Oscar for Best Actor followed for “Save the Tiger” (1973), making him the first person to pull off victories in both categories. He competed six more times for Best Actor throughout his career.

He is perhaps best known for his long collaboration with Walter Matthau, with whom he made 11 films. In films such as “The Fortune Cookie” (1966), “The Odd Couple” (1968), and “Grumpy Old Men” (1993), Lemmon’s fastidiousness played beautifully off of Matthau’s scruffiness.

No. 2 has become No. 1. Christian Bale, who’s already won a Golden Globe and two Critics’ Choice Awards for his performance as Dick Cheney in “Vice,” is now the Best Actor Oscar frontrunner in our latest predictions.

On the heels of his Best Actor and Best Actor in a Comedy victories at Sunday’s Critics’ Choice Awards, Bale has inched past Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”) with 19/5 odds to 39/10. However, our Experts are split between the two: 11 are backing Bale and 12 have Cooper. Bale has the edge with our Editors (four to one) and our Top 24 Users (10 to seven).

Cooper had been the frontrunner the entire season, but he hasn’t claimed a major prize yet. At the Globes, he lost the drama category to Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) before falling to Bale at Critics’ Choice. “A Star Is Born” has underperformed so far in general, with just twin...

What do four disparate entertainers such as Jack Lemmon, Denzel Washington, Kevin Spacey and Robert De Niro have in common besides being actors. The quartet won a supporting Academy Award before claiming gold for a lead. Three-time nominee Christian Bale, whose uncanny transformation into Vice President Dick Cheney is the most acclaimed element of Adam McKay‘s satirical biopic “Vice,” could join that club if he wins a companion Academy Award to go with his supporting statuette for his crack-addicted boxer in 2010’s “The Fighter.” He previously was nominated for Best Actor for his con man in 2013’s “American Hustle” and for his supporting part as an anti-social whiz at numbers crunching in 2015’s “The Big Short,” also directed by McKay.

Let’s look at how the foursome above went about doubling up on Oscars:

*Lemmon, an eight-time Oscar nominee, first won for his comic-relief role as the rebellious Ensign Pulver in the 1955 Navy-themed dramedy,...

Robert Redford could well win an Oscar for his final role on film in “The Old Man and the Gun,” which recently charmed audiences at the London Film Festival. Writer/director David Lowery tells a merry little story that moves along at a neat pace with an entirely relaxed approach that extends to the performances. Here’s the official synopsis of the Fox Searchlight Pictures movie: Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker and his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public.

In Redford’s swansong, his charm, charisma and likeability are used to full effect. This screen legend has only reaped one Oscar bid for acting: he lost in 1974 for his performance in the Best Picture champ “The Sting” to Jack Lemmon (“Save the Tiger”). He did win an Academy Award for directing the 1981 Best Picture “Ordinary People.

Now that the “Vice” trailer is out, Christian Bale — unrecognizable as Dick Cheney in the Adam McKay film — is gaining ground in our Best Actor predictions, rising to 4/1 odds to sit behind predicted champ Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”). If the Oscar winner goes the all the way, he’d not only pick up his second statuette, but he’d become the seventh man to win in lead and supporting.

Bale, who won Best Supporting Actor for “The Fighter” (2010), would join a list that includes:

1. Jack Lemmon, Best Supporting Actor for “Mister Roberts” (1955) and Best Actor for “Save the Tiger” (1973)

2. Robert De Niro, Best Supporting Actor for “The Godfather Part II” (1974) and Best Actor for “Raging Bull” (1980)

3. Jack Nicholson, Best Actor for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) and “As Good as It Gets (1997), and Best Supporting Actor for “Terms of Endearment” (1983)

4. Gene Hackman, Best Actor for “The French Connection...

Legendary actor Robert Redford is reportedly retiring from acting after “The Old Man and the Gun,” which opened on September 28. He stars in the film as real-life bank-robber Forrest Tucker, a career criminal who spent his life robbing banks, getting arrested and escaping prison. Rinse and repeat. Is this film a fitting farewell for the man whose career breakthrough came almost 50 years ago in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1969)?

As of this writing “Old Man” has a MetaCritic score of 81 and an 89% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Tomatometer critical consensus calls it “a well-told story brought to life by a beautifully matched cast” and a “pure, easygoing entertainment for film fans — and a fitting farewell to a legend.” It’s the “best film yet” by director David Lowery, who previously helmed “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” (2013), “Pete’s Dragon” (2016) and “A Ghost Story” (2017).

As for Redford, he exhibits “brilliant,...

Robert Redford has recently announced that his appearance in the upcoming film “The Old Man and the Gun” will mark his retirement from acting. Since then, this Hollywood icon has been rising up the ranks on our Oscars prediction chart for Best Actor. Should he take home the Academy Award next February, Redford would, at age 82, become the oldest-ever winner of that race.

His new movie is based on the true story of an elderly ex-con who robs a number of banks and becomes a folk hero. The role makes a fitting bookend to a career that was launched into the stratosphere by “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” fifty years ago. This new film by David Lowery boasts an exceptional supporting cast including Oscar winners Sissy Spacek, Casey Affleck and Keith Carradine as well as Emmy champ Elisabeth Moss and screen veteran Danny Glover.

Redford lost his only bid...

Some of the most legendary actors in Hollywood history won their Oscars in the 1970s. The Best Actor category of this decade was stacked with some of the biggest stars of the time, many of which have lived on for generations. But which Best Actor Oscar winner of the 1970s is your absolute favorite? Take a trip down memory lane and vote in our poll below.

George C. Scott, “Patton” (1970) — Scott took home the Best Actor prize for “Patton,” which also won Best Picture. In the film he plays the titular George S. Patton, the famous hot-tempered U.S. army general who led troops during World War II. He had previously been nominated for “Anatomy of a Murder” (1959), “The Hustler” (1961), and later for “The Hospital” (1971). Scott notably declined his nomination and win for “Patton.”

SEERobert De Niro (‘Raging Bull’) knocks out all contenders to be your top Best Actor Oscar winner of 1980s [Poll Results]

Gene Hackman,...

Filmways Television co-founder and film/TV producer Martin Ransohoff has died. He was 90 years old and passed away at his home in Bel-Air, according to his family. Ransohoff had a long list of film and TV credits, including The Cincinnati Kid – a film on which he fired director Sam Peckinpah – as well as Save the Tiger, The Sandpiper (with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton), Catch 22, Jagged Edge, The Americanization of Emily, Silver Streak, Ice Station Zebra, and TV…...

Filmways Television co-founder and film/TV producer Martin Ransohoff has died. He was 90 years old and passed away at his home in Bel-Air, according to his family. Ransohoff had a long list of film and TV credits, including The Cincinnati Kid – a film on which he fired director Sam Peckinpah – as well as Save the Tiger, The Sandpiper (with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton), Catch 22, Jagged Edge, The Americanization of Emily, Silver Streak, Ice Station Zebra, and TV…...

Need a break from violence, misery, and injustice? Or maybe just the network TV news? Billy Wilder’s last great comic romance is an Italian vacation soaked in music, food, scenery and sunshine. It’s the best movie ever about Love and Funerals.

Avanti!

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.

Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller

Film Editor: Ralph Winters

Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti

Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli

Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.

Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor

Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder

When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...

I remember once reading about a conversation Orson Welles had with PeterBogdanovich about the fact that screen legend Greta Garbo only made tworeally good pictures out of 40.Orson's response was, "Well, you only need one."

Well, Tobe Hooper definitely had "the one." Sure, he made several pictureshorror fans remember fondly such as Poltergeist, The Funhouse and Salem'sLot. But “the one” he will be forever remembered for is The TexasChain Saw Massacre.Game changers arrive on the scene without warning – and in the early Seventies, this movie exploded on screen.

Even...

Chicago – His films were more popular than his name, but director John G. Avildsen did put his mark on the last 30 years of 20th Century movies. Avildsen died last week at the age of 81. He is known best for the Oscar Best Picture-winning “Rocky” (1976), but also did the controversial “Joe” (1970), “Save the Tiger” (1973, Best Actor Oscar for Jack Lemmon), John Belushi’s last film “Neighbors” (1981), “The Karate Kid” (1984), “Lean on Me” (1989) and “8 Seconds” (1994). Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Espino of HollywoodChicago.com offer three essays on their Avildsen favorites.

Director John G. Avildsen on the Set of ‘Rocky’ with Sylvester Stallone

Photo credit: United Artists

John G. Avildsen was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, and graduated from New York University. He started as an assistant director for Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger, before breaking out on his own in the low budget “Joe,” featuring Peter Boyle, in 1970. He scored his biggest success with “Rocky” in 1976 – winning the Oscar for Best Director – and revisited the franchise later with “Rocky V” (1990). He also directed both sequels to “Karate Kid” with “Part II” (1986) and “Part III” (1989). At his peak, he was the original director for “Serpico” (1973) and “Saturday Night Fever” (1977), but was let go from both films. His final film as director was “Inferno” (1999), featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme. Avildsen passed away in Los Angeles on June 16th, 2017, of complications due to pancreatic cancer. He was 81 years old.

Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Lennon Espino of HollywoodChicago.com pay tribute to the director who was nicknamed “King of the Underdogs,” with the following film essays.

Rocky (1976) by Patrick McDonald

Rocky

Photo credit: MGM Home Entertainment

“Rocky” is a miracle of a film, considering both its eventual prize (Oscar Best Picture) and the way it made it to the screen the first place. A broke actor named Sylvester Stallones writes a desired boxing movie script that has one caveat… he must portray the title character. As a gambit, he proposes a budget of only one million dollars, and the film gets the green light. For all of the notion of Stallone as Rocky’s prime creator, it is actually director John Avildsen who delivered the on-screen goods – the famous running scene, the freeze frame on the top of Philadelphia’s “Rocky Steps,” boxing sequences that had never been seen before and the third use of the (just invented) Steadicam by a major motion picture.

Avildsen loved to tell the stories of having Stallone write additional dialogue because the budget was so tight they couldn’t afford to match Rocky’s boxing shorts with the on-set posters or send back his too-big ring entrance robe. And remember the classic song “Gonna Fly Now”? It was Avildsen who brought in composer Bill Conti from his previous directorial effort of the Burt Reynolds film, “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings.” The underdog of underdog films was delivered to a Bicentennial audience, and the little-movie-that-could took home Oscars for Best Picture, Director and Editing, in addition to being the highest grossing film of 1976. No wonder Avildsen became the “Ka-Ching of the Underdogs.”

Gonna Fly Now: The portrayal of the character of Rocky by Stallone was never better in this film, with Six sequels now in the culture. Director Ryan Coogler of the latest Rocky adventure, the excellent “Creed,” seemed to use the John Avildsen template in approaching the sequencing of that story.

The Karate Kid (1984) by Spike Walters

The Karate Kid

Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

John G Avildson was a bit of a journeyman… his Oscar notwithstanding. He wasn’t one of those visionaries who develop a signature style, but his subtle gift was making a formula work. And they don’t come much more formulaic than 1984’s underdog/odd couple buddy movie “The Karate Kid.” Yet Avildson knew how to inject heart into this story of the undersized “Kid” and his quiet but powerful teacher. As the listless remake and some of its later sequels show, this is not nearly as easy as Avildson makes it look here – this is the 1980’s classic that scored Pat Morita an Oscar nomination and holds up relatively well today. It’s not exactly groundbreaking but director Avildson knew how to make the most of it.

Gonna Fly Now: You’d expect the man who directed the original “Rocky” to find the right beats in the inevitable training montage, but Kid Daniel’s “crane kick” training – which predictably but winningly leads to a triumph at the end – still delivers the goods.

Lean On Me (1989) by Jon Lennon Espino

Lean on Me

Photo credit: Warner Home Video

High school sometimes get a bad rap as a physical hell on Earth. John G. Avildsen’s “Lean On Me” does nothing to make anyone think otherwise. Avildsen, like many of his films, has fun with this one. He shows us an exaggerated look at a public school system after minorities have taken over the neighborhood. The director has long had a fascination with creating hero stories, and in this one, he gives us a breakout performance by Morgan Freeman… his performance and approach to the character is everything! This movie lives on the over-the-top action of Freeman, breathing a fun air into the entire film as he does things that may be extremely illegal in real life, but are completely entertaining within the scope of the film. Avildsen knows exactly how to set a scene, which you know right away after the opening montage that is essentially a music video. His films often have an after school special feel, but “Lean On Me” shows just how well it works even when school is still in session.

Gonna Fly Now: The opening credits where we are taken on a tour of the school while Guns-n-Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” is playing. He hilariously frames and choreographs the fighting to simulate feral animals in the jungle.

John G. Avildsen, 1935-2017

By Patrick McDONALDWriter, Editorial CoordinatorHollywoodChicago.compat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2017 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com...

Author: Cai Ross

By the time he came to worldwide prominence in 1976, John G. Avildsen had already done what some of Hollywood’s greatest ever directors had failed to do: win Jack Lemmon a Best Actor Oscar. It was an an acknowledged truth, at that time, Lemmon was one of the great masters, yet where George Cukor and even Billy Wilder failed (as he rarely did) Avildsen succeeded with Save The Tiger, the seventh in in a little-noted career of well-received, little-seen small-budget movies.

Lemmon played a small-time businessman going nowhere in ’70s America. Despite Lemmon’s oft-delayed Oscar, the movie was too downbeat to set the tills ringing. In America’s Bicentennial year however, Avildsen took on another no-hoper, going nowhere, but this time he added a happy ending. Moved by the fact that Hollywood-nobody Sylvester Stallone, with absolutely nothing whatsoever to back it up, had insisted on playing...

Director John G. Avildsen has passed away from pancreatic cancer. He had an eclectic body of work that began in earnest with his work as a cinematographer on several high profile films of the 1960s including "Hurry Sundown" and "Mickey One". Avildsen graduated to the director's chair with the surprise indie hit "Joe" in 1970 a serio-comic look at an ultra conservative working man (Peter Boyle) whose rage boils over from what he believes are anti-American protest movements against the Vietnam War. Three years later Avildsen directed the acclaimed drama "Save the Tiger" which won Jack Lemmon the Best Actor Oscar. In 1976 he directed the most unlikely of blockbusters, "Rocky", which won the Best Picture Oscar. Avildsen took home the Best Director award. He also scored with the "Karate Kid" franchise and also directed the zany comedy "Neighbors" with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as well as "The Formula" with Marlon Brando...

John G. Avildsen – the Oscar-winning director of Rocky, The Karate Kid and more – has passed away at the age of 81. His son, Anthony, told the La Times that his father died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center from pancreatic cancer. Beginning his career with the Peter Boyle/Susan Sarandon vehicle Joe, and then directing Jack Lemmon in a Oscar-winning performance for Save The Tiger, Avildsen won his... Read More...

Following John G. Avildsen’s death yesterday, one of the director’s best-known collaborators has paid tribute to the departed filmmaker. Sylvester Stallone honored the “Rocky” director the way everyone does these days, with an Instagram post: “The great director John G. Avildsen Who won the Oscar for directing Rocky!” he wrote alongside a photo of the two. “R. I. P. I’m sure you will soon be directing Hits in Heaven- Thank you , Sly”

“Rocky” also won Best Picture and Best Editing at the Academy Awards, with Stallone earning nods for both his screenplay and his performance in the title role. Avildsen, who went on to direct “The Karate Kid” and its first two sequels as well as “Rocky V” and “Save the Tiger,” died of pancreatic cancer yesterday...

Oscar-winning director John G Avildsen has died at the age of 81.

His son Anthony told the La Times he had died of pancreatic cancer.

The director won an Academy Award for Sylvester Stallone boxing drama Rocky - which was also a success at the box office, making the most money of any film in 1976.

He also directed the Karate Kid trilogy and Save The tiger, which saw Jack Lemmon win his only best actor Oscar.

Stallone led the tributes to its director, posting a picture of the pair of them on Instagram, with the message: "Rip. I'm sure you will soon be directing Hits in Heaven - Thank you , Sly."

President of the Directors Guild of America Paris Barclay, also paid tribute. he said: "Throughout the decades, his rousing portrayals of victory, courage and emotion captured the hearts of generations of Americans."

Karate Kid star Ralph Macchio also paid tribute.

Hollywood is mourning the death of John G. Avildsen, the Oscar-winning director of “Rocky” who died Friday at age 81. Paying tribute to a long career that included classics like “The Karate Kid,” Avildsen’s peers noted his artistic legacy and character. “I am deeply saddened by the loss of my friend and “The Karate Kid” director John G. Avildsen,” said Ralph Macchio in a statement provided to TheWrap. “His earlier films, “Rocky” and “Save The Tiger” helped influence my adolescence. His guidance in the creation of Daniel Larusso and direction in “The Karate Kid” became an influence that changed my.

Variety reports that John G. Avildsen, an Oscar-winning director with a celebrated knack for capturing the stories of beloved underdogs, has died. Avildsen—whose best-known films include Rocky and the first three installments of The Karate Kid franchise—was 81.

Avildsen’s early films arrived at a time when America was struggling with the growing counterculture of the 1970s; his first major hit, the Peter Boyle-starring vigilante feature Joe, becoming a lightning rod with its depiction of a charismatic, violent “everyman” with a lethal hatred of hippies. (The film reportedly inspired the softer-edged bigots in shows like Norman Lear’s All In The Family, and the positive reaction to the character by moviegoers who identified with Joe, instead of being reviled by him, caused Boyle to renounce violent roles.) Avildsen followed Joe with the 1973 morality play Save The Tiger, which earned Jack Lemmon an Academy Award for his depiction ...

John G. Avildsen, who won an Oscar for directing the iconic Rocky and also helmed all three Karate Kid movies, has passed away at 81. While no cause of death was revealed, the director's representative confirmed his death in Los Angeles today. The filmmaker leaves behind a lasting legacy of telling some of the best underdog stories ever put on film.

Variety confirmed the director's death with his rep earlier today, although no further details were given. It hasn't been revealed yet if there will be any sort of public memorial service for the filmmaker. The man was born December 21 1935, in Oak Park, Illinois, USA, graduating from the prestigious Hotchkiss School and Nyu. He got his start in the movie business by serving as assistant director on movies helmed by Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger.

The late filmmaker made his feature directorial debut in 1969 with Turn To Love, which he also served as the cinematographer on.

John G. Avildsen, the Oscar-winning director of Rocky and The Karate Kid, died Friday in Los Angeles following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 81.

Avildsen’s son Anthony confirmed the filmmaker's death to the Los Angeles Times, adding that Avildsen died at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Avildsen won the Academy Award for Best Picture for his work on 1976's Rocky. Like the titular boxer played by Sylvester Stallone, the film was an underdog itself: Despite a minuscule million-dollar budget, Rocky became the highest-grossing film of 1976, winning three Oscars...