25 forgotten Oscar-winning performances

Though considered one of the great character actors in film history, it might surprise some old-school cinema fans that Heflin won an Academy Award for his supporting role in the quirky 1941 movie Johnny Eager. Heflin played Jeff Hartnett, a trusting sidekick to the movie's title character (played by Robert Taylor), who is a little off, but definitely should leave a lasting impression on viewers who want to revisit this classic picture.

Russell has the distinction of being the first non-professional actor ever to win an Academy Award in an acting category. Russell, who lost both of his arms while serving in the military, then turned to acting while attending Boston University. He eventually landed the plum role of Petty Officer 2nd Class Homer Parrish, in the 1946 epic The Best Years of Our Lives, about the post-war lives of three U.S. servicemen. While Russell's underdog tale is one of the great stories in Oscar history, he made just four more official acting appearances on the big screen and television.

An undisputed icon, Sinatra was a versatile entertainment legend. But, while most know "Ol' Blue Eyes" for his crooning, he actually earned quite a bit of acclaim for his acting ability. So much so that he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his riveting role as Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 romantic war drama From Here to Eternity. Sinatra was also awarded two other non-performance-related Oscars: the Academy Honorary Award (1946) and The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1970).

One of the great funnymen of all time, Buttons is one of showbiz's true legends. But, how many folks know that Buttons is also an Academy Award-winning actor? Well, looking back in the annals of Oscar history, Buttons took home the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Airman Kelly in the 1957 romance wartime drama Sayonara, where Buttons managed to outshine leading man Marlon Brando. That didn't often happen in Brando's career, but Buttons did it quite well in this case. 

Ives was the legendary folk music star who then found great success as a country crooner. Oh yeah, Ives could also act. In fact, if we remember, and there are certainly many who probably don't, that Ives won a Best Supporting Actor Award for his standout performance as the villainous Rufus Hannassey in the 1958 epic western The Big Country. Ives also earned a Golden Globe award for the same character.  

Over the years, Marvin made a living playing the tough guy or heavy, and even later in his career as an action star (we loved him in his final film role with The Delta Force). Marvin was sensational in such classics like The Dirty Dozen (1967), Paint Your Wagon (1969) and The Big Red One (1980). However, it was the for the 1965 comedy western Cat Ballou (1965), where he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for an exceptional role as Kid Shelleen, the red-eyed, drunken gunslinger who shapes up after falling in love with Jane Fonda's title character, the notorious outlaw Cat Ballou. The role can perhaps come as a surprise to some of Marvin's latter-day fans.

Dennis enjoyed a successful acting career — whether on stage, big screen or television — before passing from ovarian cancer in 1992 at age 54. She proved to be one of the most dependable and sought-after character actors of the 1970s and '80s. Dennis is one of the those actresses, to many, who is recognizable by face, perhaps more so than name. The two-time Tony Award winner truly brought out her talents when she won the Best Supporting Actress Academy for playing Honey in the classic 1966 film version of the classic Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 

Hawn has long been celebrated for both her extensive acting career and as one of the great comedic talents of all time. She initially broke out with her inclusion on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and other comedies such as Shampoo (1975), Seems Like Old Times (1980), Private Benjamin (1980), Wildcats (1986), Overboard (1987), Bird on a Wire (1990), The First Wives Club (1996). Yet, it was just her second true film role, as suicidal, unlucky-in-love Toni Simmons in the 1969 screwball comedy Cactus Flower, that earned Hawn her lone Oscar win. It's the type of role that probably would not garner even an Oscar nomination from the stuffy Academy these days.

With 22 Primetime Emmy Award nominations — and eight wins — to her iconic name, Leachman is one of Hollywood's true television legends. But, Leachman also has an Academy Award on her splendid resume. That came in a supporting role for Peter Bogdanovich's 1971 coming-of-age drama The Last Picture Show. Leachman delivers a gripping performance as Ruth Popper, a depressed and emotionally aching wife of a high school coach, who is looking for something — or someone — to revive her life. In a film full of special performances, Leachman still stands tall above the rest.

Grey is likely best known for his work on stage. A bona fide Broadway star, Grey won a 1967 Tony Award for playing "the master of ceremonies" in Cabaret. That was the same role that won him the 1972 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film version of the classic production. Grey never had much of a notable movie career afterward, but continued to put together successful performances both on stage (receiving four more Tony nominations and a Lifetime Achievement in Theatre Award) and as a popular television character actor.

To moviegoers of a certain age, Heckart might be familiar for such supporting roles in Heartbreak Ridge (1986), The First Wives Club (1996) and various television appearances in shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Love & War. However, from the 1950s into the '70s, Heckart was a well-lauded film performer. She received her first Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for the 1956 psychological thriller The Bad Seed. Heckart then won the same award for playing the cunningly overbearing mother Mrs. Baker in the 1972 comedy-drama film version of Leonard Gershe's play Butterflies Are Free.

During his iconic career as an actor and comedian, Carney proved he was more than just Jackie Gleason's sidekick from The Honeymooners. The truth was, Carney was a well-established actor who many might not remember won the Oscar for Best Actor for his late-career role as Harry Coombes in the 1974 comedy-drama Harry and Tonto, where he played the lead role as a retired widower who travels cross-country with his pet cat Tonto. For those who only know Carney from The Honeymooners, make it a point to seek out this '70s gem.

When it comes to true acting professionals, Steenburgen is certainly one of the greats. Dependable to the hilt, Steenburgen always delivers onscreen. Yet it might surprise some that she has just one Oscar victory to her credit. That came back in 1980 for her supporting role in Jonathan Demme's comedy-drama Melvin and Howard. Steenburgen is highly entertaining as Lynda, a disgruntled wife and mother who turns to exotic dancing, and later appears on a game show, to help add some fun to her rather listless life. 

Hutton has enjoyed a rather steady and successful acting career, though maybe not to the level many critics expected following his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as the emotionally tortured Conrad Jarrett in 1980's Ordinary People. In fact, since Hutton has never truly been able to enjoy that level of individual film success, some believe he peaked too early. Then there are others who simply don't remember Hutton winning the award at all. Of course, we loved him in Taps (1981) and Beautiful Girls (1996).

Hardcore Oscar fans, and certainly film critics, know about Ngor's big-screen legacy, highlighted by the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his gripping portrayal of Cambodian journalist and refugee Dith Pran. It was the film debut for the Cambodian-born Ngor, who was also a practicing gynecologist and obstetrician, and also survived multiple stints in Cambodian prison camps during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. He joined the aforementioned Harold Russell as the only non-professional actors to win an acting Oscar. Ngor never achieved much more acting success again, and was tragically killed during a 1996 robbery in Los Angeles.  

Cher winning the Academy Award for Best Actress might be one of those "Now, I remember" moments. For movie fans of a certain age, who can forget her performance as Loretta Castorini, the Italian-American widow trying to pick up the pieces of her life and find love again — even if it's with her fiancé's volatile younger brother (Nicolas Cage) — in the classic 1987 romantic comedy-drama Moonstruck? However, filmgoers might also forget that Cher had already been nominated for an Oscar four years earlier in the Best Supporting Actress category for her lauded role in Silkwood. 

When it came to star mainstream actresses during the 1980s and, especially, the '90s, Davis was among the biggest. She's known for starring in such hit films like The Fly (1986), Beetlejuice (1988), Thelma & Louise (1991) and A League of Their Own (1992). While Davis was seemingly unforgettable in those latter two films, it's easy to forget she actually won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for 1988's The Accidental Tourist. Though Davis was brilliant in that movie as Muriel Pritchett, the dog trainer and caring mother to an ill son, it's likely not the role that most filmgoers immediately associate Davis with. In 2020, Davis was also honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

There are fewer than 20 entertainers privy to calling themselves EGOT winners for being honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award — and about 20 who are close to attaining that status — though plenty of folks probably didn't know this current host of The View took home any of those honors. When it came to her work on the big screen, Goldberg's comedy movies tend to stand out with the mainstream public, but her two most lauded film performances are of the drama variety, beginning with her Best Actress-nominated performance from 1985's The Color Purple, then five years later when she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as eccentric psychic Oda Mae Brown in the beloved Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore vehicle Ghost.

At just 11 years old, Paquin won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the young, but almost-maternally instinctive daughter to Holly Hunter's mute Ada McGrath in 1993's The Piano, thus making her the second-youngest Oscar winner of all time. Sure, some critics contend Paquin peaked too soon, though it's not like she's disappeared from Hollywood. Paquin continues to earn raves for her performances in the likes of Fly Away Home (1996) and A Walk on the Moon (1999) — not to mention her work on television, via True Blood and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Unlike mainstream stars Marissa Tomei and Cuba Gooding Jr., who we can't forget pulled off upsets to win their Oscars, Sorvino's Best Supporting Actress victory for playing slow-witted hooker Linda Ash in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite tends to be forgotten because not much individual big-screen success followed for the veteran actress. That's not say Sorvino hasn't had her moments — she earned both Emmy and Golden Globe Award consideration for portraying Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jean & Marilyn (1996). Perhaps she's best known to mainstream film audiences as co-starring with Lisa Kudrow in the popular comedy Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997).

Over the years, Basinger has proven to be more than just a sex symbol and the former wife of Alec Baldwin. To this day, the casual filmgoer probably relates Basinger with such solid performances in the likes of The Natural (1984), 9½ Weeks (1986), and played Batman (1989). However, that all led up to her winning the 1997 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing femme fatale Lynn Bracken in the classic neo-noir crime picture L.A. Confidential — which, as times goes on, seems like she still is not more associated with right off the bat.

Hunt won four Primetime Emmy Awards for her popular presence (OK, popular to a good portion of viewers) on Mad About You and is a four-time Golden Globe Award winner. She's known for memorable roles in hits such as Twister (1996), Cast Away (2000), and What Women Want (2000), and has also enjoyed success as a director. But how many movie fans remember that Hunt won a Best Actress Oscar? It came for her brilliant performance as Carol Connelly, a single mother and waitress who is the only human able to handle Jack Nicholson's insufferable Melvin Udall in the 1997 romantic comedy As Good as It Gets.

One of the great "tough guys" in film history, Coburn is probably best known for his roles in such classics like The Magnificent Seven, Hell Is for Heroes and The Great Escape, not to mention several guest-starring roles on television. However, it wasn't until 1998, and just months before his 70th birthday, that the venerable Coburn was honored with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 1997 neo-noir crime drama Affliction. Coburn's captivating, but disturbing and abusive Glen Whitehouse, is arguably the most memorable character from this Paul Schrader film. Released five years before his death, the movie saw Coburn outshine fellow Hollywood heavyweights Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek and Willem Dafoe.

One of the great modern-day character actors, Broadbent should be recognizable from his inclusion in such films as Life Is Sweet (1990), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Gangs of New York (2002) — not to mention his roles as Horace Slughorn in the Harry Potter franchise of films and Archmaester Ebrose from Game of Thrones. But, no doubt, the shining moment, to date, on Broadbent's resume came through his Best Supporting Actor Oscar-winning role as acclaimed writer and critic John Bayley from the 2001 biopic Iris, opposite Judi Dench.

Mo'Nique is another actor who proved comedians can succeed in serious roles. That's why audiences were captivated with her performance in the 2009 hit Precious, which earned her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Her turn as Precious' foul-mouthed, abusive and no-good mother Mary was a rather shocking turn for Mo'Nique, who, while taking steps to branch out from her comedy roots, truly broke out from a depth standpoint with this role — one that really should not be forgotten.