Oscar-nominated actor in comic-based movie

[rjmason]

Robert Mitchum's 1945 best supporting actor nomination for G. I. Joe arguably counts as a third instance of an actor nominated for a role in a comic-based movie.

[Ken Jennings]

Wow, that's actually...sort of true. I never would have thought of looking back that far.

[Poquelin]

William Hurt was nominated for playing a character in a comic book (or graphic novel) in "A History of Violence", but he doesn't fit your first criterion (he got an Oscar early in his career). So include him out.

One of the actors you mean must be Paul Newman who won for the "Color of Money," in which he reprised his role of "Fast" Eddie Felson, which he had played 25 years earlier in "The Hustler". (IMHO he should have won for "The Verdict.") The Oscar for "Color of Money" was clearly a "Make-Up" award.
Newman was nominated for his role in "Road to Perdition" based on the graphic novel of the same name

It's late and can't think of the second performer. Good night!

[tvisgod]

Al Pacino came to me even before Paul Newman. Good catches on Mitchum and Hurt, though.


Oh, and I guess the movies would be the first two Godfathers, Scent of a Woman, and Dick Tracy

[themanwho]

Robert Mitchum's 1945 best supporting actor nomination for G. I. Joe arguably counts as a third instance of an actor nominated for a role in a comic-based movie.

How do you figure? The imdb credits Ernie Pyle's books as source material. Were they comics?

Seriously asking this time,

-M

Edited to add: Never mind. Hoist by mine own petard yet again. I just looked up the history of the character. I had no idea he went back that far. I'd say you could drop the "arguably." -M

[ArtVark]

The first actor that I thought that was nominated for playing the same person was Peter O'Toole for
Becket and the Lion in Winter where he played King Henry II both times. He was also given a lifetime
achievement Oscar. Now all I have to do is find my comic book copy of Lawrence of Arabia...

[themanwho]

Here's an old USENET thread from Google which is relevant to this discussion.

Edited to add the link to the thread. The lesson, as always, etc.

[Ken Jennings]

Good catch on History of Violence. Totally slipped my mind.

I'd still keep the "arguably" on G I Joe though. Sure, the title references a slang term coined in the funnies, but that's a little different than saying the movie is "based on" the Stars & Stripes cartoons.

[KillerTomato]

Al Pacino came to me even before Paul Newman.

Scary how old I'm getting. I thought of Bing Crosby and Peter O'Toole first.

(I also like to point out on these questions that, technically at least, there are FIVE people with 2 nominations for a character....and only ONE who got both nominations in the same year! Of course, Barry Fitzgerald is a special case, but it's still fun trivia!)

[bast2]

You've all forgotten Glenda Jackson who was "given" the Oscar for the comedy A Touch of Class in the 70's.

Also, Julie Andrews fits the compensation Oscar for MARY POPPINS.

[cinemaniax7]

Also, Julie Andrews fits the compensation Oscar for MARY POPPINS.

Sorry, I answered yesterday's blog question last night in the Odd Movie Connections thread.

BTW, I am hard pressed to see how Julie Andrews's award is a compensation Oscar since this was her first movie role. Unless you're thinking of the fact that she was passed over for the lead in the film version of My Fair Lady. The fact is, however, that she was terrific in Mary Poppins and well deserving of the award. I would not consider any of the other nominees -- Kim Stanley, Debbie Reynolds, Sophia Loren, and Anne Bancroft -- to have been robbed that year.

[Poquelin]

Fame is so fleeting!
Everyone seems to have forgotten that Jackie Cooper was nominated for the best actor Oscar for the title-character in SKIPPY (1930), based on the then popular comic strip of the same title, by Percy Crosby.
As far as I'm aware, Cooper remains the youngest actor to be nominated for a best actor Oscar in a LEADING role

[Ken Jennings]

Fame is so fleeting!
Everyone seems to have forgotten that Jackie Cooper was nominated for the best actor Oscar for the title-character in SKIPPY (1930), based on the then popular comic strip of the same title, by Percy Crosby.
As far as I'm aware, Cooper remains the youngest actor to be nominated for a best actor Oscar in a LEADING role

This is great! I was hoping to uncover something like this. I had no idea Skippy was a comic strip.

[Jason Work]

Wow! A trivia question I actually know the answer to! It makes me feel good after getting depressed on the weekly Trivia Quiz. I love that Pacino was nominated for an Oscar for Dick Tracy. Too bad they didn't nominate Jack for playing the Joker too.

[Joshua Kreitzer]

themanwho: The most updated version of the thread about Oscar-nominated movies based on comics can be found here. (Thanks for citing it.)