Okay, so she's not a Dame yet. Shut up. It's only a matter of time!
Nanny McPhee costar Maggie Gyllenhaal at Emma's star ceremony for Hollywood's Walk of Fame earlier this month.
Nanny McPhee Returns is on 2000+ of the nation's screens but I probably won't be seeing it. Remember two days back when we discussed what we were always looking for in a movie? One of my answers should have been beauty. I am not a beauty fascist in real life but I suppose I am at the movie theaters. Hollywood's great actresses should be immortalized with key lights, flawless makeup and evening gowns. Movie stars are supposed to be fantasies... our idealized selves. That's why Old Hollywood still has so much appeal. The studio system understood this. I like beauty on my silver screens so I really don't want to see Emma Thompson -- who can be just ravishing (see Much Ado About Nothing. I mean, my god. She's breathtaking in that movie) -- made to look purposefully hideous.
Anyway... her career in posters.
The Tall Guy (89) | Henry V (89) | Impromptu (91)
Dead Again (91) | Peter's Friends (92) | Howard's End (92)
Much Ado..., Remains of the Day, In the Name of the Father (93)
Junior (94) | Carrington (95) | Sense & Sensibility (95)
Intermission. In early 1996 after five Oscar noms and two wins (acting & screenplay) and several arthouse hits, the screen career seems to slow down. She was only 36. It's difficult to say what caused this. A listers sometimes just volunteer for that and if so who could blame her? Her first six years of fame were crazy huge and chaotic.
<--- Emma with her husband Greg Wise at the premiere of his most recent movie in 2009
Consider... She was 30 when fame hit. The first six years of fame were bookended with her wedding and then divorce from Kenneth Branagh (also often her director and co-star) and the movies were iconic arthouse titles. And then there's that stellar 1993 wherein she won the Oscar in the spring then appeared in three more arthouse smashes, two of which she was Oscar nominated for. [Tangent: If you ask me I think Much Ado... is the best of those three '93 performances -- even if it's the least of the three films -- so it figures it's the one she was snubbed for.]
Or maybe it wasn't an intentional break but maybe the offers just started to dry up? The cinema is sometimes nonsensical like that. This is also the time period in which she and Greg Wise, the dangerously good-looking man who breaks her screen sister Kate Winslet's heart in Sense & Sensibility, fall in love. They've been together ever since and were married in 2003.
The Winter Guest (97) | Primary Colors (98) | Judas Kiss (98)
Wit (01) | Angels in America (03) | Love Actually (03)
Mike Nichols to the rescue with two acclaimed pay cable movies that reminded fans what a sensational screen presence she is.
Imagining Argentina (03) | Nanny McPhee (05) | Stranger Than Fiction (06)
Brideshead Revisited (08) | Last Chance Harvey (08) | An Education (09)
not pictured: Pirate Radio (09), two Harry Potter films(04/07) the current Nanny McPhee sequel and a few cameo partsor voice roles.
How many have you seen? Is it odd that she's not in the last two-part Harry Potter film (I can't remember if that character is in the last book)... or if she is, that they aren't crediting her since she's not listed as being part of the cast? And don't you wish she'd have more plum parts again? She was so moving in Last Chance Harvey but it was one of those sacrificial December lambs needlessly disposed of during the year's busiest month. When I rewatched Angels in America a few weeks ago, I was reminded what a glorious comic personality she has. She's the best of both worlds, really, able to wear both of those iconic thespian masks. She sells comedy and tragedy with equal inspiration. *
One hundred years ago on this very day 30s actress Gloria Stuart was born in Santa Monica. Happy birthday Gloria! Stuart made her name on James Whale's pictures like The Old Dark House (fun movie) and The Invisible Man before her screen career petered out in the 1940s. Then, über famously, James Cameron resurrected her to play the 100 year old survivor of Titanic. And the best part... she's still with us today!
Were you confused like Britney Spears when she tossed the Heart of the Ocean back into it in Titanic? Do you think Kate Winslet hopes to grow up to look just like her?
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying." -Woody Allen
Since Gloria is not the oldest living Oscar nominee, it's list time. Who's still with us? (If I forgot anyone, do let me know in the comments.)
Celeste Holm (winner Gentleman's Agreement) is 93.
Joan Fontaine (winner Suspicion) is 92. Yes, it's true. She and sister Olivia de Havilland are still not speaking.
Tom Daly (5 time nominee) this Canadian producer nominated in short film and documentary categories just turned 92.
Joyce Redman (2 time nominee Tom Jones) is 91. [Trivia note: Tom Jones is the only film to have ever won three nominations in Supporting Actress. Pity that Robert Altman's Nashville didn't repeat the trick.]
Dino de Laurentiis (Thalberg winner and a producing winner for La Strada) is almost 91.
Michael Anderson (nominee, directed Around the World in 80 Days) is 90.
Ravi Shankar (nominee, the co-composer for Gandhi) is 90.
Ray Harryhausen (Gordon Sawyer Award recipient), the f/x legend, just turned 90.
Mickey Rooney (Honorary Oscar and 4 time nominee) is 89.
Carol Channing (nominee Thoroughly Modern Millie) is 89. "Razzzzzbbberrries!"
Hal David (winner "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is 89.
Deanna Durbin (Juvenile Award winner) is 88. She was only 18 when she won her Juvenile statue (shared with Mickey Rooney) but she retired from the screen just nine years later.
Mihalis Kakogiannis (3 time nominee, all nominations from Zorba the Greek) just turned 88.
Eleanor Parker (3 time nominee Caged) just turned 88. She's best remembered today as the (not totally) wicked would be stepmother in The Sound of Music but that doesn't paint the whole picture at all. Isn't it time for renewed interest in her career? Smart cinephiles think so.
Blake Edwards (Honorary Oscar and nominee for Victor/Victoria), aka Mr Julie Andrews, is almost 88.
Norman Lear (television giant who was Oscar nominated for writing Divorce, American Style), one day younger than Blake Edwards, is also almost 88
Jackie Cooper (nominee Skippy) is 87. Trivia note: He is the youngest Best Actor nominee of all time, having been up for the prize when he was but 9 years old. He's likely to keep that Oscar record. The closest anyone ever got was Mickey Rooney -- also on this list -- at the age of 19.
but I couldn't stop there. Partially because I missed a handful of people. Partially because I definitely have undiagnosed untreated OCD. Carpal tunnel syndrome here I come. It's a top 40!
Arthur Penn (3 time nominee, directed Bonnie & Clyde) is 87. I know I've given this book a million plugs but you must read "Pictures at a Revolution" for a detailed fascinating account of how that landmark movie was constructed. Choosing a director wasn't the least bit simple. And directing Warren Beatty isn't so simple either. Penn did it twice.
Valentina Cortese (nominee Day for Night) is 87. She holds the extremely rare honor of a supporting acting nomination from a foreign language film. Those are so very infrequent.
Franco Zeffirelli (2 time nominee, director of Romeo and Juliet), another Italian (!), is 87.
Charles Durning (2 time nominee, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) is 87.
Glynis Johns (nominee The Sundowners) is 86 We're glad she got that one last burst of mid 90s comedy gold in While You Were Sleeping and especially The Ref. Well done, Sister Suffragrette ♪ ! Unfortunately,she's been little seen since.
Arthur Hiller (Hersholt Huminatarian winner, nominee for Love Story) is 86.
Ron Moody (nominee Oliver!) is 86. For a recent article on this underappreciated sixties musical, click here.
Stanley Donen (Honorary Oscar) is 86. He's one of the best musicals director, most famous for that thrilling barn sequence in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the entirety of Singin' in the Rain.
Sidney Lumet (Honorary Oscar, plus 5 time nominee)just turned 86 last week. His classics include 12 Angry Men, Network, The Verdict and Dog Day Afternoon and he's also the man behind the extremely undervalued Running on Empty (1988). The best part is that he's still active. He recently made Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
Eva Marie Saint (winner On the Waterfront) turned 86 today, so we'll bookend with this other birthday girl. Happy birthday, Eva! Don't forget your gloves when you leave the party tonight.
Big screen actress icons I had to pass up for this list included Jane Russell, Maureen O'Hara, and Esther Williams. All are still among the living but none were ever Oscar nominated and haven't been given Honorary Awards. What a world, what a world. Christopher Lee, is another biggie that's never been nominated. He still works so consistently at 88 that it's possible they'll yet find a way to nominate him. Next up for Lee is Martin Scorsese's The Invention of Hugo Cabret.
Carol Channing for Exit Music!
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Further Reading? Try this substantial Gloria Stuart tribute at Ehrensteinland and if you're in LA, please note that AMPAS will be honoring Stuart's centennial at the Samuel Goldwyn theater on July 22nd. *
Nanny McPhee costar Maggie Gyllenhaal at Emma's star ceremony
The Tall Guy (89) | Henry V (89) | Impromptu (91)
Dead Again (91) | Peter's Friends (92) | Howard's End (92)
Much Ado..., Remains of the Day, In the Name of the Father (93)
Junior (94) | Carrington (95) | Sense & Sensibility (95)
<--- Emma with her husband Greg Wise at the premiere of his most recent movie in 2009
The Winter Guest (97) | Primary Colors (98) | Judas Kiss (98)
Wit (01) | Angels in America (03) | Love Actually (03)
Imagining Argentina (03) | Nanny McPhee (05) | Stranger Than Fiction (06)
Brideshead Revisited (08) | Last Chance Harvey (08) | An Education (09)
