Oscar love curse

The Oscar love curse or Oscar curse is a superstition that the woman who wins the Academy Award for Best Actress will have her boyfriend, fiancé, or husband cheat on her or divorce her soon after. It has also been applied to the Best Supporting Actress.

In their paper published in Organization Science, Michael Jensen and Heeyon Kim use the "Oscar Curse" to examine the negative consequences of upward mobility following a sudden positive status shift. With an empirical study, the authors find "Oscar nominations/wins have positive professional consequences for male and female actors but more enduring negative personal consequences for male actors, thus emphasizing an important conundrum for male actors: Oscar nominations/wins can help a career but can also ruin a marriage."

Occurrences

Best Actress

• Janet Gaynor (1927/28 7th Heaven, Street Angel, Sunrise) and husband Jesse Lydell Peck.
• Mary Pickford (1928/29 Coquette) and husband Douglas Fairbanks.
• Claudette Colbert (1934 It Happened One Night) and husband Norman Foster.
• Bette Davis (1935 Dangerous and 1938 Jezebel) and husband Harmon Nelson.
• Luise Rainer (1936 The Great Ziegfeld and 1937 The Good Earth) and husband Clifford Odets.
• Vivien Leigh (1939 Gone with the Wind & 1951 A Streetcar named Desire) and husbands Herbert Leigh Holman & Sir Laurence Olivier.
• Ginger Rogers (1940 Kitty Foyle) and husband Lew Ayres.
• Joan Fontaine (1941 Suspicion) and husband Brian Aherne.
• Greer Garson (1942 Mrs. Miniver) and husband Edward Snelson.
• Jennifer Jones (1943 The Song of Bernadette) and husband Robert Walker.
• Ingrid Bergman (1944 Gaslight & 1956 Anastasia) and husbands Petter Lindstrom & Roberto Rossellini.
• Joan Crawford (1945 Mildred Pierce) and husband Phillip Terry.
• Olivia de Havilland (1946 To Each His Own and 1949 The Heiress) and husband Marcus Goodrich.
• Loretta Young (1947 The Farmer's Daughter) and husband Tom Lewis.
• Jane Wyman (1947 Johnny Belinda) and husband Ronald Reagan.
• Judy Holliday (1950 Johnny Belinda) and husband David Oppenheim.
• Elizabeth Taylor (1960 Butterfield 8 and 1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and husbands Eddie Fisher and Richard Burton.
• Patricia Neal (1963 Hud) and husband Roald Dahl.
• Julie Andrews (1964 Mary Poppins) and husband Tony Walton.
• Barbra Streisand (1968 Funny Girl) and husband Elliott Gould.
• Maggie Smith (1969 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) and husband Robert Stephens.
• Glenda Jackson (1970 Women in Love and 1973 A Touch of Class) and husband Roy Hodges.
• Jane Fonda (1971 Klute & 1978 Coming Home) and husbands Roger Vadim & Tom Hayden.
• Liza Minnelli (1972 Cabaret) and husband Peter Allen.
• Louise Fletcher (1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and husband Jerry Bick.
• Faye Dunaway (1976 Network) and husband Peter Wolf.
• Sally Field (1979 Norma Rae & 1984 Places in the Heart) and partner Burt Reynolds and husband Alan Greisman.
• Kathy Bates (1990 Misery) and boyfriend-later-husband Tony Campisi.
• Emma Thompson (1992 Howards End) and husband Kenneth Branagh.
• Jessica Lange (1994 Blue Sky) and longtime partner Sam Shepard.
• Susan Sarandon (1995 Dead Man Walking) and longtime partner Tim Robbins.
• Helen Hunt (1997 As Good as It Gets) and boyfriend-later-husband Hank Azaria.
• Halle Berry (2001 Monster's Ball) and husband Eric Benét.
• Charlize Theron (2003 Monster) and partner Stuart Townsend.
• Hilary Swank (1999 Boys Don't Cry and 2004 Million Dollar Baby) and husband Chad Lowe.
• Reese Witherspoon (2005 Walk the Line) and husband Ryan Phillippe.
• Kate Winslet (2008 The Reader) and husband Sam Mendes.
• Sandra Bullock (2009 The Blind Side) and husband Jesse James.
• Brie Larson (2015 Room) and boyfriend-later-fiancé Alex Greenwald.

Best Supporting Actress

• Mary Astor (1941 The Great Lie) and husband Manuel del Campo.
• Teresa Wright (1942 Mrs. Miniver) and husband Niven Busch.
• Anne Baxter (1946 The Razor's Edge) and husband John Hodiak.
• Celeste Holm (1947 Gentleman's Agreement) and husband A. Schuyler Dunning.
• Gloria Grahame (1952 The Bad and the Beautiful) and husband Nicholas Ray.
• Donna Reed (1953 From Here to Eternity) and husband Tony Owen.
• Shelley Winters (1959 The Diary of Anne Frank) and husband Anthony Franciosa.
• Shirley Jones (1960 Elmer Gantry) and husband Jack Cassidy.
• Lila Kedrova (1964 Zorba the Greek) and husband Pierre Valde.
• Sandy Dennis (1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and partner Gerry Mulligan.
• Goldie Hawn (1969 Cactus Flower) and husband Gus Trikonis.
• Cloris Leachman (1971 The Last Picture Show) and husband George Englund.
• Ingrid Bergman (1974 Murder on the Orient Express) and husband Lars Schmidt
• Vanessa Redgrave (1977 Julia) and partner Timothy Dalton
• Mary Steenburgen (1980 Melvin and Howard) and husband Malcolm McDowell.
• Jessica Lange (1982 Tootsie) and partner Mikhail Baryshnikov.
• Anjelica Huston (1985 Prizzi's Honor) and boyfriend Jack Nicholson.
• Geena Davis (1988 The Accidental Tourist) and husband Jeff Goldblum.
• Kim Basinger (1997 L.A. Confidential) and husband Alec Baldwin.
• Angelina Jolie (1999 Girl, Interrupted) and husband Billy Bob Thornton.
• Marcia Gay Harden (2000 Pollock (film)) and husband Thaddaeus Scheel.
• Rachel Weisz (2005 The Constant Gardener) and longtime partner Darren Aronofsky.
• Jennifer Hudson (2006 Dreamgirls) and longtime boyfriend James Payton.

Exceptions

Some actresses have managed to "break" the curse. On even rarer occasions, actresses (e.g., Maggie Smith) both experience and break the curse.

Best Actress

• Norma Shearer (1929/30 The Divorcee) and husband Irving Thalberg were married on September 29, 1927 and remained so until Thalberg's death in 1936.
• Helen Hayes (1931/32 The Sin of Madelon Claudet) and husband Charles MacArthur were married on 1928 and remained so until MacArthur's death in 1956.
• Joanne Woodward (1957 The Three Faces of Eve) and husband Paul Newman were married on January 29, 1958 and remained so, until Newman's death in 2008.
• Susan Hayward (1958 I Want to Live!) and husband Floyd Eaton Chalkley were married on February 8, 1957 and remained so, until Chalkley's death in 1966.
• Simone Signoret (1959 Room at the Top) and husband Yves Montand were married on December 22, 1951 and remained so, until Signoret's death in 1985.
• Sophia Loren (1961 Two Women) and husband Carlo Ponti were married on September 17, 1957 and remained so, until Ponti's death in 2007.
• Anne Bancroft (1962 The Miracle Worker) and husband Mel Brooks were married in 1964 and remained so, until Bancroft's death in 2005.
• Sissy Spacek (1980 Coal Miner's Daughter) and husband Jack Fisk were married in 1974 and remain so to this day.
• Meryl Streep (1982 Sophie's Choice and 2011 The Iron Lady) and husband Don Gummer were married in 1978 and remain so to this day.
• Geraldine Page (1985 The Trip to Bountiful) and husband Rip Torn were married in 1963 and remained so, until Page's death in 1987.
• Jessica Tandy (1989 Driving Miss Daisy) and husband Hume Cronyn were married on September 27, 1942 and remained so, until Tandy's death in 1994.
• Frances McDormand (1996 Fargo & 2017 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and husband Joel Coen were married in 1984 and remain so to this day.
• Dame Helen Mirren (2006 The Queen) and husband Taylor Hackford were married in 1997 and remain so to this day.
• Marion Cotillard (2007 La Vie en Rose) and husband Guillaume Canet were married in 2007 and remain so to this day.
• Natalie Portman (2010 Black Swan) and then-fiancé Benjamin Millepied were married in 2012 and remain so to this day.
• Cate Blanchett (2013 Blue Jasmine) and husband Andrew Upton were married in 1997 and remain so to this day.
• Julianne Moore (2014 Still Alice) and husband Bart Freundlich were married in 2003 and remain so to this day.
• Olivia Colman (2018 The Favourite) and husband Ed Sinclair were married in 2001 and remain so to this day.

Best Supporting Actress

• Gale Sondergaard, the first ever-recipient of the Best Supporting Actress Award (1936 Anthony Adverse) and husband Herbert Biberman were married in 1930, and remained so until Biberman's death in 1971.
• Katina Paxinou (1943 For Whom the Bell Tolls) and husband Alexis Minotis were married in 1940 and remained so, until Paxinou's death in 1973.
• Anne Revere (1945 National Velvet) and husband Samuel Rosen were married in 11 April 1935 and remained so, until Rosen's death in 1984.
• Claire Trevor (1948 Key Largo) and husband Milton H. Bren were married in 1948 and remained so, until Bren's death in 1979.
• Kim Hunter (1951 A Streetcar Named Desire) and husband Robert Emmett were married on December 20, 1951 and remained so, until Emmett's death in 2000.
• Fay Bainter (1938 Jezebel) and husband Reginald Venable were married in 1921, and remained so, until Venable's death in 1964.
• Eva Marie Saint (1954 On the Waterfront) and husband Jeffrey Hayden were married in 1951 and remained so, until Hayden's death in 2016.
• Jo Van Fleet (1955 East of Eden) and husband William Bales were married in 1946 and remained so, until Bales' death in 1990.
• Wendy Hiller (1958 Separate Tables) and husband Ronald Gow were married in 1937 and remained so, until Gow's death in 1993.
• Margaret Rutherford (1963 The V.I.P.s) and husband Stringer Davis were married in 1945 and remained so, until Rutherford's death in 1972.
• Ruth Gordon (1968 Rosemary's Baby) and husband Garson Kanin were married on December 4, 1942 and remained so, until Gordon's death in 1985.
• Eileen Heckart (1972 Butterflies Are Free) and husband John Harrison Yankee Jr. were married on June 26, 1942 and remained so, until Yankee's death in 1997.
• Lee Grant (1975 Shampoo) and husband Joseph Feury were married on 1962 and remain so to this day.
• Beatrice Straight (1976 Network) and husband Peter Cookson were married on June 2, 1949 and remained so, until Cookson's death in 1990.
• Maggie Smith (1978 California Suite) and husband Beverley Cross were married on August 23, 1975 and remained so, until Cross's death in 1998.
• Meryl Streep (1979 Kramer vs. Kramer) and husband Don Gummer were married in 1978 and remain so to this day.
• Dianne Wiest (1986 Hannah and Her Sisters & 1994 Bullets over Broadway) and partner Sam Cohn lived together since late 1970s and remain so, until Cohn's death in 2009.
• Olympia Dukakis (1987 Moonstruck) and husband Louis Zorich were married in 1962 and remain so, until Zorich's death in 2018.
• Mercedes Ruehl (1991 The Fisher King) and husband [[David Geiser were married in the 1970s and remain so to this day.
• Judi Dench (1998 Shakespeare in Love) and husband Michael Williams were married on February 5, 1971 and remained so, until Williams' death in 2001.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones (2002 Chicago (film)) and husband Michael Douglas were married in 2000 and remain so to this day.
• Cate Blanchett (2004 The Aviator) and husband Andrew Upton were married in 1997 and remain so to this day.
• Tilda Swinton (2007 Michael Clayton) and partner Sandro Kopp lived together since 2004 and remain so to this day.
• Mo'Nique (2009 Precious (film)) and husband Sidney Hicks were married in 2006 and remain so to this day.
• Anne Hathaway (2012 Les Miserables) and husband Adam Shulman were married in 2012 and remain so to this day.
• Viola Davis (2016 Fences) and husband Julius Tennon were married in 2003 and remain so to this day.

See also

• Academy Award for Best Actress
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress