Well, we made it. This season of the Supporting Actress Smackdown at The Film Experience is over. I’m ending this extended run with twenty-six articles under my belt, which, holy shit, that’s half a year’s worth of supporting actressing. I am, to say the least, very proud of what I wrote, both because this was a wonderful opportunity I’d like to think I did tremendously well with, and because I’ve never written something at this scale for this long. It’s been a great buoyancy in this very tumultuous year. Thank you very much to Nathaniel for letting me do this. Thanks to the many folks who’ve read these articles, left comments, and offered their own two cents about these film years and their favorite performances. Big thanks to Mat Daniel, Patrick Gratton, and Ray Lewis for helping me so much with these articles, and for being three of the best people I’ve had the good fortune to meet online. I leave y’all with a nice compendium of everything I’ve written for the 2020 season, plus my supporting actress lineups for every year of the month. Stay safe. Be healthy. I wish you nothing but love.
1981
Articles Written:
Jessica Harper, Pennies From Heaven
Marilía Pêra, Pixote
Kathryn Harrold, Modern Romance
Final Ballot:
Karen Allen, Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jessica Harper, Pennies From Heaven
Marilía Pêra, Pixote
Kate Reid, Atlantic City
Maureen Stapleton, Reds
Runners-Up: Kathryn Harrold (Modern Romance), Mara Hobel (Mommie Dearest), Jane Fonda (On Golden Pond), Beatrice Straight (Endless Love).
1947
Articles Written:
Kathleen Byron, Black Narcissus
Agnes Moorehead, Dark Passages and The Lost Moment
The Ensemble, Boy! What a Girl!
Final Ballot:
Mary Astor, Desert Fury
Kathleen Byron, Black Narcissus
Betti Mays, Boy! What a Girl!
Sybil Lewis, Boy! What a Girl!
Ann Todd, The Paradine Case
Runner-Up: Coleen Gray (Kiss of Death), Agnes Moorehead (Dark Passages), Celeste Holm (Gentlemen’s Agreement), Elsa Lanchaster (The Bishop’s Wife), Anne Revere (Gentlemen’s Agreement), Valerie Hobson (Great Expectations), Mary Astor (Cynthia).
2002
Articles Written:
Viola Davis, Antwone Fisher, Far From Heaven, and Solaris
Isabelle Huppert, 8 Women
Final Ballot:
Viola Davis, Solaris
Isabelle Huppert, 8 Women
Lupe Ontiveros, Real Women Have Curves
Kim Staunton, Changing Lanes
Meryl Streep, Adaptation.
Runners-Up: Patricia Clarkson (Far From Heaven), Toni Collette (About a Boy), Claire Danes (Igby Goes Down), Samantha Morton (Minority Report), Miranda Richardson (Spider), Michelle Pfeiffer (White Oleander), Renée Zellweger (White Oleander), Miranda Richardson (The Hours), Christina Applegate (The Sweetest Things), with a great big applause for the women of Late Marriage.
1957
Articles Written:
Ruby Dee, Edge of the City
Harriet Andersson, Smiles of a Summer Night
Cathleen Nesbitt, An Affair to Remember
Final Ballot: (This one’s based on world releases instead of Oscar’s eligibility list for the sake of good acting)
Harriet Andersson, Smiles of a Summer Night
Ruby Dee, Edge of the City
Sylvia Syms, Woman in a Dressing Gown
Isuzu Yamada, Throne of Blood and Tokyo Twilight
Cathleen Nesbitt, An Affair to Remember
Runners-Up: Mildred Dunnock (Peyton Place), Isuzu Yamada (The Lower Depths and Black River), Marlene Dietrich (Witness for the Prosecution), Carol Haney (The Pajama Game), Nancy Marchand (The Bachelor Party), Peggy Cummins (Night of the Demon).
1991
Articles Written:
Tyra Ferrell, Boyz n the Hood
Judy Davis, Barton Fink and Naked Lunch
Carina Lau, Days of Being Wild
Final Ballot:
Judy Davis, Naked Lunch
Tyra Ferrell, Boyz n the Hood
Carina Lau, Days of Being Wild
Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear
Mercedes Ruehl, The Fisher King
Runners-Up: Diane Ladd (Rambling Rose), Wendy Robie (The People Under the Stairs), Ileana Douglas (Cape Fear), Kate Nelligan (Frankie and Johnny), Amanda Plummer (The Fisher King), Judy Davis (Barton Fink), Jessica Lange (Cape Fear), Gabrielle Rose (The Adjuster), Laurie Metcalf (JFK).
2005
Articles Written:
Taraji P. Henson, Hustle & Flow
Mercedes Morán, The Holy Girl
America Ferrera, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Final Ballot:
Amy Adams, Junebug
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Happy Endings
Taraji P. Henson, Hustle & Flow
Debra Monk, Palindromes
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardner
Runners-Up: Mario Bello (A History of Violence – a lead?), Mercedes Morán (The Holy Girl), Robin Wright (Nine Lives), Lin Dan Pham (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), America Ferrera (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), Catherine Keener (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), Shirley MacLaine (In Her Shoes), Melissa Leo (The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), Zhang Ziyi (2046), with kudos to the great ensemble of Pride & Prejudice.
1938
Articles Written:
Doris Nolan, Holiday
Mary Astor, Listen, Darling, Paradise for Three, and There’s Always a Woman
Judy Garland, Love Finds Andy Hardy
Final Ballot:
Mary Astor, Listen, Darling
Fay Bainter, Jezebel
Judy Garland, Love Finds Andy Hardy
Ethel Merman, Alexander’s Ragtime Band
Doris Nolan, Holiday
Runners-Up: Mary Astor (Paradise for Three), Gladys George (Marie Antoinette), Beulah Bondi (Vivacious Lady), Paulette Godard (The Young at Heart), Dita Parlo (Le Grande Illusion), Beulah Bondi (Of Human Hearts), Mary Astor (There’s Always a Woman), Ann Miller (You Can’t Take It With You).
1965
Articles Written:
Eleanor Parker, The Sound of Music
Joan Blondell, The Cincinnati Kid and Thelm Ritter, Boeing Boeing
Final Ballot:
Joan Blondell, The Cincinnati Kid
Geraldine Chaplin, Doctor Zhivago
Eleanor Parker, The Sound of Music
Joyce Redman, Othello
Maggie Smith, Othello
Runners-Up: Anne Vernon (Umbrellas of Cherbourg – a lead?), Claire Bloom (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), Yvonne Furneaux (Repulsion), with a nod to the women of Faster, Pussycat! Kill!! Kill!!
1987
Articles Written:
Veronica Cartwright, The Witches of Eastwick
Vanessa Redgrave, Prick Up Your Ears
Karen Allen, The Glass Menagerie
Carmen Maura, Law of Desire
Final Ballot:
Karen Allen, The Glass Menagerie
Kathy Baker, Street Smart
Veronica Cartwright, The Witches of Eastwick
Anjelica Huston, The Dead
Carmen Maura, Law of Desire
Runners-Up: Norma Aleandro (Gaby: A True Story), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck), Vanessa Redgrave (Prick Up Your Ears), Sean Young (No Way Out).
It's Just Like The Movies 