Born On This Day- May 2nd... Stephen Daldry

Silver Fox- Stephen Daldry has directed only 4 films, but he received an Academy Award nomination for each of them: Billy Elliot. The Hours, & The Reader. The Hours won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for Nicole Kidman. Recently, he directed a stage musical adaptation of Billy Elliot which earned him a Tony Award (his 2nd) for Best Director of a Musical. His film version of The Reader, & again, won Best Actress at the Academy Awards for Kate Winslet.. I think he is a stunning talent. Billy Elliot was a brilliant first film & I never grown tired of seeing it. Last year Daldry directed the Oscar nominated Extremely Long & Incredible Manipulative with an Oscar nomination for Max Von Sydow, in a role with no dialogue.

Daldry identifies as a gay man because people prefer it ("they don't like confusion"), He is married to performance artist Lucy Sexton with whom he has a daughter, Annabel Clare, born in 2003. He was previously in a relationship with set designer Ian MacNeil for 13 years. With such a modern arrangment, maybe there would be room for Stephen to have a boyfriend named Stephen. He is just my type. Perhaps he could direct me to my Oscar in an all senior version of Noel Cowards' Design For Living opposite Helen Mirren & Patrick Stewart.

"What's so funny is when people say, 'Oh, does that mean you're not gay anymore?' And you go, 'Oh, give me a break. What do you mean?' We wanted to have kids! We thought we'd get married and have kids. We're allowed to do everything. I refuse to be boxed in to the idea that 'Oh, no, I can't have kids 'cause I'm gay.' I can have kids if I'm gay. And I can also get married and have a fantastic life...To all questions [having to do] with my marriage, the answer to everything is yes. Do I have sex with my wife? Yes. Is it a real marriage? Yes. Am I gay? Yes."

Oscars 2012 Winners List (84th Academy Awards)

Oscars 2012 Winners List

The winners of the 2012 Oscars (a.k.a. the 84th Academy Awards or Oscar Awards 2012) were announced Sunday, February 26, 2012, in ceremonies held at the Hollywood and Highland Center (formerly Kodak Theater) in Los Angeles.

Here's the complete list of 2012 Oscar Awards winners (italicized and in bold characters) and nominees for each category:

Best Picture

"The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
"The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
"The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
"Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
"Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
"Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
"The Tree of Life" Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers
"War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Woody Allen, ""Midnight in Paris"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Best Actress

Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer in "The Help"
Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"

Best Animated Feature Film

"Rango" Gore Verbinski
"A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
"Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
"Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
"Puss in Boots" Chris Miller

Best Art Direction

"Hugo"
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"The Artist"
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Midnight in Paris"
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Best Cinematography

"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Best Costume Design

"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips

Best Documentary (Feature)

"Undefeated"
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas
"Hell and Back Again"
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
"Pina"
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

"Saving Face"
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement"
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
"Incident in New Baghdad"
James Spione
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Best Film Editing

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Best Foreign Language Film

"A Separation" Iran
"Bullhead" Belgium
"Footnote" Israel
"In Darkness" Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar" Canada

Best Makeup

"The Iron Lady"
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
"Albert Nobbs"
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin

Best Music (Original Score)

"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams

Best Music (Original Song)

"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio"
Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Short Film (Animated)

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby


Best Short Film (Live Action)

"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

Best Sound Editing

"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing

"Hugo" - Winner
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Moneyball"
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco and Ed Novick
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse"
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Best Visual Effects

"Hugo"
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Real Steel"
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

I Want To Thank God & My Agent... Considering The Academy Awards

Tim was an acquaintance/friend, not quite in my circle, but dating one of my best friends. He was cute, bright, & talented. I knew him for a while before we had a long-ish conversation where I discovered that his father was the esteemed & popular big band leader & arranger- Paul Weston & his mother was the beautiful Jo Stafford, one of the great jazz singers of the 1940s & 50s, with a pure & understated voice.

I was, & remain, a huge fan of Jo Stafford’s & I think Tim was taken aback a bit when I gushed. I actually dragged him back to my apartment to show him my collection of LPs of his parents’ music.


He was kind enough to invite me over to the house in Beverly Hills. He owed me nothing & we were not really close. It was a lovely gesture. I brought one album for Jo Stafford to sign. She was very lovely & quite funny. She & her husband had a great act throughout the 1950s, as Jonathan & Darlene Edwards, a bad lounge act. Stafford, as Darlene, would sing off-key in a high pitched voice; Weston, as Jonathan, played an untuned piano off key & with bizarre rhythms. They won a Grammy in 1961 for Best Comedy Album for Jo Stafford & Paul Weston Present: The Song Stylings of Jonathan & Darlene Edwards, on which the pair intentionally butchered some of the best popular music. The couple continued to release Jonathan & Darlene albums for several years, and in 1977 released a final single, a cover of The Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive with I Am Woman on the flip side. A very funny couple.


During my short visit with the Westons, their neighbors from behind their Beverly Hills house dropped by to talk about what to wear to the Academy Awards the following week. This handsome couple were nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, for a little number that they called- The Way We Were, sung by their good friend Barbra Streisand who was also nominated for Best Actress. I was just a little starstruck, but I was able to tell Marilyn & Alan Bergman that I would be seeing them at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the following Monday (the awards were held on Mondays then, the day that theatres were traditionally dark, I guess so actors in Broadway or touring shows could attend).



My good school chum & fellow actor in the theatre program- Gina had offered me a ticket. Her father was Secretary of the Academy that year & a 7 time nominee (he became an Oscar winner, for Best Sound for All The Presidents Men). They were not attending the awards & had a single ticket up for grabs. I wore my tux from Private Lives, which was still in production at the time. I was frantic about getting some makeup stains off the white dinner jacket. I got myself to the Chandler Pavilion, parking afew milse away, & I was seated a row away from Paul & Linda McCartney & Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward (who was nominated). The nominees that year:




Best Picture:
THE STING, American Graffiti, Cries & Whispers, The Exorcist, A Touch of Class


Actor:
JACK LEMMON in Save the Tiger, Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris, Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Al Pacino in Serpico, Robert Redford in The Sting


Actress:
GLENDA JACKSON in A Touch of Class, Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist, Marsha Mason in Cinderella Liberty, Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were, Joanne Woodward in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams


Supporting Actor:
JOHN HOUSEMAN in The Paper Chase, Vincent Gardenia in Bang the Drum Slowly, Jack Gilford in Save the Tiger, Jason Miller in The Exorcist, Randy Quaid in The Last Detail


Supporting Actress:
TATUM O'NEAL in Paper Moon, Linda Blair in The Exorcist, Candy Clark in American Graffiti, Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon, Sylvia Sidney in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams


Director:
GEORGE ROY HILL for The Sting, Ingmar Bergman for Cries & Whispers, Bernardo Bertolucci for Last Tango in Paris, William Friedkin for The Exorcist, George Lucas for American Graffiti

My new good close personal friends- The Bergmans did win that night.  I deeply wanted Streisand to win. I still love The Way Were  & the moment where Barbra moves a lock of Robert Redford's blond hair with her gloved hand still destroys me. Babs lost to Glenda Jackson in a stunning upset. I still have my ticket/pass to the ceremony.


Jo Stafford left us in 2008. The Bergmans continue to work.This will be my 53rd viewing of the awards; I have watched the Oscar Ceremony on TV since I was 5 years old. I used to hold up a big brass candlestick & practice my acceptance speech in the bathroom mirror: " I thank no one for this award. I did it all myself, with own talent & gumption, God & my agent..."