Best Supporting Actress 1987: Getting to know the nominees
Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 6:30PM The Supporting Actress Smackdown of 1987, the last episode of this season, is approaching. As we did with the '38 Oscar lineup, we invite you to peruse the biographies and careers of these stupendous actresses. The 60th Academy Awards may be one of the few times all of the contenders were single-nomination actresses, but that doesn't mean their legacies and stories aren't fascinating. These women make up an impressive lot that includes Argentinean acting royalty, a Presidential candidate's cousin, and one of Old Hollywood's queens of comedy…
NORMA ALEANDRO (1936-?)
The Grande Dame of Argentinean theater and film, Buenos Aires-born Norma Aleandro is part of a dynasty of performers. Influenced by her family, she started working while still a child, stepping on stage for the first time when she was just nine years old. By the early 70s, she was a renowned name in her country. However, Aleandro's vocal opposition to the dictatorship ravaging her nation would cost her dearly.
Because of her outspoken political resistance against tyrannical oppression, she spent part of her life exiled in Uruguay and Spain, only returning to Argentina after the military junta fell in the early 80s. Such heartfelt beliefs were likely one of the reasons Aleandro was attracted to the project that would forever change her fate. 1985's The Official Story is a caustic tale of passive complicity with the abuse of an unjust regime, and Aleandro's performance as the picture's protagonist is nothing short of miraculous.
When the film bowed at Cannes, she tied with Cher for the Best Actress prize, and, considering all the international acclaim she received, it's likely that the Argentinean actress wasn't very far away from an Oscar nomination. Unfortunately, that honor would have to wait a little bit. It was in '87 that Gaby: A True Story earned the actress a citation from AMPAS. In her home country, Aleandro has been nominated seven times for the Silver Condor. She won the coveted Critics Prize in 1985 for The Official Story, in 1996 for Autumn Sun, and in 2001 for Son of the Bride.
Essential Viewing: The Official Story (1985), Gaby: A True Story (1987), Autumn Sun (1996), Son of the Bride (2001), Live-in Maid (2005).
ANNE ARCHER (1947-?)
Like her fellow '87 Best Supporting Actress nominee Norma Aleandro, Anne Archer was born to a show business family. It's no wonder, then, that she decided early that she wanted to be an actress. After graduating from Pitzer College in 1968, Archer started doing stage work and, not long after, became a regular presence on the sets of New York produced TV shows. In 1973, for instance, she played the Natalie Wood's part in the televised long-form remake of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.
As far as movies are concerned, Archer appeared in many smaller projects throughout the 70s and early 80s. Her bigger pictures tended to cast Archer in supporting roles, though she got some leading parts in projects such as the 1976's Sam Elliott-starring drama Lifeguard. During this period, Archer still found most of her meatier roles on the small screen, like the CBS soap opera Falcon Crest. 1987's Fatal Attraction, with its seismic cultural impact and smashing box office results, was Archer's biggest film success and remains her most famous role. It seems fitting that her sole Oscar nomination comes from that picture.
During the 90s, Archer would branch out a bit, achieving success in varied projects, from Robert Altman's ambitious Short Cuts to the Jack Ryan movies starring Harrison Ford. In more recent years, Archer has faded a bit from the spotlight, but that doesn't mean her career is any less rich or impressive. On stage, she has found success playing major roles like that of Mrs. Robinson in the West End production of The Graduate and as Jane Fonda in The Trial of Jane Fonda.
Essential Viewing: Lifeguard (1976), Fatal Attraction (1987), Patriot Games (1992), Body of Evidence (1993), Short Cuts (1993).
OLYMPIA DUKAKIS (1931-?)
Born to two Greek American immigrants, Olympia Dukakis didn't start as an actress. In college, she studied physical therapy and worked in this field during the terrible polio epidemic of 1952. After that experience, she decided to return to university, studying performing arts this time around. By the early 60s, Dukakis had become a successful stage actress, making a name for herself in summer stock and Shakespearean companies before arriving at Broadway as an understudy in the 1962 production of The Aspern Papers. That same year, she won an Obie Award for her work in the Off-Broadway production of A Man's Man.
Around that time, Dukakis also started doing television work, quickly learning how to calibrate her stage-trained acting for the camera. Starting with 1964's Twice a Man, she also began to dabble in cinema, though it would take a long time before she gained the name recognition she so richly deserved. After many years doing theatre, instructing at New York University, and doing small parts for film and TV, Dukakis finally got her big break. She and her husband, Yugoslav-American actor Louis Zorich, auditioned for the roles of Cher's parents in Norman Jewison's Moonstruck. Only she got the part and, as they say, the rest is history.
Not only was her career in a glorious upswing at this time, but her cousin, Michael Dukakis, was also the Presidential Candidate representing the Democratic Party. After winning her Oscar for Moonstruck, Olympia Dukakis was even a delegate from New Jersey at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. In the years since, the actress has turned into an acclaimed character actress of the screen, though she never completely left the stage behind. In 1999, for example, she starred in the one-woman show Rosa, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
Essential Viewing: Moonstruck (1987), Steel Magnolias (1989), Tales of the City (1993), Away from Her (2006), Cloudburst (2011).
ANNE RAMSEY (1928-1988)
When examining Anne Ramsey's filmography, one might not guess her origins. Long before she ever graced the screens as a weathered battleax, the would-be Oscar nominee made her debut to Connecticut's society alongside Jacqueline Bouvier. However, Ramsey's sights weren't set on American high society, but on the acting business. When she was seven, Ramsey was part of a Shakespeare camp and, right after graduating from college, she started her life as a working actress.
It wasn't always easy and, alongside her husband, fellow character actor Logan Ramsey, Anne had to supplement her income with other jobs. In the early 60s, for example, she organized awards dinners for the NFL, and Dustin Hoffman worked for her as a messenger boy. It was during these years that she also met Geraldine Page, Ed Asner, and Barbra Streisand, with which Ramsey became lifelong friends, regularly exchanging recipes.
As the 70s dawned, she would find work as a performer of bit parts in film and TV. Her heavyset figure, scowling visage, and growling voice made her the butt of many cruel gags and jokes. However, even in small doses, she was an arresting and memorable presence. Most of these small characters didn't even have the privilege of a name, but Ramsey made the most of them. Her most famous role, especially for those who were kids during the 80s, is probably that of Mama Fratelli in 1985's The Goonies. That malicious performance propelled the consummate character actress into a new echelon of success, but whatever professional hopes she had were cut short by health issues.
A chronic sore throat revealed itself to be cancer and, just as The Goonies marveled audiences worldwide, Ramsey suffered through chemotherapy and a radical surgery that resulted in the removal and reconstruction of her tongue. Terrified of losing the ability to speak altogether, Anne Ramsey was relieved to discover she could still form words, though with a strong lisp. With her body ravaged by disease, physically weak but strong of will, the actress scored her best role yet in Danny DeVito's Throw Momma from the Train. Overnight, she became famous and even landed an Oscar nomination.
Ramsey took this opportunity and worked as if her time was running out, completing film after film, episode after episode, in the months immediately after the release of the 1987 comedy. Unfortunately, her time was indeed running out. The cancer had returned and, just six months after becoming an Academy Award-nominee, Anne Ramsey died, her beloved husband steadfastly by her side. She left behind a rich filmography, full of memorable scene stealers, one of the most absurd deaths in horror movie history, and a rare broad comedy enshrined in the glow of Oscar gold.
Essential Viewing: Class Reunion (1982), The Goonies (1985), Deadly Friend (1986), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Weeds (1987).
ANN SOTHERN (1909-2001)
Ann Sothern came from a family of musicians. Fittingly, she didn't start out wanting to become an actress, setting her eyes on a music career, whether as a pianist, a singer, or a composer. She excelled in all three fields. However, while visiting her mother, who had become a vocal coach for Warner Bros., Sothern dipped her toes in the movie business, finding work as an uncredited extra. When her contract expired, the novice actress made her way to New York, where she found a home on stage as one of the Ziegfeld Girls. By the mid-'30s, Sothern was a successful Broadway starlet and tried, once more, to make it in the movies.
Originally a redhead, Sothern had started bleaching her hair blonde when she first pursued work as an actress. This career move paid its dues in the late 30s when she was seen as a substitute for Jean Harlow. MGM cast her in the role of Maisie Ravier, a charming Brooklyn showgirl intended for the original blonde bombshell. Maisie, which premiered in 1939, changed Sothern's life, making her an overnight sensation and one of Hollywood's most beloved properties. Overall, MGM produced ten Maisie pictures, a veritable comedy franchise, and, by the end of the 40s, Sothern was trying to get some recognition as an accomplished actress beyond her most famous character.
She did that with A Letter to Three Wives, an Oscar frontrunner whose entire starry cast is blown out of the water by Sothern's canny performance, as charming as it's sharp. I'd have nominated her for Best Actress and it's fair to say that Sothern thought her career was about to enter a new brilliant phase. However, the studio canceled her contract after she contracted hepatitis, marking the first time Sothern's career would be upended by illness. Thankfully, she found her place in early TV, becoming a hot commodity of the small screen with her own sitcoms on CBS and five Emmy nominations to call her own.
Her declining health prevented Sothern from doing much work in the 70s and 80s, with The Whales of August being her first movie in eight years. Olympia Dukakis' win may seem obvious nowadays, but Sothern was considered by many to be a sentimental favorite, much to her chagrin since she wanted to win because people liked her work, not because they wanted to honor a screen veteran. Sothern died in 2001 from heart failure, leaving behind a curriculum spanning six decades of work as an actress in film, TV, stage, and radio. Lucille Ball, with which Sothern had appeared in The Lucy Show would later call her "the best comedian in the business, bar none."
Essential Viewing: Maisie (1939), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Best Man (1964), Lady in a Cage (1964), The Whales of August (1987).
Don't forget to watch these actresses' nominated performances and send in your votes for the smackdown.
Reader Comments (31)
Loved reading this. I feel a bit bad for the harsh review I sent in for Ramsey now. I'll definitely have to track down The Official Story.
Love this - and cant wait to hear the smackdown. I've always been a little obsessed by this group.
Three very different legends in three very random movies, and two frequently under-used actresses in two offbeat oscar smashes.
Wonderful writeup, Cláudio! It was a Drama Desk nomination, not a Tony nomination, for Dukakis for Rosa, and five Emmy nominations for Sothern, but, other than those nitpicks, flawless!
eurocheese -- The Official Story's really good. I'd have nominated both Aleandro and Chunchuna Villafañe for the Oscars.
Mike in Canada -- It's such an interesting quintet, isn't it? I often think that these weird, seemingly random Oscar lineups are the most interesting ones. That's also why I adore the 1975 Best Actress race.
NathanielB -- Thank you for the corrections and sorry for the errors. I'll fix those mistakes right away.
Now this is how a SUPPORTING lineup is supposed to feel. Actors making their marks on the edges of their films, and at last earning recognition for singular performances after years of grit and hard work, without being shoved out by bigger names.
I was aware of Ramsey’s condition and while it didn’t charge my opinion on the performance it is horrible she had to suffer yet uplifting she chose to continue working in the industry.
Of the three women in 49 I’d nominated Linda Darnel over Southern but the latter is still excellent. I just imagined Dukakis being known more before Moonstruck just because she is so stellar in it you think she’d be constantly working in many films over tome before 87.
Interesting post to ready and makes me hope that there can be some retrospect done for all the previous smackdown as I find it interesting to invest in certain performers backstory.
I wouldn’t call Norma Aleandro empress of Latinamerican cinema. That title would probably go with one of the actresses during the Mexican golden age of cinema (Libertad Lamarque, also Argentinian, Maria Felix or Dolores del Rio, to name a few).
JJ -- It's the way things should be every year, though I'd argue that Aleandro's committing a bit of category fraud.
Pedro -- I apologize for the hyperbole. Admittedly, it's an exaggeration, and I don't mean to erase the legacies of other brilliant actresses by doing it. However, I see your point and will change the text of the write-up a little bit.
LOL @ "BODY OF EVIDENCE" being essential viewing for Anne Archer!
Bit of a stretch there Nathaniel?
omg, I forgot all about Body of Evidence...
Fun Fact: Julianne Moore was also in that film and spilled the tea on Madonna antics during filming. A definite camp classic!
Great piece esp the kind words on Anne Ransey,eternally Mama Fratelli,your incorrect about Ann Sothern being away for 13 years,she was in 1978's The Manitou in a small supporting role and a small role in 1979'sThe Little Dragons,so 8 - 9 years she was away.
Mallinckrodt -- It wasn't Nathaniel that put it there, but me. I think it qualifies as essential viewing. If nothing else, for its infamy. After all, the movie did earn her a Razzie nod and it's one of her most known titles.
markgordonuk -- I'll have to fix that. To be honest, I took that tidbit from Inside Oscar and forgot to fact check it, which was a mistake of mine. Apologies for the errors.
Look Who's Talking should be included in Dukakis essential viewing.
The only thing I remember about Body if Evidence is Madonna dripping candle wax on Willem Dafoe’s chest. I think it needs a revisit! I remember it was labeled a cheap Basic Instinct knock off
Loved reading this about a wonderful group of actresses.
Norma Aleandro is magnificent in The Official Story. While she's likewise very strong in Gaby her nomination should have come for the first film.
I've always liked Anne Archer and I watched her work her way forward through the years, I even remember that odd short-lived Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice series with Robert Urich, but though she gives the role a lot of class her role in Fatal Attraction is a standard wife part.
Olympia Dukakis at least in terms of America benefitted the most from her role or perhaps she was more fortunate in what was offered afterwards than Norma and Anne Archer with Steel Magnolias and her glorious Anna Madrigal in the Tales of the City plus innumerable other memorable roles she's played since.
Nothing but respect for Anne Ramsey, a dedicated pro to the end.
I've been a huge fan of Ann Sothern since I was a kid. A very versatile performer equally adept at comedy and drama. She has quite a large filmography it's a pity she is mainly known for Maisie and A Letter to Three Wives, she's terrific in both but there is so much more that is undiscovered.
As fantastic as she is in Wives (she and Kirk Douglas make a great couple) I'd also nominate Linda Darnell first over her, though I wouldn't say a nomination for her in the film wasn't deserved. It's not just my love for Linda either she is the most memorable character and gives the best performance in the film.
Looking forward to the Smackdown!
Thanks for this preview write-up! I’ll always remember Anne Archer for her role in that 2000s Tommy Lee Jones comedy “Man of the House” where she tried to pick him up at the supermarket but delivered the BEST quip after he refuses her dinner invitation.
Dukakis deserved a second nomination for Away from Her. Period.
I'm from Argentina, so Norma Aleandro all the way except this time I'll go with Anne Ramsey. She's hilarious, terrifying and exasperating in Throw Momma from the Train. BTW, each one of these minibios could make for such great films.
I'd rather have all first time batch of nominee, rathen than all winner batch.
I met Olympia at theatre school when she and some of her colleagues guest spoke about working in the business (etc.). Incredibly kind and funny woman. Felt super luck to learn something from her.
Many at the time indeed thought Sothern would win this!
Me34 -- You're a traitor!
In addition to what Joel6 said about Ann Sothern's abilities in comedy and drama, she also really was a wonderful singer. Google "The Last Time I Saw Paris" to hear/see Sothern singing this Oscar winning song. Why she wasn't better utilized by Hollywood I don't know. A matter of timing I suppose, plus whatever casting shenanigans that always seem to go on behind the scenes.
I want to personally thank you for that Norma Aleandro pic. Diva divina!
I’d add The Event in Dukakis’ essentials, she’s fantastic in it.
I was a thirteen-year-old who was both a budding actressexual and a politics nerd in 1988, and it was *so exciting* to watch Olympia's awards run. I still remember her appearing with Michael Dukakis at a rally shortly after she won the Oscar and casting the votes for NJ at the convention. Good times.
@claudio @me34. I once met Chunchuna Villafañe in person. Chunchuna and my mother were both studying architecture. They shared a class, and one evening she came home with other students, among them Ernesto Acher, one of the founding members of the musical group Les Luthiers!
every time i watch the video of Dukakis' win my heart breaks a little for Ramsey, her health was decreasing terribly at the time of the ceremony, but she looks so happy of being there, there's such illusion in her eyes and i'm glad she could live to hear the words Academy Award nominee Anne Ramsey
A really impressive line-up. "The Official Story" made me cry, in the best way, it's a moving and gripping story. If you have a chance to see it, go for it. Norma Aleandro is fabulous.
I'm partial to Olympia Dukakis, but this write up is making me more conscious of the fine actresses that were nominated that year.
Totally trivia: Argentinian Norma Aleandro played a Mexican maid and got nominated for an Oscar in "Gaby", before Yalitza Aparicio in "Roma".
I was just reading about DEADLY FRIEND — not only is Anne Ramsey’s death scene is graphic and ridiculous, but it was done in a reshoot because it was originally meant to be a more serious thriller and the studio demanded Wes Craven make it more like a Wes Craven movie. What a trooper.