Oscar Trivia: When the Academy Nominates Lovers Together
Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 11:35AM 
Love is in the air…at the Oscars. Both lead and supporting acting categories feature a nominated couple. Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem are on the hunt for their second statuette with Parallel Mothers and Being the Ricardos, respectively. Then, there are Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons, who played a married couple in the movie that finally earned them long-deserved Oscar nods. The Power of the Dog stars are the first real-life romantic partners to earn nominations for playing an on-screen couple since Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain – though, of course, the Burbanks have a better marriage than the doomed Del Mars.
But how often do couples get nominated together at the Academy Awards? As it happens, much more often than you'd think...
Indeed, it's such a regular event that it'd be ridiculous to list all the times it's happened. For example, songwriting duo Alan and Marilyn Bergman won a whopping three Oscars out of 16 nominations for their work together. Another three-time winning pair is set designer Dante Ferretti and set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo, whose most recent triumph came in 2011 for Martin Scorsese's Hugo. Considering all that, let's focus on actor pairs who got nominations in the same year in the performance categories. From the early days of the Academy Awards to today, here are some lucky thespian couples (*denotes a winner):
1932: Lynn Fontanne (The Guardsman) and Alfred Lunt (The Guardsman)
1939: Vivien Leigh (Gone with the Wind)* and Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights)
1953: Ava Gardner (Mogambo) and Frank Sinatra (From Here to Eternity)*
1955: Katharine Hepburn (Summertime) and Spencer Tracy (Bad Day at Black Rock)
1957: Elsa Lanchester (Witness for the Prosecution) and Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution)
1963: Rachel Roberts (This Sporting Life) and Rex Harrison (Cleopatra)
1966: Elizabeth Taylor (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)* and Richard Burton (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
1967: Katharine Hepburn (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)* and Spencer Tracy (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)
1981: Diane Keaton (Reds) and Warren Beatty (Reds)
1985: Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor)* and Jack Nicholson (Prizzi's Honor)
1986: Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God)* and William Hurt (Children of a Lesser God)
2005: Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) and Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain)
2008: Angelina Jolie (Changeling) and Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
2015: Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)* and Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
2021: Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) and Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog) and Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
It's interesting to note that when a victory materializes, it's almost always the actress who wins rather than her male partner. So that should be good news for Cruz and Dunst. While the latter has to contend with Ariana DeBose's frontrunner status, maybe Cruz can win again, seeing as Best Actress is beyond chaotic .
Final questions: Who is your favorite pair from the list?
Reader Comments (8)
Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra, definitely! :)
Rex and Rachel are my favourite less starry but still as good.
RE Best Actress who wins who knows but anyone other than Kidman or Stewart,if Ga Ga was here then i'd pick her so without her my pick is Chastain.
Kirsten is the only one who can give Ariana DeBose a run for her money, but I do think Anita will likely prevail again.
Best Actress will be fun to watch though. I'm rooting for Kristen Stewart and Jessica Chastain, but I truly feel that race could go any direction!
I had thought Woody and Diane were still dating around the time of "Annie Hall" but I guess not..
I wonder how many "mixed" couples (Director/Actress, Actor/Production Designer, Cinematographer/Supporting Actress etc.) have gotten nominations in the same year. Like Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward (Best Picture and Best Actress, Rachel, Rachel).
My favorite couple from the list in the articles is the Brokeback duo.
Kate & Spencer and Pe & Javier. But Jesse & Kirsten are truly lovely... just imagine for a second, that both couples actually win this year.
so the majority of one wins/one loses couples eventually broke up #debbiedowner
hang in there michael and alicia!
Beatty and Keaton had spilt up by the time they were both nominated in 1982.