Films Photos

Gold Derby editor Tom O'Neil gives an awards-themed tour of the famed Hollywood Forever Cemetery. VIEW GALLERY

Only 18 thespians have won all three of the top acting prizes – the Oscar, the Emmy and the Tony.  The first to achieve this triple crown of acting was Thomas Mitchell while the most recent was Ellen Burstyn who won an Emmy in 2009 for her guest appearance on  “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" to join the Oscar and Tony she picked up in 1975. We profile a dozen performers who are just one win away from being triple crown winners, including Meryl Streep who has been on second base since 1979 and Kate Winslet who reached that mark in 2011. VIEW GALLERY 

Who won what!? This year, six contenders defied our Oscar odds to win gold. One film, "Hugo," pulled off two of these jaw-droppers while "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" claimed a prize that often goes to the Best Picture champ. VIEW GALLERY

There are some people who can never win an Oscar despite a record number of tries like Peter O'Toole (eight) and both Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter with six defeats each. Then there are those folks who win every time they are nominated. The most successful person with a perfect winning record is sound engineer Mark Berger who has four Oscars. Three-time champs include costumer Mark Acheson, art director/costumer Cecil Beaton, documentarian Jacques Cousteau, composers Giorgio Moroder and Howard Shore and producer Saul Zaentz. Four women won both their Best Actress bids. The first of these was Luise Rainer who won back-to-back Oscars in 1936 ("The Great Ziegfeld") and 1937 ("The Good Earth"). To find out who the other three are VIEW GALLERY 

Neither Deborah Kerr nor Thelma Ritter won any of their six Oscar bids for Best Actress and Supporting Actress respectively. However, while Meryl Streep has one win in each of those races ("Sophie's Choice," 1982; "Kramer vs. Kramer," 1979), she has been defeated a dozen times for Best Actress (most recently for "Julie and Julia" in 2009) and twice for Best Supporting Actress. Revisit all of her losing bids and discover who edged her out each time. VIEW GALLERY