With recent victories at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards and BAFTA, Emma Stone is a strong frontrunner to be named Best Actress for her role in “La La Land” when the Oscars are handed out later this month. (Four of our experts — Tim Gray (Variety), Pete Hammond (Deadline), Tom O’Neil (Gold Derby) and Anne Thompson (Indiewire) — dished the Best Actress race soon after the SAG Awards in the video below.)
Should she prevail at the Oscars, Stone will be one of only seven actresses to win in the lead actress category for a performance in a musical. Who are the other six? Click through our photo gallery above to see every Best Actress winner in the history of the Academy Awards.
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Although Louise Rainer won Best Actress in 1936 for her role in the musical drama “The Great Ziegfeld,” her performance was primarily dramatic rather than musical. It would be almost 30 years before the first truly musical performance would win: Julie Andrews for her film debut in 1964’s “Mary Poppins.” Over the next eight years, two more winners would be crowned for their roles in musicals: Barbra Streisand in “Funny Girl” (1968) and Liza Minnelli in “Cabaret” (1972).
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The three subsequent Best Actress winners would win for their roles in musical biographies. In 1980, Sissy Spacek won an Oscar for playing country music icon Loretta Lynn in “Coal Miner’s Daughter.” Nearly a quarter century later, Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for playing another country queen, June Carter Cash in 2005’s “Walk the Line,” while Marion Cotillard won in 2007 for portraying French chanteuse Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose.” Will Emma Stone be the next actress to join this exclusive club?
Predict the Oscar winners now; change them till February 26
Be sure to make your Oscar predictions. Weigh in now with your picks so that Hollywood insiders can see how their films are faring in our Oscar odds. You can keep changing your predictions right up until just before winners are announced on February 26 at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET. And join in the fierce debate over the Oscars taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our forums.
Video produced by David Janove
