Sidney Poitier Receiving Oscar
I need to alert you to the fact that I downloaded a lot of pictures of Sidney Poitier and the reason that I did that is because he's VERY HANDSOME. The ceiling of the press room at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is hideous and not worthy of him!
I don't recognize the guy eyeballing him there in the background -- probably a director or producer type? -- but he also seems to be thinking, "oooh, it's Sidney Poitier." Poitier had been previously nominated for Best Actor for his work in The Defiant Ones in 1958 -- making him the first Black male actor nominated for an Oscar -- and this was his first win, which was also the first time a Black man won Best Actor. He also got an honorary Oscar in 2001, which you probably remember.
Informative Caption informs us that we've got "Gregory Peck, who presented Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress, Annabella, who accepted the Oscar for Patricia Neal for her role in the film Hud, Sidney Poitier, Best Actor for his performance in the movie Lilies Of The Field, and actress Anne Bancroft, who presented the Oscar to Poitier." Who is "Annabella"? Well, first of all, she is a person who is NOT supposed to be posing with this Oscar like she won it herself! She's a French actress who had a very dramatic affair with Tyrone Power AND one with Roald Dahl (who told his wife that she taught him a lot about sex; WHAT was THAT conversation) and she's allegedly RETIRED here but this is not the body language of a woman who has retired from acting. Everyone else here looks VERY dishy.
Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll
Speaking of dishy! I covered this back when I wrote this long piece about Diahann looking gorgeous throughout history, but -- to quote myself and Wiki -- "Diahann and Sidney Poitier had -- per Professor Wikipedia -- a rather complicated relationship: 'In 1959, Carroll began a nine-year affair with the married actor Sidney Poitier. In her autobiography, Carroll said Poitier persuaded her to divorce her husband and said he would leave his wife to be with her. While she proceeded with her divorce, Poitier did not keep his part of the bargain. Eventually he divorced his wife. According to Poitier, their relationship ended because he wanted to live with Carroll for six months without her daughter present so he would not be 'jumping from one marriage straight into another.' She refused." He's so handsome, but this relationship sounds exhausting!
I am VERY annoyed we don't have graphics like this anymore for our Oscars. (Many of these folks either did not attend or I don't have pics of them. I am sorry to note that Paul Newman's Floating Head is all the Paul you'll get.)
Connie Stevens and husband James Stacy
Fun fact: Apparently in 1964, the Academy Awards fed people. These two had just gotten married and were also about to get divorced. His Wiki is a RIDE OF EMOTIONS: He was in a terrible drunk-driving accident (not his fault) that cost him two limbs and you feel terrible for him, but then you find out he was a convicted child molester who tried to throw himself off a cliff and eventually died of anaphylactic shock from an antibiotics injection. That is a lot!
Carroll Baker and Jack Garfein
Behold! "American actor Carroll Baker laughs while sitting with her husband, Czechoslovakian-born film director Jack Garfein, at a banquet table during the Academy Awards, Santa Monica, California. An unidentified man sits in the foreground. " I like Carroll's boa, and his life story is ASTONISHING; he was sent to Auschwitz at 13 and had a truly harrowing experience during the war, but went on to great artistic success and only recently died.
Rock Hudson
Here's Rock Hudson looking dreamy.
Gina Lollobrigida
Do not ask me why they made various presenters stare dramatically into this mirror, but just know that they did.
John Huston and Stella Stevens
They are not on each other's Wikis, so this had to have been a romantic blip.
Patty Duke and Brandon deWilde
"American actors Patty Duke and Brandon deWilde smile and pose with an Oscar statuette and an envelope while serving as presenters backstage at the Academy Awards." Patty, whose dress looks great, was outgoing Best Supporting Actress. Brandon deWilde is best known for being the little boy in Shane and tragically died in a car accident just a few fews after this, basically because he wasn't wearing a seat belt. Wear your seat belt!
Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin
Remember when Kevin Spacey was like OBSESSED with Bobby Darin? I can sort of see the resemblance. That was a weird period of time for everyone. Bobby actually did not have a ton of time left to live at this point, either -- he had a bad heart because he had rheumatic fever as a kid, and it eventually got him after a bout of sepsis (because he didn't take antibiotics before he went to the dentist). Jeez, this slideshow is taking a turn! Sandy was fine for a while after this, but she also had a rather sad end. My god, I did not mean this to be such a bummer.
Shirley MacLaine and then-husband Steve Parker
Shirley MacLaine is thriving!! Even today! I mean, I don't know how she is doing THIS VERY DAY but I assume she's fine!
Peter Ustinov And Ed Begley
Peter Ustinov accepted Best Supporting Actress on behalf of Margaret Rutherford, who didn't attend. (She was oldish at the time and in London.) Ed Begley is of course the father of Ed Begley Jr, a man I once bodily ran into -- accidentally!! -- at a vegan restaurant, a set-up so apt that it reads like a joke. Ed Sr had a heart attack and died at a party, which isn't the worst way to go out; Peter Ustinov had a good run, and for a while, Angela Lansbury was his sister-in-law, which would be a blessing for anyone.
Tuesday Weld and Roddy McDowall
Apparently, Tuesday presented Best Sound Effects, and as a lover of a neck-ruffle, I love this dress. Tuesday is still alive and kicking! Her Wiki includes details about how she once had real estate problems because she bought a house with a "murder-suicide connection." They were definitely just friends. Fun fact: He once got raided by the FBI for film piracy because he was a film-storage aficionado.
Angie Dickinson
Angie Dickinson looks AMAZING, accessorized with that disembodied hand.