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OUT FOR 0SCAR: Nicole Kidman as Virginia Wooll in "The Hours"; Felicity Hutfman in "Transamerica" (inset).
T
role
All of a sudden, out is in
at the Academy Awards
tion Other nominations follow
- like Robert Preston's hililious
turn in 1982's "Victor/Victoria"
- but it will be another decade
before Best Acror €(oes ro a por-
trayal of arr openly gay chuacrer.
Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1986)
William Hurt is the first actor
in history to win an Academy
Award for a gay character, when
he I urns flamboyantly delusional
prisoner Luis Molina into a man
of dignity and strength.
Philadelphia (1994)
As Andrew Beckett,
Tom Hanks barely
touched his lover
(Antonio Banderas),
but he wins Best
Actor for playing a
noble take on a
man dying of
AIDSBy MICHAEL GILTZ
I F you want ro win an Oscar,
I playing a real person is always
I in fashion: Think Ben Kings-
I ley as Gandhi or )amie Foxx as
Ray Charles Another good tip is
incorporating some kind of a
physical or mental handicap, like
Geoflfrey Rush in "Shine" or
Daniel-Day Lcwis in "My Left
Foot "
Now that gay characters are
more open than ever in the
movies especially with
"Brokeback Mountain" and
"Capote" Ieading this ycar's field
- it looks Iike gay is the new
black for actors and actresses irr
search of Oscar But Ennis and
Truman are hardly the first gay-
themed characters to catch the
Academy's eye
Some notable highJighrs,
including the year the filnr com-
peted for an Academy Award:
Midnight Cowboy (1970)
The same yeil John Wayne wins
an Oscar for "True Grir," "Mid-
night Cowboy" brerks down bar-
riers It becomes the first (and
only) X-rated movic to win Besr
Picture. And Jon Voight and
Dustin Hoffman are borh Besr
Actor nominees for playing,
respectively, a male hustler and
the street rat who loves him
Cabaret (1973)
Joel Grey rvins Best Supporting
Actor for celebrating Weimar-era
decadence with his Master of
Ceremonies
Dog Day Afternoon (1976)
Al Pacino scores a Best Actor
nomination for playing a banl
robber trying to pay for his
hoyfriend's sex-change opera-|'od'.'oio"* to
Hilary SwankTeena/Teena Brandon, a girl who
passed as a boy and cven Jated
uother girl before meeting a
tragic end In Hollyvood's eyes,
"transgendered" erluals 'Bay' -
sec this year's upsrart nominee
Felicity Huffman in "Transamcri-
The Hours (2003)
Nicole Kidman wins for play-
ing writer Virginia Woolf - who
dallied morc in real life with Vita
Sackville-West than her dutiful
husband - with a notable nose
and fierce intelligence.
Monster (2004)
Charlize Theron
(left) is unstoppable
as an exceptionally
attractive star who
dirtied herself uo lrrlleo nersetl up
to play a real-life
figure, a serial
killer ond a les-
bian. That killer
combination
ma-kes her a lock
for the Oscr wins Best
Actress for
Brandon
@
=
z
OUT FOR 0SCAR: Nicole Kidman as Virginia Wooll in "The Hours"; Felicity Hutfman in "Transamerica" (inset).
T
role
All of a sudden, out is in
at the Academy Awards
tion Other nominations follow
- like Robert Preston's hililious
turn in 1982's "Victor/Victoria"
- but it will be another decade
before Best Acror €(oes ro a por-
trayal of arr openly gay chuacrer.
Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1986)
William Hurt is the first actor
in history to win an Academy
Award for a gay character, when
he I urns flamboyantly delusional
prisoner Luis Molina into a man
of dignity and strength.
Philadelphia (1994)
As Andrew Beckett,
Tom Hanks barely
touched his lover
(Antonio Banderas),
but he wins Best
Actor for playing a
noble take on a
man dying of
AIDSBy MICHAEL GILTZ
I F you want ro win an Oscar,
I playing a real person is always
I in fashion: Think Ben Kings-
I ley as Gandhi or )amie Foxx as
Ray Charles Another good tip is
incorporating some kind of a
physical or mental handicap, like
Geoflfrey Rush in "Shine" or
Daniel-Day Lcwis in "My Left
Foot "
Now that gay characters are
more open than ever in the
movies especially with
"Brokeback Mountain" and
"Capote" Ieading this ycar's field
- it looks Iike gay is the new
black for actors and actresses irr
search of Oscar But Ennis and
Truman are hardly the first gay-
themed characters to catch the
Academy's eye
Some notable highJighrs,
including the year the filnr com-
peted for an Academy Award:
Midnight Cowboy (1970)
The same yeil John Wayne wins
an Oscar for "True Grir," "Mid-
night Cowboy" brerks down bar-
riers It becomes the first (and
only) X-rated movic to win Besr
Picture. And Jon Voight and
Dustin Hoffman are borh Besr
Actor nominees for playing,
respectively, a male hustler and
the street rat who loves him
Cabaret (1973)
Joel Grey rvins Best Supporting
Actor for celebrating Weimar-era
decadence with his Master of
Ceremonies
Dog Day Afternoon (1976)
Al Pacino scores a Best Actor
nomination for playing a banl
robber trying to pay for his
hoyfriend's sex-change opera-|'od'.'oio"* to
Hilary SwankTeena/Teena Brandon, a girl who
passed as a boy and cven Jated
uother girl before meeting a
tragic end In Hollyvood's eyes,
"transgendered" erluals 'Bay' -
sec this year's upsrart nominee
Felicity Huffman in "Transamcri-
The Hours (2003)
Nicole Kidman wins for play-
ing writer Virginia Woolf - who
dallied morc in real life with Vita
Sackville-West than her dutiful
husband - with a notable nose
and fierce intelligence.
Monster (2004)
Charlize Theron
(left) is unstoppable
as an exceptionally
attractive star who
dirtied herself uo lrrlleo nersetl up
to play a real-life
figure, a serial
killer ond a les-
bian. That killer
combination
ma-kes her a lock
for the Oscr wins Best
Actress for
Brandon