At the 27th Academy Awards, Oscar helped Edmond O’Brien win an Oscar.
O’Brien played sleazy show biz publicist Oscar Muldoon in 1954’s “The Barefoot Contessa,” which starred Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart had been crowned Best Actor of 1951 for “The African Queen,” and had also contended for the same award for 1943’s Best Picture, “Casablanca.” Gardner was coming off of her first and only nomination, for Best Actress in 1953’s “Mogambo.” “The Barefoot Contessa” was written and directed by Academy favorite Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who had won back-to-back Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for 1949’s “A Letter to Three Wives” and 1950’s Best Picture, “All About Eve.”
”The Barefoot Contessa” didn’t fare quite as well at the Oscars as “Letter” or “Eve.” Neither Bogart or Gardner received nominations, though Bogart was cited for his role in that same year’s Best Picture entry “The Caine Mutiny.” And “Contessa” was left out of the Best Picture race. Its only two noms were for Mankiewicz’s original screenplay and O’Brien’s supporting turn — for which he won.
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O’Brien’s competition that year included a trio of actors – Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden and Rod Sterling –– from the eventual Best Picture, “On the Waterfront,” and Tom Tully in “The Caine Mutiny.” O’Brien had picked up the Golden Globe for his unforgettable performance in “Contessa.” Despite being the only one of the five not in a Best Picture nominee, I would bet that O’Brien won for “Barefoot” in a cakewalk.
A decade later, the actor would once again garner awards attention. This time, it was for the political thriller “Seven Days in May” (1964). The film tells of a plot by a group of government insiders to overthrow the sitting president (portrayed by Fredric March, 1931/32’s Best Actor for “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” and 1946’s Best Actor for Best Picture “The Best Years of Our Lives”) due to their displeasure with his disarmament negotiation with the Soviet Union.
“Seven Days” featured a number of major stars, including Burt Lancaster (Best Actor of 1960 for “Elmer Gantry”), Kirk Douglas (three-time Best Actor nominee, for 1949’s “Champion,” 1952’s “The Bad and the Beautiful” and 1956’s “Lust for Life”), Gardner and O’Brien. The ensemble cast also included a couple of future Oscar winners — Martin Balsam (1965’s Best Supporting Actor for “A Thousand Clowns”) and John Houseman (1973’s Best Supporting Actor for “The Paper Chase”).
O’Brien played Raymond Clark, the outspoken senior United States senator from Georgia, who gets caught up in the scandalous scheme. His part isn’t huge – but he steals every scene that he’s in (much like he did in “The Barefoot Contessa”).
”Seven Days in May” had a strong showing at the 22nd Golden Globes, with bids for March for Best Actor, O’Brien for Best Supporting Actor, John Frankenheimer for Best Director and Best Original Score. O’Brien would receive its only piece of Globe gold.
The film wasn’t quite as popular with the academy. Its only major nomination was for O’Brien for Best Supporting Actor. He was listed alongside John Gielgud as King Louis VII in “Becket,” Stanley Holloway as Eliza Dolittle’s trash collector father in the Best Picture “My Fair Lady,” Lee Tracy as a dying former U.S. president in “The Best Man,” and Peter Ustinov as a small-time hustler in “Topkapi.” It was the first academy invite for Gielgud, Holloway and Tracy. O’Brien had been rewarded for “The Barefoot Contessa” a decade earlier. Ustinov was also a previous Best Supporting Actor recipient, for 1960’s “Spartacus.” His first try for the same prize had come for 1951’s “Quo Vadis,” though the award went to Malden in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
The best (supporting) man of 1964 would turn out to be Ustinov once again. He had significantly more screen time than the other four men, which probably compensated for the lack of overall support for “Topkapi.” (Ustinov was the film’s lone nominee.) He had actually been classified as lead at the Golden Globes, where he lost to the eventual Oscar winner for Best Actor, Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady.”
Meanwhile, “Seven Days in May” was defeated by “Zorba the Greek” for Best Art Direction (Black-and-White). It was shut out in every other category.
O’Brien would continue to work steadily in film and television for another ten years, but he would never have another chance at an Oscar bookend.
The actor passed away in 1985, exactly 30 years after he accepted the Academy Award for “The Barefoot Contessa” and 20 years after he contended for “Seven Days in May.”
He remains the only actor in history to have won an Oscar for playing an “Oscar.”
Even though he failed to repeat for “Seven Days in May,” the life of Oscar champ O’Brien was truly a remarkable one.
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