Oscars - Best Actress Trivia

1. Which actress established herself as one of the great actresses of her generation as the title character in "Sophie's Choice" (1982)?

From Quiz Second Choice Oscar Winners: Women

Answer: Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep established herself as one of the all time great actresses with her riveting performance in "Sophie's Choice" (1982) playing a Holocaust survivor faced with survivor's guilt. But she was not the first choice for the role. Ursula Andress, the very first Bond Girl, was at the top of the list. Other actresses who were in consideration included Sally Field, Lynn Redgrave, Hanna Schygulla and Natalie Wood. Among other roles that Andress turned down were "One Million Years BC" (1966), which went to Racquel Welch, and "Valley of the Dolls" (1967) which starred Sharon Tate. Alternate reality films starring Meryl Streep include "Fatal Attraction", which she turned down (Glenn Close), "Remains of the Day", which she also turned down (Emma Thompson) and a version of "Thelma and Louise" with Goldie Hawn.

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Elizabeth Taylor

She won a well-deserved Oscar for her fine work in "Butterfield 8". Gloria is a call girl with a disturbing past. Elizabeth Taylor won her second Oscar for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf".

From Quiz Oscar Winning Actresses

Answer: Kitty Foyle

This was the one and only Oscar for Ginger Rogers in a soap-opera type role of a poor girl who falls in love with a rich man (Dennis Morgan). Nothing unusual then or today.

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Luise Rainer

The second of Rainer's consecutive Oscars, this was for 'The Good Earth' in 1937. Her first Best Actress win the year before was for 'The Great Ziegfeld'.

From Quiz Second Choice Oscar Winners: Women

Answer: Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster won her first Academy Award for her performance as Sarah Tobias in "The Accused" (1988). But she was far from a lock for the role. Kim Basinger turned down the role because she thought Jodie Foster would be better. Other actresses who declined were Joan Cusack, Tatum O'Neil and Debra Winger. Jennifer Jason Leigh was also up for the role but lost out to Foster during auditions. Other almost films for Kim Basinger: "Ghost" (1990), "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988), "Risky Business" (1983), "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and "Speed" (1994). She was considered for Clarice Starling, but wasn't offered the role. There is an alternate universe where Jodie Foster did not turn down the lead female role in "Manhattan" (1979), "Adventures in Babysitting" (1987), "Conspiracy Theory"(1997) and "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993).

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Jane Fonda

She won an Oscar for her work in "Klute". She played a call girl who is stalked by someone. She won her second Oscar for "Coming Home".

From Quiz Oscar Winning Actresses

Answer: Song Of Bernadette

She was nominated for the award for "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" but lost to Anna Magnani for "The Rose Tattoo".

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Helen Hunt

Hunt won, opposite Jack Nicholson, in 'As Good As It Gets' in 1997.

From Quiz Notable Oscar Snubs: Actress

Answer: Amanda Bonner, "Adam's Rib" (1949)

"Adam's Rib" (1949) features Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as married attorneys who face off against each other in the courtroom. It is notable for launching the film careers of Judy Holliday and Jean Hagen. The film's screenplay, by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, was nominated for an Oscar, but none of the actors were. Hepburn was nominated for playing missionary Rose Sayer in "The African Queen" (1951), Socialite Tracy Lord in "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) and a striving poor girl in "Alice Adams" (1935). Hepburn's four Oscar wins were for "Morning Glory" (1934), "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967), "The Lion in Winter" (1968) and "On Golden Pond" (1981). Other notable nominations include "Woman of the Year" (1942), the first film she did with Spencer Tracy; "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1959) and "Long Day's Journey Into Night" (1962).

From Quiz Second Choice Oscars: Classic Women

Answer: Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn plays a bored princess who runs away and finds love with a cynical reporter (Gregory Peck). Along with Hepburn's Academy Award, it also won for best screenplay (Dalton Trumbo) and best costume design (Edith Head). It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Director (William Wyler). Paramount intially looked at both Jean Simmons and Elizabeth Taylor to play the princess, and Suzanne Cloutier was actually the first choice. Italian bombshell Gina Lollabrigida also auditioned for the role. Audrey Hepburn roles in an alternate universe: Honey Ryder in "Doctor No" (1962), Maria in "West Side Story" (1961), also Maria in "The Sound of Music" (1965) and "Myra Breckridge" (1970).

From Quiz Second Choice Oscar Winners: Women

Answer: Kathy Bates

"I'm your biggest fan." Kathy Bates won an Academy Award for playing Annie Wilkes, the world's most terrifying fan. But she wasn't the first choice for the Stephen King film. Several actresses passed on playing Wilkes, including Bette Midler, Anjelica Huston, Barbara Streisand and Debra Winger. Midler also turned down the chance to play Adrian in "Rocky" (1976) and Sister Mary Clarence in "Sister Act" (1992). But in some alternate universe there is a version of "Chicago" (2002) starring Bates as Mama Morton.

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

Katharine Hepburn won her final Oscar for "On Golden Pond". She played a elder woman who lives with her husband (Henry Fonda) in the lakehouse. Henry Fonda and his daughter Jane Fonda earned Oscar nominations for this film and Henry Fonda won his first and only Oscar for this film.

From Quiz Oscar Winning Actresses

Answer: Johnny Belinda

This film was a very interesting story of a deaf-mute who is raped and becomes pregnant but cannot explain who by or what happened. Lew Ayres portrays the doctor who helps her. Agnes Moorehead and Charles Bickford play her parents. Good film.

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Sally Field

Field won for 'Norma Rae' in 1979.

From Quiz Notable Oscar Snubs: Actress

Answer: Paula, "Random Harvest" (1942)

"Random Harvest" (1942) is about an amnesiac who is happily married then regains his memory of his past life; mysteriously, he loses all his memory of his present life. The film is one of the great tear jerkers of all time, with Greer and Ronald Colman in the leads. The film received a total of seven Academy Award nominations, including Colman, Susan Peters and director Mervyn LeRoy, but Garson was not nominated. Garson won for playing heroic war-time matriarch Kay Miniver in the great British war drama "Mrs Miniver" (1942). She was nominated for Marie Curie and Eleanor Roosevelt, two of the more towering women of the 20th century. Other films Garson was nominated for include "Goodbye Mr Chips" (1939) in which she played Robert Donat's wife, and "Mrs Parkington" (1944).

From Quiz Second Choice Oscars: Classic Women

Answer: Joanne Woodward

Joanne Woodward can thank Eva Marie Saint and Jane Allyson for declining the role of Eva White/Eve Black. Caroll Baker was another possibility, but she quit when she became pregnant. "The Three Faces of Eve" (1957) is based on a true life story of a woman with multiple personality disorder. Eve White is a timid, mousy housewife and Eve Black is wild; a third personality, Jane, is the middle ground. Woodward won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for her work on the film. In some alternate universe where Frank Sinatra was less of a jerk, there is a version of "Some Came Running" (1958) with Woodward instead of Shirley MacLaine.

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Ellen Burstyn

Ellen Burstyn won an Oscar for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". Alice is a waitress who has a son named Tommy who befriends a bad girl named Audrey (Jodie Foster). Ellen Burstyn was also earned Oscar nominations for "The Exorcist", "Same Time, Next Year" and "The Last Picture Show".

From Quiz Oscar Winning Actresses

Answer: A Streetcar Named Desire

She won her award for her role as Blanche DuBois but the film will always be known as Marlon Brando's rising star. He won a nomination but lost the award to Humphrey Bogart for "The African Queen".

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Faye Dunaway

Dunaway won for 'Network' in 1976. The newsman, Howard Beale, was played by Peter Finch, who died shortly after completion of the film. He received the Best Actor Oscar posthumously.

From Quiz Second Choice Oscar Winners: Women

Answer: Helen Hunt

Helen Hunt took an Academy Award for playing waitress Carol Connelly opposite Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets" (1997). She can thank Holly Hunter for giving her the opportunity. Hunter was offered the role, but turned it down because she didn't like the age difference between her character and Nicholson. Both Melanie Griffith and Uma Thurman were also considered for the role of Carol. Hunter already had an Academy Award, for playing Ada McGarth in "The Piano" (1993). Ironically, she wasn't the first choice for that film. Helen Hunt did turn down the role of Thelma in "Thelma and Louise" (1991) and also took a pass on being part of the "X-Men" universe when she turned down Jean Grey.

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda won her second Oscar for "Coming Home". She played Sally Hyde who fell in love with a man named Luke Martin who is in a wheelchair from a paralyzing combat injury in Vietnam. He was played by Jon Voight in an Oscar-winning performance.

From Quiz Oscar Winning Actresses

Answer: The Heiress

This was a wonderful story of a shy, naive young woman who is protected and verbally abused by her rich father (Ralph Richardson). She falls in love with a handsome young man (Montgomery Clift) who is also penniless and her father opposes the marriage because he is a fortune hunter. Worth seeing.

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Meryl Streep

Streep won for 'Sophie's Choice' in 1982. Her character's full name was Sophia Zawistowska.

From Quiz Second Choice Oscar Winners: Women

Answer: Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwneth Paltrow won her Academy Award as Viola de Lesseps, the lover of William Shakespeare in the aptly titled "Shakespeare in Love" (1998). But she can thank Kate Winslet for turning down the role. Paltrow can also thank Nicole Kidman, Penelope Ann Miller and Julia Roberts, who were all offered Viola. At one point, almost every go-to actress in Hollywood was considered, including Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan and Debra Winger. There are a variety of "never mades" with Kate Winslet. They include "Daredevil" (2003), "Stage Beauty" (2004) and "Unfaithful" (2002). Winslet is another actress who could have been in the "X-Men" franchise; she turned down the role of Rogue. Winslet eventually won the Academy Award for her role in "The Reader" (2008) but almost missed out due to filming commitments on "Revolutionary Road" (also 2008). Gwyneth Paltrow has taken a pass on a wide variety of roles. Alternate universe films that could have starred her include "Boogie Nights" as Rollergirl, "Legally Blonde" as Elle Woods, "The Ring" as Rachel, and even Rose in "Titanic" (1997).

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Kathy Bates

Kathy Bates was really scary as Annie Wilkes in "Misery", which she earned an Oscar. She kidnapped her favorite author, Paul Sheldon, who was in a car accident. She nurses him until he is better. The most famous scene is when she hit his feet with a sledgehammer.

From Quiz Oscar Winning Actresses

Answer: The Farmer's Daughter

This was a silly comedy of an outspoken farm girl who goes into politics. Not worth seeing! The other actresses nominated in 1947 were Joan Crawford for "Possessed", Susan Hayward for "Smash Up", Dorothy McGuire in "Gentleman's Agreement" and Rosalind Russell in "Mourning Becomes Electra". Not a good choice.

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Katharine Hepburn

This was Hepburn's second of four Oscars to date, for 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner', opposite Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier, in 1967. Her other Oscar-winning movies were 'Morning Glory', 'The Lion In Winter' and 'On Golden Pond'.

From Quiz Oscar- Best Actress

Answer: Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep won her second Oscar for "Sophie's Choice". Sophie is a survivor of the concentration camps. Her first Oscar was for Best Supporting Actress in "Kramer vs. Kramer".

From Quiz The Oscars - Best Actress

Answer: Jane Fonda

Fonda's first win, opposite Donald Sutherland, for 'Klute' in 1971. Her second Oscar was for 'Coming Home' in 1978 with Best Actor winner Jon Voight.

From Quiz Second Choice Oscar Winners: Women

Answer: Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank took home her second Oscar for playing boxer turned paraplegic Maggie Fitzgerald in "Million Dollar Baby." (2004). But she was not the first choice of producers. Sandra Bullock was offered the role of Fitzgerald, but turned it down because she didn't want to work with director Clint Eastwood. Hilary Swank did turn down the role in "Unfaithful" (2002) that went to Diane Lane. She was also in consideration for Roxie in "Chicago" (2002) which earned Renee Zellweger an Oscar nomination.

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Last Updated Oct 25 2025 5:47 AM

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