Match the Best Supporting Actor - 1990s Quiz

Answer: Joe Pesci

With his second Oscar nomination, Joe Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of volatile gangster Tommy DeVito in "GoodFellas". He had previously been nominated in the same category for "Raging Bull" in 1981. Based on a true story, the mob film "GoodFellas" followed Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) from his teenage years when he embarked on a criminal life until he turned against his associates and went into witness protection.

The hot-headed DeVito was a fellow juvenile delinquent whom Hill brought into his cocaine side-business.

The other nominees in the category were Bruce Davison ("Longtime Companion"), Andy Garcia ("The Godfather Part III"), Graham Greene ("Dances with Wolves"), and Al Pacino ("Dick Tracy").

Answer: Jack Palance

It had been a long wait for Jack Palance, but on his third Academy Award nomination, he finally picked up an Oscar for his role as Curly Washburn in "City Slickers". His previous nominations, both in the same category, were for "Sudden Fear" in 1953 and "Shane" in 1954.

In "City Slickers", Curly was the curmudgeonly trail boss who led a group of pampered New Yorkers (Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, and Bruno Kirby) on a two-week cattle drive in the West. When Palance received his Oscar, he continued the crusty banter of his character by making a jab at Academy Awards host Crystal: "Billy Crystal, ha ha - I crap bigger than him".

He then proceeded to address directors who were unwilling to hire older actors whom they thought were insurance risks; the 73-year-old Palance proved that older actors could be fit by doing one-handed pushups on the stage.

The other Best Supporting Actor contenders were Tommy Lee Jones ("JFK"), Harvey Keitel ("Bugsy"), Ben Kingsley ("Bugsy), and Michael Lerner ("Barton Fink").

Answer: Gene Hackman

At the 65th Academy Awards ceremony, Gene Hackman became the fourth actor to win Oscars in both the Best and Best Supporting acting categories when he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as brutal Sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett in "Unforgiven".

He had previously won in the Best Actor category for "The French Connection" in 1972, and he had a prior nomination in the Best Actor category for "Mississippi Burning" in 1989 and prior nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category for "Bonnie and Clyde" (1968) and "I Never Sang for My Father" (1971).

The other actors who had won Oscars in both categories at that point in time were Jack Lemmon, Robert DeNiro, and Jack Nicholson. In Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven", the ruthless Daggett faced off against a retired outlaw William Munny (Eastwood) who was hired to kill two cowboys who had attacked a prostitute.

The other nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category were Jaye Davidson ("The Crying Game"), Jack Nicholson ("A Few Good Men"), Al Pacino ("Glengarry Glen Ross"), and David Paymer ("Mr. Saturday Night"). Al Pacino became the first actor to receive nominations in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories in the same year for different films.

He was nominated for and won the Best Actor Oscar for "Scent of a Woman". Barry Fitzgerald was the first and only actor to receive nominations in both categories for the same film; in 1945 he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and was nominated for Best Actor for "Going My Way". The Academy rules were subsequently changed to prevent that from reoccurring.

Answer: Tommy Lee Jones

With his second Best Supporting Actor nomination, Tommy Lee Jones picked up the Oscar for his role as U.S. Marshall Samuel Gerard in "The Fugitive". He had previously been nominated for "JFK" in 1992. Based on the 1960s television show of the same name, "The Fugitive" followed U.S. Marshall Gerard as he pursued escaped prisoner Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) who had been convicted of murdering his (Kimble's) wife, while Kimble chased after the one-armed man who actually killed her.

The other contenders in the category were Leonardo DiCaprio ("What's Eating Gilbert Grape"), Ralph Fiennes ("Schindler's List"), John Malkovich ("In the Line of Fire"), and Pete Postlethwaite ("In the Name of the Father").

Answer: Martin Landau

With his final Academy Award nomination, Martin Landau won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of actor Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood". He had previously been nominated in the same category for "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" in 1989 and for "Crimes and Misdemeanors" in 1990. Johnny Depp portrayed the titular role in the Tim Burton film "Ed Wood", which followed the quirky B-movie director as he filmed a few of his legendarily bad films, some of which featured Lugosi at the end of his career.

The other Best Supporting Actor nominees were Samuel L. Jackson ("Pulp Fiction"), Chazz Palminteri ("Bullets Over Broadway"), Paul Scofield ("Quiz Show"), and Gary Sinise ("Forrest Gump").

Answer: Kevin Spacey

With his first Oscar nomination, Kevin Spacey won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as con man Verbal Kint in "The Usual Suspects". The crime mystery featured an ensemble cast with Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollack, Benicio del Toro, and Spacey as a group of small-time criminals who unwittingly get involved with a brutal Turkish crime lord named Keyser Soze... or did they? The role of Verbal Kint was written with Spacey in mind by Christopher McQuarrie and collaborator/director Bryan Singer.

The other nominees for Best Supporting Actor were James Cromwell ("Babe"), Ed Harris ("Apollo 13"), Brad Pitt ("12 Monkeys"), and Tim Roth ("Rob Roy").

Answer: Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Another Oscar winner with his first Academy Award nomination, Cuba Gooding, Jr. won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as high-maintenance football player Rod Tidwell in "Jerry Maguire". Tom Cruise played the title role in the film about a sports agent whose attempt at going into business for himself was tied to his sole client, the temperamental and self-centered Tidwell. Tidwell's quote, "Show Me the Money!", came in at number 25 on the American Film Institute's list of top 100 movie quotes compiled in 2005.

The other contenders for the Best Supporting Actor award were William H. Macy ("Fargo"), Armin Mueller-Stahl ("Shine"), Edward Norton ("Primal Fear"), and James Woods ("Ghosts of Mississippi").

Answer: Robin Williams

At the 70th Academy Awards ceremony, Robin Williams won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as psychologist Dr. Sean Maguire in "Good Will Hunting". He had previously been nominated in the Best Actor category for "Good Morning, Vietnam" in 1988, "Dead Poets Society" in 1990, and "The Fisher King" in 1992.

The ecstatic Williams said that "this might be the one time I'm speechless" when he won the award. Co-written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, "Good Will Hunting" followed a troubled and belligerent mathematical genius (Damon) and his equally troubled therapist (Williams) as they rescued each other.

The other nominees in the category were Robert Forster ("Jackie Brown"), Anthony Hopkins ("Amistad"), Greg Kinnear ("As Good as It Gets"), and Burt Reynolds ("Boogie Nights").

Answer: James Coburn

With the only Academy Award nomination of his career, James Coburn picked up the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the abusive Glen Whitehouse in "Affliction". When he received the award, Coburn stated that he'd "been doing this work for over half my life, and I finally got one right I guess".

In "Affliction", a hotheaded policeman Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) became consumed with a possible murder case, and as his obsession impaired his judgment, it led to a showdown with his tyrannical father (Coburn).

The other Best Supporting Actor nominees were Robert Duvall ("A Civil Action"), Ed Harris ("The Truman Show"), Geoffrey Rush ("Shakespeare in Love"), and Billy Bob Thornton ("A Simple Plan").

Answer: Michael Caine

Michael Caine won his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the kindly Dr. Wilbur Larch in "The Cider House Rules". He had previously won the award for "Hannah and Her Sisters" in 1987, and he had previous nominations in the Best Actor category for "Alfie" in 1967, "Sleuth" in 1973, and "Educating Rita" in 1984.

When he picked up his Oscar, Caine spent most of his time onstage commenting on the wonderful performances of his fellow nominees, telling Tom Cruise that "if you had won this, your part price would have gone down so fast -- have you any idea what supporting actors get paid?" In "The Cider House Rules", the ether-addicted Larch was in charge of an orphanage where the protagonist Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire) grew up and where he was trained by Larch to work as an obstetrician despite having limited education.

The other contenders for the award were Tom Cruise ("Magnolia"), Michael Clarke Duncan ("The Green Mile"), Jude Law ("The Talented Mr. Ripley"), and Haley Joel Osment ("The Sixth Sense").