Match the Best Supporting Actress - 1930s/40s Quiz

Answer: Gale Sondergaard

Gale Sondergaard picked up the very first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the ninth Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937 for her role as conniving housekeeper Faith Paleologus in "Anthony Adverse". The award at the time was a plaque rather than an Oscar; it wasn't until 1944 that the Best Supporting Actor/Actress received Oscars. "Anthony Adverse" was an historical epic about an orphan (Billy Mauch/Fredric March) who started life in a convent before embarking on an adventurous and for a time debaucherous lifestyle until he found redemption. Faith was his employer/grandfather's housekeeper who cheated Adverse out of his inheritance.

The other nominees for the award were Beulah Bondi ("The Gorgeous Hussy"), Alice Brady ("My Man Godfrey"), Bonita Granville ("These Three"), and Maria Ouspenskaya ("Dodsworth").

Answer: Alice Brady

At the tenth Academy Awards ceremony in 1938, Alice Brady won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as infamous cow owner Molly O'Leary in "In Old Chicago". Brady had been nominated the previous year in the same category for "My Man Godfrey". "In Old Chicago" was a fictionalized account of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which both legend and the film held was caused by Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicking over a lantern.

The real Mrs. O'Leary however was named Catherine, not Molly. The other contenders for the award were Andrea Leeds ("Stage Door"), Anne Shirley ("Stella Dallas"), Claire Trevor ("Dead End"), and May Whitty ("Night Must Fall").

Answer: Fay Bainter

Fay Bainter had two Academy Award nominations in 1939. She won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Aunt Belle Massey in "Jezebel" and was nominated in the Best Actress category for "White Banners" but lost to her "Jezebel" co-star Bette Davis.

In "Jezebel", Massey was the sensible aunt to Julie Marsden (Davis), a spoiled southern belle whose behavior caused her beau (Henry Fonda) to break off their engagement. The other candidates for the award were Beulah Bondi ("Of Human Hearts"), Billie Burke ("Merrily We Live"), Spring Byington ("You Can't Take it with You"), and Miliza Korjus ("The Great Waltz").

Answer: Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award when she won the Best Supporting Actress category for her portrayal of sassy housekeeper Mammy in "Gone with the Wind". It was her only Academy Award nomination. In the American Civil War epic, Mammy was the no-nonsense plantation housekeeper for the O'Hara family and substitute maternal figure for Scarlett O'Hara.

The role was criticized for portraying slavery in a positive manner because Mammy appeared to be comfortable with her life, but McDaniel defended the character and other menial roles she took on as "more than just measuring up to their employers".

Although McDaniel was able to receive her award at the ceremony held at the Coconut Grove restaurant in L.A.'s Ambassador Hotel, she had to sit at a segregated table away from the other nominees.

The other contenders for the award were Olivia de Havilland ("Gone with the Wind"), Geraldine Fitzgerald ("Wuthering Heights"), Edna May Oliver ("Drums Along the Mohawk"), and Maria Ouspenskaya ("Love Affair").

Answer: Jane Darwell

With her only Academy Award nomination, Jane Darwell won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as the stoic Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath". Based on the John Steinbeck novel, the film followed the extended Joad family who left the Depression-era dustbowl of Oklahoma for the migrant camps of California in search of a better life.

The film followed the storyline of the novel but focused mainly on Ma Joad and her son Tom (Henry Fonda). The other Best Supporting Actress nominees were Judith Anderson ("Rebecca"), Ruth Hussey ("The Philadelphia Story"), Barbara O'Neil ("All This, and Heaven Too"), and Marjorie Rambeau ("Primrose Path").

Answer: Mary Astor

Another one-time nominee, Mary Astor won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as pianist Sandra Kovak in "The Great Lie". In the film, Sandra's husband Peter (George Brent) left her for his old flame Maggie (Bette Davis), but after he reportedly died in a plane crash, Maggie offered to raise Sandra's unborn child as her own in exchange for financially supporting Sandra. Complications arose when Peter turned out to be alive.

The other nominees in the category were Sara Allgood ("How Green was My Valley"), Patricia Collinge ("The Little Foxes"), Teresa Wright ("The Little Foxes"), and Margaret Wycherly ("Sergeant York").

Answer: Teresa Wright

Teresa Wright received two nominations at the fifteenth Academy Awards ceremony. She won the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as war bride Carol Beldon in "Mrs. Miniver", and she was nominated in the Best Actress category for "The Pride of the Yankees".

She was also nominated the previous year for Best Supporting Actress for "The Little Foxes". In the WWII film "Mrs. Miniver", Beldon married the fighter pilot son (Richard Ney) of Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson), realizing that their marriage might not survive the war.

The other nominees in the category were Gladys Cooper ("Now, Voyager"), Agnes Moorehead ("The Magnificent Ambersons"), Susan Peters ("Random Harvest"), and May Whitty ("Mrs. Miniver").

Answer: Katina Paxinou

With her only Academy Award nomination, Katina Paxinou won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as guerilla fighter Pilar in "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Based on the Ernest Hemingway novel, the film took place during the Spanish Civil War with Gary Cooper portraying an American teacher turned saboteur who was tasked with blowing up a bridge. Pilar was the wife of one of the anti-fascist rebels who had second thoughts about the mission.

The other contenders for the award were Gladys Cooper ("The Song of Bernadette"), Paulette Goddard ("So Proudly We Hail!"), Anne Revere ("The Song of Bernadette"), and Lucile Watson ("Watch on the Rhine").

Answer: Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as sickly shopkeeper Ma Mott in "None but the Lonely Heart". It was her first Academy Award nomination. In the film, her vagabond son (Cary Grant) canceled his plans to leave town after he found out that she was ill and decided to help her run her store.

But he continued his criminal endeavors which led to complications when he was arrested. The other nominees in the category were Jennifer Jones ("Since You Went Away"), Angela Lansbury ("Gaslight"), Aline MacMahon ("Dragon Seed"), and Agnes Moorehead ("Mrs. Parkington").

Answer: Margaret O'Brien

Honorary Oscars for performers under the age of eighteen were handed out periodically between 1934 and 1960. Called Juvenile Academy Awards or Juvenile Oscars, the recipients received a miniature version of the Oscar statue. Twelve child actors and actresses received the awards, with the first recipient being Shirley Temple in 1934 and the last being Hayley Mills in 1960.

The performers were recognized for their work during the year or for specific films, as was the case with Mills for "Pollyanna". Eight-year-old Margaret O'Brien received her award for being the "outstanding child actress of 1944" for her work in films such as "The Canterville Ghost", "Music for Millions", and "Meet Me in St. Louis". Bob Hope presented the award to her, calling it an "Oscarette".

Answer: Anne Revere

Anne Revere won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Araminty Brown in "National Velvet". It was her second Academy Award nomination, having previously been nominated in the same category for "The Song of Bernadette". In "National Velvet", Revere played the mother of Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor), who had won a horse in a raffle and raced him in the Grand National Steeplechase.

The other Best Supporting Actress contenders were Eve Arden ("Mildred Pierce"), Ann Blyth ("Mildred Pierce"), Angela Lansbury ("The Picture of Dorian Gray"), and Joan Lorring ("The Corn is Green").

Answer: Anne Baxter

With her first nomination, Anne Baxter won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as bereaved drunkard Sophie Nelson-MacDonald in "The Razor's Edge". Based on the W. Somerset Maugham novel, the story took place in the years following WWI. In the film, MacDonald turned to alcohol after losing her husband and child in a car crash, and when a childhood friend (Tyrone Power) tried to rescue her, she was used as a pawn by his ex-fiancé (Gene Tierney) who wanted him back.

The other nominees in the category were Ethel Barrymore ("The Spiral Staircase"), Lillian Gish ("Duel in the Sun"), Flora Robson ("Saratoga Trunk"), and Gale Sondergaard ("Anna and the King of Siam").

Answer: Celeste Holm

At the twentieth Academy Awards ceremony in 1948, Celeste Holm won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as witty magazine fashion editor Anne Dettrey in "Gentleman's Agreement". It was her first nomination. In the film, a journalist (Gregory Peck) went undercover as a Jew to examine antisemitism in New York and surrounding affluent communities. Dettrey was his supportive co-worker with whom he had a close and potentially romantic relationship.

The other contenders for the award were Ethel Barrymore ("The Paradine Case"), Gloria Grahame ("Crossfire"), Marjorie Main ("The Egg and I"), and Anne Revere ("Gentleman's Agreement").

Answer: Claire Trevor

Claire Trevor held her own against Bogey and Bacall and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as former gangster's moll Gaye Dawn in "Key Largo". She had previously been nominated in the same category for "Dead End". In "Key Largo", Dawn, along with a former army officer (Humphrey Bogart) and one of his late military buddy's wives (Lauren Bacall), were held hostage by a gangster (Edward G. Robinson) and his crew at an island hotel during a hurricane.

The other Best Supporting Actress nominees were Barbara Bel Geddes ("I Remember Mama"), Ellen Corby ("I Remember Mama"), Agnes Moorehead ("Johnny Belinda"), and Jean Simmons ("Hamlet").

Answer: Mercedes McCambridge

At the 1950 ceremony, Mercedes McCambridge was named Best Supporting Actress for her role as conniving campaign aide Sadie Burke in "All the King's Men". It was her big screen debut. In the film, Burke was in love with her boss, corrupt politician Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), at least until she realized he wouldn't leave his wife for her.

The other contenders for the award were Ethel Barrymore ("Pinky"), Celeste Holm ("Come to the Stable"), Elsa Lanchester ("Come to the Stable"), and Ethel Waters ("Pinky").