For 97 years the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences AKA the Oscars have given a little gold man to the best of the best in the film industry. But during these 97 years, they have given us many predicted and unpredicted wins; some have made us drop our jaws in shock and awe, while others made us cry tears of joy…these are the Oscar wins that lifted our spirits during Hollywood’s biggest night.

Ke Huy Quan winning Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All At Once

The last time mainstream audiences saw Ke Huy Quan was in the 90s classic comedy Encino Man starring Brendan Fraser, Sean Astin, and Pauly Shore. Ke started as a child actor in the classic films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Goonies. He won the coveted Oscar 20 plus years after leaving acting to become a stunt coordinator playing the kind-hearted Waymond Wang, husband to Evelyn Wang (played skillfully by Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh). When Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur walked out onstage to present the award there was a tinge of suspense in the air, after naming the nominees Troy signed “And the Oscar goes to…” and Ariana opened the envelope and with a tearful croak she said the name “Ke Huy Quan.” He gave one of the most memorable speeches to date and he cried from being announced as the winner to the press room post-Oscar win. No one has or more than likely will object to the 80s legend winning the Oscar.

Lee Grant winning Best Supporting Actress for Shampoo

In 1976 a woman with cheekbones as sharp as Katharine Hepburn’s won an Oscar® for a pseudo-political sex comedy called Shampoo…that woman was Lee Grant. She played Felicia Karpf wife of politician Lester Karpf (played hilariously by Jack Warden in an Oscar nominated performance) who is having an affair with her hairdresser ( Warren Beatty) who is also sleeping around with his girlfriend (Goldie Hawn) and Lester’s mistress (Julie Christie).  Lee Grant wore a wedding dress to the ceremony and was tickled pink when her name was read. The competition was strong that year in the Best Supporting Actress category Sylvia Miles for Farewell, My Lovely, Brenda Vaccaro for Once is Not Enough, Lily Tomlin, and Roanee Blakley for Robert Altman’s classic Nashville. When she accepted the award she stated “I really must have wanted this, otherwise why would I wear an old wedding dress.” On that fateful night in 1976, Lee Grant finally won her Oscar after being nominated twice before for Detective Story and The Landlord.

Paul Newman winning Best Actor for The Color of Money

In 1987 the sexiest man in Hollywood finally won his Oscar. You might think it’s Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford, Sean Connery, or Clint Eastwood…but you are dead wrong, it was none other than Paul Newman. Newman had been nominated 8 times before winning for Martin Scorsese’s sizzling sequel to the Herbert Rossen film The Hustler. He reprises his role as ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson a slick pool hustler who takes a protogé under his wing ( in the form of a very young Tom Cruise) also assisted by his protogés girlfriend (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in an Oscar nominated performance). Newman had been waiting 30-plus years to get his little gold man (his wife Joanne Woodward even gave him a mock ‘No Luck Oscar’ to make him feel better after she had received hers for The Three Faces of Eve). His previous nominations were for Best Actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Absence of Malice, and The Verdict) and Best Director (Rachel, Rachel).  Newman’s win was rightfully earned and the performance is unforgettable.

Olivia Colman winning Best Actress for The Favourite

Before Emma Stone won her second Oscar for Yorgos Lanthimos’ fantastical Frankenstein-esque Poor Things; Lanthimos and Poor Things screenwriter Tony McNamara made a darkly comic film about Queen Anne and her ladies in waiting who are dueling for the Queen’s affection. Olivia Colman plays Queen Anne with a fragility and craze that is very hard to convey on the silver screen. She was up against some stiff competition that year; Yalitza Aparicio for Roma, Lady Gaga for A Star is Born, Melissa McCarthy for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Glenn Close for The Wife (which was her 7th nomination). Glenn Close had previously won the Golden Globe® for her performance in The Wife but everyone was caught off guard when Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell announced the beloved British character actress as the winner.

Sean Connery winning Best Supporting Actor for The Untouchables

In 1988 everyone’s favorite Bond (yes, it’s Sean Connery, not Daniel Craig) won the Oscar for The Untouchables. Connery played Jimmy Malone a Chicago cop who is working with Elliott Ness (Kevin Costner) and his team (Charles Martin Smith and Andy Garcia) of prohibition busters called The Untouchables. This was Connery’s sole Oscar nomination and win; he was up against some phenomenal supporting actor performances Albert Brooks in Broadcast News, Morgan Freeman in Street Smart, Vincent Gardenia in Moonstruck, and Denzel Washington (his first of many nominations) in Cry Freedom. But Connery rose as the victor due to his charismatic portrayal of the thick Scottish accented Malone.

Whoopi Goldberg winning Best Supporting Actress for Ghost

“Molly, you in danger girl.”, what a great line delivered by the incredibly funny and EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg. Oda Mae Brown, Oda Mae Brown…what can we say about this performance that hasn’t been said already? Whoopi won her Oscar in 1991 for playing a woman who scams desperate people out of money claiming she can “see the dead”…until she actually does. Whoopi puts her signature spin on the character and turns it into something that is hers alone. She had been nominated previously for The Color Purple but lost to Geraldine Page for The Trip to Bountiful. She did have to fight some other women to get the Oscar Diane Ladd for Wild At Heart, Annette Bening for The Grifters, Lorraine Bracco for Goodfellas, and Mary McDonnell for Dances with Wolves. But Whoopi showed us all that the key to winning the little gold man was to have as much (if not more) sizzling chemistry with Patrick Swayze, drop some iconic lines, dance with Demi Moore, and have a scene at the bank that rivals The Little Rascals.

Troy Kotsur winning Best Supporting Actor for CODA

In 2022 Oscar history was made, the first deaf male performer won an Oscar…that man was Troy Kotsur. Kotsur plays Frank Rossi, a deaf fisherman whose daughter Ruby (Emilia Jones) wants to Berklee College of Music. Frank and his wife Jackie (Marlee Matlin) are hesitant to let her go due to Ruby being their translator. Kotsur brings humor and a lot of heart to his performance. It’s not sacchrine, it’s just right. Kotsur snagged the Oscar from Ciarán Hinds in Belfast, J.K. Simmons in Being the Ricardos, and Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-Mcphee in The Power of the Dog. The scene that cemented his win is a scene between Ruby and Frank sitting on a truck tailgate. He might be one of the best criers in cinematic history.

Marlee Matlin winning Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God

Before Troy Kotsur there was Marlee Matlin. Marlee Matlin became the first deaf actor to win and the youngest Best Actress winner ever to receive an Oscar. Matlin plays Sarah, a young woman who is a janitor at a school for deaf children. A teacher (William Hurt) tries to find what’s under the surface but Sarah is standoffish and eventually caves. Matlin brings stubborness, grace, and mystery to Sarah. When Matlin was presented the award by her co-star William Hurt, she mentioned in a Behind the Oscars Speech: Marlee Matlin that she didn’t have anything prepared but she was forever grateful to the Academy and its members for choosing her. It was also the year that Sigourney Weaver was nominated as the bad*ss Ellen Ripley (some may say she deserved it more than Matlin, but everyone should see Marlee Matlin in Children of a Lesser God). Her win opened doors for many deaf actors and it continues to be the start of something new.

Jamie Lee Curtis winning Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once

The OG ‘Scream Queen’ Jamie Lee Curtis won her first Oscar in 2023 for the multiverse extravaganza that is Everything Everywhere All At Once. She plays a sour IRS agent named Deirdre Beaubeirdre who is a foil to Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh). Some say this win is a career prize…so what? Jamie Lee Curtis was having the time of her life, from sporting hot dog hands to stapling paper on her forehead to wearing a sweater that might be more iconic than Chris Evans’ sweater in Knives Out. Jamie Lee Curtis has been in everyone’s lives since John Carpenter’s Halloween. She continued to star in genre films and blockbusters to this day. She has been in so many great movies; A Fish Called Wanda, Trading Places, True Lies, Freaky Friday, the Halloween reboots, Knives Out, and most recently The Last Showgirl. Curtis thanked her family, her Everything Everywhere All At Once family, her movie fans, and she mentioned that her parents (screen legends in their own rights) Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh were Oscar nominees.