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The following is excerpted from Matthew Specktor’s new memoir, The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood, about growing up in Los Angeles, with his father — CAA super-agent Fred Specktor — and writer mother, Katherine, surrounded by industry players, movie stars and left-wing activists. In 1981, the year Matthew turned 15, Fred decided to change his life. Before he did, he said something that would change Katherine’s life too, a casual remark he made one night at dinner.

***

“Maybe you should write a script.”

My father takes a thoughtful sip of wine. He stares at my mother across the dining table, fork resting sideways across a plate of angel hair that appears to have been licked almost clean. “What do you have to lose? It’ll give you something to do while you’re sending out stories.”

“Do you think?” She swipes her tongue to dislodge a fleck of basil.

The Academy Awards likely aren’t that important in the grand scheme of film history, but legendary actor Henry Fonda winning his first competitive Oscar merely five months before dying is perhaps one of those things that makes you think on a cosmic scale. Henry Fonda for President, coming at a moment when it seems like the whole American project is explicitly dying in front of our very eyes, probably isn’t afraid to make you lean that way. It’s hard not to be at least a little moved by this film, even if it eventually comes to suggest a bludgeoning.

Film historian and director Alexander Horwath’s three-hour video essay throws out a grand spectrum of ideas over its perhaps-too-long runtime. But things begin when Horwath cites his own radicalized moment of cinephilia: a family trip to Paris in the summer of 1980, where, as a teen, he catches...

The Academy Awards have been handing out a Best Actress trophy since the very first ceremony in 1928. Janet Gaynor for a combo of 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans was the first recipient for his leading roles.

Since then, only one woman has won the category four times: Katharine Hepburn for Morning Glory, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond. Next with three is Frances McDormand. The ladies with two lead wins have included Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Jodie Foster, Glenda Jackson, Vivien Leigh, Luise Rainer, Emma Stone, Meryl Streep, and Hilary Swank. Streep holds the record of most lead nominations at 17.

The oldest winner was Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy) at age 80. The oldest nominee was Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) at age 85. The youngest winner was Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser...

Oscars 2025 (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

The 97th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 2, 2025. It will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The event will be live-streamed in India on Monday in the wee hours of 5 A.M. on March 3, 2025. There are only a few hours left, so the red carpet has been rolled out, champagnes have been kept on ice, celebs are getting ready to turn heads with their glamorous looks, and we are waiting for the new batch of Oscar winners.

Conan O’Brien is going to host the event this year. Everyone is anticipating the big night to celebrate the huge wins. Before the celebration for this year begins, here’s a list of actresses, from Meryl Streep and Jane Fonda to Katharine Hepburn and others, who have won the maximum number of Oscars over the years. Scroll ahead.

Katharine Hepburn (4 wins out of 12 nominations...

The actors have weighed in on the 2025 Oscar race — and it's potentially game-changing.

Sunday’s 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards saw several of this year’s key competitors face off one last time before the Academy Awards on March 2 and the ceremony delivered more than a few surprises. Perhaps none was more significant than Timothée Chalamet winning Best Actor for his turn as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown in an upset over the awards-season favorite, The Brutalist star Adrien Brody. Or maybe it was Conclave thwarting high-powered rivals Anora and Wicked to land the night's biggest prize of best film ensemble.

Wicked came into the evening with a record-tying five nominations for film categories but failed to win anything. Anora, after a dominating run in precursor awards in recent weeks, finished 0-for-3.

Meanwhile, Demi Moore re-established herself as the Oscar frontrunner for Best Actress for The Substance after holding...

It's probably no accident that the Screen Actors Guild chose a feminist heroine like Jane Fonda as the 60th recipient of its Life Achievement Award. Who better than an outspoken 87-year-old activist and cultural icon to meet the divisive moment with a rousing SAG Awards speech? As SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said in announcing the honor, "Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent — a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy, and culture with unwavering passion. We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created."

Fonda didn't disappoint on Sunday. Following a spirited introduction by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Fonda used her platform as a defiant, emotional call to arms and an opportunity to remind her audience of fellow actors that it's time to stand up amid a fraught political climate.

"A whole lot of...

In a fiery speech, Jane Fonda accepted the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 31st annual SAG Awards Sunday, first thanking SAG-AFTRA and her fellow actors amid a standing ovation and raucous cheers and applause. “This means the world to me,” she said. “Your enthusiasm makes it seem, I don’t know, less like a late twilight of my life and more like a go-girl kickass. Which is good, because I’m not done!” the 87-year-old two-time Oscar winner exclaimed.

Fonda is the 60th person to receive the Life Achievement Award, given to an actor who fosters “the finest ideals of the acting profession” as it recognizes both career and humanitarian accomplishments.

Fonda took the stage to accept the award following a presentation by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and montage of clips from her films, including her Oscar winning roles in Klute and Coming Home, as well as 9 to 5, Julia, The China Syndrome,...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the acting champ when it comes to Academy Awards.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins finished second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1942), and Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur...

Robert De Niro won his second Oscar in 1981 for playing a boxing champ in Raging Bull. And now he has been chosen as the champ of all actors.

His performance for the Martin Scorsese film from 1980 has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actor winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 male leading actors.

Anthony Hopkins ranked second for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), with Marlon Brando following in third for The Godfather (1972). Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007), and Gregory Peck for To Kill a Mockingbird (1961) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actor winners is Warner Baxter for In Old Arizona (1928). Just above that film performance in the rankings are George Arliss in Disraeli (1929), Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul (1930), Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine...

Mark your calendars, Oscars fans, because the 97th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 2, 2025 on ABC. The annual star-studded ceremony will honor movies released in theaters within the 2024 calendar year of eligibility. AMPAS members will vote on the Oscar winners in 23 categories, including Best Actress. But who will win? Here at Gold Derby, thousands of users have been making and updating their 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Actress, so let’s take a look at all of the top contenders in our photo gallery below.

These 25 Best Actress hopefuls are listed in order of their racetrack odds, which are derived from the combined forecasts of four unique groups: experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, top 24 users who had the best accuracy scores last year, and the mass of users who make up our biggest predictions bloc.

The five most recent...

After watching the scene in “The Substance” where Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore, repeatedly applies and wipes off lipstick in front of a mirror — a chilling metaphor for identity, erasure and self-loathing — I couldn’t have imagined that critics and awards voters would embrace it. Yet here we are, with Moore emerging as a frontrunner in the Oscar race for her career-defining performance in Coralie Fargeat’s provocative body horror film. Her Golden Globes win Sunday not only cements Moore’s legacy but also shines a long-overdue spotlight on horror as a genre worthy of awards season acclaim.

At 62, Moore is on the verge of earning her first-ever Oscar nomination for best actress. Her haunting and multilayered portrayal of an aging star who takes a mysterious serum to regain her youth — only for the experiment to spiral into a surreal nightmare — has been hailed as a masterclass in physical and emotional transformation.

A column chronicling events and conversations on the awards circuit.

Even as people are drifting back slowly from the holiday break, and Hanukkah actually just celebrated its eighth and final night, the awards season is taking no prisoners as the whole thing has just crash-landed on us whether we like it or not.

Yes, it is only the third day of January, but no rest for the weary. Mikey Madison, Kieran Culkin, Denis Villeneuve, Colman Domingo, Ariana Grande, Ralph Fiennes and the Conclave cast, Nicole Kidman, Adrien Brody, Angelina Jolie, Timothée Chalamet, and the cast of Emilia Pérez are headed as we speak down the 10 Freeway to Palm Springs, where they will all give acceptance speeches on that massive Convention Center stage Friday night at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala. They might serve as warmups for some as they jet back to L.A. for Sunday’s Golden Globes Awards,...

Meryl Streep is the best of the best.

Her performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actress winner ever, according to a Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts, critics, and editors, who ranked all 97 movie champs.

Diane Keaton ranked second for Annie Hall (1977), with Jodie Foster following in third for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972) and Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) rounded out the top five.

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actress winners is Mary Pickford for Coquette (1929). Just above that film in the rankings are Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932), Loretta Young for The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), and Marie Dressler for Min and Bill (1931).

Another recent Gold Derby poll of cinema experts declared The Godfather (1972) as the greatest Best Picture Oscar winner of all...

The performance by Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice (1982) has been voted the greatest Oscar Best Actress winner ever. The results are from a recent Gold Derby ballot cast by 21 of our film experts and editors, who ranked all 97 movie champs.

Ranking in second place is Diane Keaton for Annie Hall (1977). Following in third place is Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Rounding out the top five are Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), and Vivien Leigh for A Streetcar Named Desire (1951).

At the bottom of the list of the Best Actress winners is Mary Pickford for Coquette (1929). Just above that film in the rankings are Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932), Loretta Young for The Farmer’s Daughter (1947), and Marie Dressler for Min and Bill (1931).

Another recent poll had The Godfather (1972) declared as the greatest Best Picture Oscar winner of all time (view...

Earning an Academy Award is one of the greatest achievements an actor can attain in Hollywood, and several performers have managed this feat at incredibly advanced ages. While many may feel Hollywood is a young person's game, certain actors have consistently done astounding work for decades and have earned awards into their 70s, 80s, and even 90s. The oldest Academy Award winners include some of the greatest actors who ever lived.

While there are plenty of incredible actors who have shockingly never received an Academy Award, these performers show that it’s never too late to achieve that esteemed honor. From the unmatched achievement of Katharine Hepburn’s four Oscar wins at age 74 to recipients who were inching close to 100 years old, while many have criticized the Academy’s biases, these honors prove actors don’t let ageism stand in the way of Oscar greatness. These were the oldest actors to ever win Academy Awards.

Jane Fonda is a two-time Oscar winner for “Klute” (1971) and “Coming Home” (1978), both for Best Actress. She was also nominated “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” (1969), “Julia” (1977), “The China Syndrome” (1979), “On Golden Pond” (1981), and “The Morning After” (1986).

She received the American Film Institute life achievement award, Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, and the SAG life achievement award.

All of these movies are featured in our gallery of Fonda’s greatest roles throughout her career going back to the 1960s. Click through it and sound off in our comments about your favorites.

Katharine Hepburn is one of the most well-loved and celebrated actors of all time, both by fans and critics, and her long list of Oscars awards and nominations is proof of this fact. Hepburn was known for her vivacious personality both on and off-screen, as she often played very strong and independent women. This personality made her an icon, and it helped her to continue to push the boundaries in her career. It is no wonder that Katharine Hepburn's movies led her to become one of the most awarded performers.

Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1907, and she began acting in 1928 after becoming interested in acting during college. She began her career in the theater before transitioning to Hollywood, where she found greater success with her first film, A Bill of Divorcement. Hepburn's acting career spanned seven decades, and she starred in some of the most well-known movies from the golden age of Hollywood,...

John Wayne broke a huge Oscars record with one of his greatest western movies, but Henry Fonda broke it with one of his own best films a little more than a decade later. For most of his career, Wayne seemed like a very unlikely contender to win an Academy Award. He was the Old Hollywood equivalent of an action hero, like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis. He rarely challenged himself dramatically and almost exclusively played unwavering heroes in black-and-white tales of good versus evil.

But later in his career, Wayne ditched his clean-cut on-screen image and started taking darker, more challenging roles. In The Searchers, he played one of cinema’s most iconic antiheroes, and in The Cowboys, he played a compassionate father figure to some young ranch hands. Wayne’s final western performance in The Shootist is a somber meditation on mortality as a remorseful gunslinger comes to the end of his life.

Denzel Washington is on his way to making Oscar history for his performance as a former slave who plots to be the emperor of Rome in Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II,” the latest from director Ridley Scott. Right now, he has two Academy Awards to his name for “Glory” (1989) in Best Supporting Actor and “Training Day” (2001) in Best Actor. If he were to prevail for “Gladiator II” in early 2025, he would join an exclusive list of seven other people to win at least three times in the acting categories.

Here are the actors who have achieved this important Oscars milestone:

Katharine Hepburn (4)

Won Best Actress for “Morning Glory” (1933), “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (1967), “The Lion in Winter” (1968), and “On Golden Pond” (1981)

Frances McDormand (3*)

Won Best Actress for “Fargo” (1996), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017), and “Nomadland” (2020). *She also has a fourth Oscar for producing “Nomadland.”

Meryl Streep (3)

Won Best Actress for “Sophie’s Choice...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)

There are a lot of ways A Different Man could go and a lot of things it could be. Aaron Schimberg’s uniquely uncomfortable, uncomfortably unique feature sometimes plays as a reverse-Frankenstein medical horror, a tragic life-imitates-art satire, and a spiraling relationship drama. To its ambitious and distinct credit, it attempts packaging them all into ominous-sounding harmony, as if Charlie Kauffman’s surrealist Escher concoctions became a Twilight Zone episode modeled after David Lynch’s Elephant Man or Beauty and the Beast. It’s a dark, hilarious, and deeply unsettling portrait of a disfigured man that’s also an unflinching mirror of a looks-focused industry. – Jake K. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

Green Border (Agnieszka Holland...

Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn are responsible for holding various Oscars records, and the two legends made 1982's Best Actress race a defining moment for the Academy Awards. Looking back on the history of the Oscars, Streep and Hepburn are two performers who have been constant forces in the Best Actress category. They collectively earned 29 nominations in the category, racking up six wins between them. As two of the 15 women to have multiple Best Actress Oscar wins, the Hollywood icons and their careers can often be linked and compared.

Both actresses are part of the Oscars' history books. Katharine Hepburn holds the record for most acting Oscar wins at four, something no other performer, regardless of gender, has done. Meanwhile, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most Oscar nominations for any actor with her staggering 17 nominations. Due to the nature of their career paths, though, there was only ever...

Mikey Madison is the current Best Actress Oscar frontrunner for her heartbreaking performance in the title role of Sean Baker‘s “Anora.” Her likeliest competitors are two past Oscar winners — Nicole Kidman, 57, for “Babygirl” and Angelina Jolie, 49, for “Maria” — plus six-time nominee Amy Adams, 50, for “Nightbitch” and Karla Sofia Gascon, 52, for “Emilia Pérez.”

At age 25, Madison has one advantage over her main rivals for the award: her youth. Of the 97 winners of this race, almost one-third (32) were in their 20s.

Among those ingenues to take to the stage to collect this coveted prize was Emma Stone, who was 28 when she won for “La La Land” in 2017. Stone was 35 when she picked up a bookend Oscar earlier this year for “Poor Things,” which made her the 35th Best Actress winner in her thirties.

Bracketing Stone’s two wins were five women who defied this bias toward youth: 60-year-old Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once...

Double Oscar winner Jane Fonda was officially announced on Thursday as the 2025 Screen Actors Guild life achievement award recipient. The 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will stream live on Netflix on Sunday, February 23.

Her career has spanned over six decades and has included two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, an Emmy Award, seven Golden Globes, the 2015 AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes. Her film career has also included “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” “The China Syndrome,” “9 to 5,” and “On Golden Pond.”

SEEJane Fonda movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best

SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said “Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent; a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy and culture with unwavering passion. We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created.

Jane Fonda will receive the SAG Life Achievement Award, SAG Awards and SAG-AFTRA announced on Thursday. The legendary actress and activist will take home the prize — SAG-AFTRA’s highest honor — at the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Feb. 23, 2025.

The SAG Life Achievement Award recognizes an actor who espouses the “finest ideals of the acting profession,” according to a statement issued by the SAG Awards and SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher added, “Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent; a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy and culture with unwavering passion. We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created. Her fearless honesty has been an inspiration to me and many others in our industry.”

“I am deeply honored and humbled to be this year’s recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award,...

Jane Fonda is set to receive the SAG Life Achievement Award, considered the highest tribute by SAG-AFTRA, at next year’s SAG Awards. The famed actress and activist will be the the 60th recpient of the kudo.

“Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent; a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy and culture with unwavering passion,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, as the award was announced on Thursday morning. “We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created. Her fearless honesty has been an inspiration to me and many others in our industry.”

Fonda will be given the honor during the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which Netflix will stream live on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at 8 p.m. Et / 5 p.m. Pt.

According to SAG-AFTRA, the life achievement award is given annually...

Jane Fonda has been chosen as the 2025 recipient of the SAG Life Achievement Award, SAG-AFTRA’s highest tribute. The honor will be bestowed in February during the 31st annual SAG Awards which stream live on Netflix.

Fonda, a two-time Oscar winner, will be the 60th person to receive the award, given to an actor who fosters “the finest ideals of the acting profession” as it recognizes both career and humanitarian accomplishments.

“Jane Fonda is a trailblazer and an extraordinary talent; a dynamic force who has shaped the landscape of entertainment, advocacy and culture with unwavering passion,” SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said in a release Thursday announcing the award. “We honor Jane not only for her artistic brilliance but for the profound legacy of activism and empowerment she has created. Her fearless honesty has been an inspiration to me and many others in our industry.”

Fonda, across a six-decade career in film,...

Although Nicole Kidman recently accepted the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award in recognition of her four-decade acting career, there is no indication that her life’s work is anywhere near finished. Indeed, according to Gold Derby’s racetrack odds, the 56-year-old is well on her way to picking up her sixth Oscar nomination for her lead performance in the critically acclaimed “Babygirl,” which would make her the 13th AFI honoree to subsequently earn film academy recognition in a competitive category.

The fact that Kidman’s life achievement award was presented by her pal and costar, Meryl Streep, is quite fitting given that she’s the only woman to go from being an AFI recipient to an Oscar contender. Since receiving the AFI honor in 2004, she has racked up a whopping eight bids, including a successful one for “The Iron Lady” (2012). A previous champ for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1980) and...

Broadway theaters will dim their lights on Sept. 26 in memory of James Earl Jones.

Jones, who died Sept. 9 at the age of 93, was a two-time Tony Award winner as well as a recipient of the 2017 special Tony Award for lifetime achievement. The Cort Theatre was renamed the James Earl Jones Theatre in September 2022.

Broadway theaters will dim their lights at 6:45 p.m. on Sept. 26 in his honor. The dimming of lights has been a tradition on Broadway for notable members of the community who have died, but must be approved by the theater owners.

Jones made his Broadway in 1957 as an understudy in The Egghead. He received his first Tony Award in 1969 for his role in The Great White Hope and won another Tony in 1987 for his role in Fences. He also appeared in The Iceman Cometh, Of Mice and Men, Othello, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Driving Miss Daisy,...

I spent my first decade in New York working at Variety’s former offices on Park Avenue South and more than once found myself sharing an elevator with James Earl Jones while he was on his way to or from Verizon to shoot commercials. The giant of an actor, who died today at age 93, never failed to say a warm, “Good morning” or “Good afternoon,” and even if I hadn’t recognized his face or his imposing 6-foot, 2-inch frame, there was no mistaking that sonorous voice.

His voice was the earth-shaking basso rumble coming from behind the forbidding mask of Darth Vader in the Star Wars saga, starting with the original 1977 film, and the stentorian growl of Mufasa, King of the Pride Lands and father of Simba in The Lion King.

It was also the voice of a revered stage actor, who forged his reputation in the 1960s and ‘70s,...

Legendary actor James Earl Jones has sadly passed away at the age of 93. He was technically an Egot, which is extremely rare, thanks to an honorary Oscar he won in 2011. So, what is known about his death and who does he leave behind aside from legions of fans? Keep reading for more details.

James Earl Jones Dead At 93

It is the unmistakable voice that is immediately recognizable. That is how fans will forever remember James Earl Jones who has starred in films and television of all genres. He spent a lot of time on stage in productions such as Othello, Of Mice and Men, and On Golden Pond. Yet, it was his turn as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars that became synonymous with Jej. He continued as the iconic voice behind Vader but a new generation would come to know him as another beloved character. James took...

James Earl Jones, the Egot-winning actor known for voicing Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise for four decades, has died at age 93.

Jones passed away at his home in Dutchess County, New York, on Monday, September 9th, according to the actor’s representatives.

The son of actor and boxer Robert Earl Jones, James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17th, 1931. His father left the family shortly after his birth, and Jones was raised by his maternal grandparents in Michigan from the age of five. Jones found the transition to living with his grandparents so traumatic that he developed a stutter and spent his time in school mute. He credited his high school English teacher, Donald Crouch, for helping him with his stutter; Crouch discovered Jones had a talent for poetry, and encouraged him to read his work aloud in class.

After graduating high school in 1949, Jones attended the University of Michigan,...

James Earl Jones, the revered actor who voiced Star Wars villain Darth Vader, starred in Field of Dreams and many other films and Broadway shows and is an Egot winner, died this morning at his home in Dutchess County, NY. He was 93.

His reps at Independent Artist Group confirmed the news to Deadline.

Widely regarded as among the world’s great stage and screen actors Jones is one of the few entertainers to have won the Egot, though his Academy Award was Honorary. Jones has received two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a spoken-word Grammy Award in 1977 and three Tony Awards.

The actor amassed nearly 200 screen credits during his brilliant 60-year career, starting some early-’60s TV guest roles and Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 classic Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He probably is best known for his voice...

Denzel Washington has consistently delivered standout performances — including as a director in recent years! — across his decades-long career. He already has two Oscars to his name and could be on his way to a third Academy Award with his role in Ridley Scott‘s “Gladiator II.”

This follow-up to the 2000 Best Picture champ stars Lucius (Paul Mescal) as Lucius, the grandson of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. Lucius is forced into slavery but resolves to fight as a gladiator under the leadership of power broker Macrinus. And that’s where Washington comes in. The titanic Washington plays Macrinus, who is the mentor figure to Lucius and also opposes the rule of emperors Caracalla (Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn).

We are predicting that Washington will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor alongside Samuel L. Jackson (“The Piano Lesson”), Clarence Maclin (“Sing Sing”), Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”), and Stanley Tucci (“Conclave...

More than 50 years later, Glenn Close is recalling the piece of wisdom from a screen legend that got her interested in acting.

The Academy Award nominee recently described her “huge respect” for Katharine Hepburn and revealed how the late actress inspired her to take up the profession while she was attending Virginia’s College of William & Mary.

“The thing I’ve always loved about Hepburn is she seemed to really know who she was,” Close recently told People.

She recalled seeing Hepburn appear on an The Dick Cavett Show in 1973 while painting scenery for her school’s theater.

“I remember she said, ‘No regrets, no regrets.’ Fabulous,” she recounted. “She was so phenomenal, so herself. So the next day I went to the head of the [theater] department and I said, ‘Please nominate me for a series of auditions.’ And from that, I got my first job that fall.

Katharine Hepburn...

Henry Fonda was an icon of classic Hollywood, famous for his calm demeanor, commanding presence, and everyman appeal. In the first half of his career, he generally played righteous heroes in movies but later took on more diverse roles, including antiheroes and villains. Fonda won the Oscar for On Golden Pond and worked in a host of genres, from courtroom dramas like 12 Angry Men to Hitchcock thrillers like The Wrong Man, but probably turned in his best performances in Westerns that would later be canonized as classics of the genre.

"Barney Miller" may not be one of the most talked-about sitcoms of the '70s these days, but perhaps it should be. The NYPD-set show was in some ways the "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" of its time, a socially conscious, funny series that set its action squarely in the precinct where members of the public came to ask the authorities for help -- or get arrested by them.

Like most shows about cops, it has its inherent biases, and some parts of the show have aged poorly. But "Barney Miller" is also surprisingly progressive at times. As TV historian Matt Baume writes in his queer sitcom history "Hi Honey, I'm Homo," the show broke new ground for gay characters on TV, facing off against network censors to portray New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood (post-Stonewall!) with authenticity and diversity.

Only two seasons of "Barney Miller" are currently available to rent digitally in the U.

Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi freak-out "Barbarella" is one of the zestiest, sexist, strangest, and most amusing pictures the genre has to offer. Set in the 41st century, "Barbarella" follows the merry caprices of the title heroine (Jane Fonda), a freelance adventurer of the cosmos. Barbarella, frequently undressed, is assigned by the President of Earth (Claude Dauphin) to track down a mysterious, missing scientist named Durand-Durand (Milo O'Shea) who has invented an all-powerful weapon called the positronic ray.

During her quest, Barbarella is attacked by killer dolls, befriends a blind angel (John Philip Law), is forced into a deadly orgasm machine (although she can outlast its mechanical manipulations), and faces off against the Black Queen, the tyrant ruler of Sogo.

The film was based on the erotic comics by Jean-Claude Forest, and possesses all the same sexual energy as the aggressively naughty original, even if it's not quite as sexually explicit.

Welcome back to Oscars Playback, in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng revisit Oscar ceremonies and winners of yesteryear. This week, we cover the 54th Academy Awards in 1982, honoring the films of 1981.

Thanks to its leading 12 nominations, most assumed Oscar night would be seeing red, er, “Reds” walk away with the top prize. Warren Beatty‘s ambitious historical epic netted him acting, directing, writing and producing nominations, the second time he achieved the feat after 1978’s “Heaven Can Wait,” but Beatty wound up only winning Best Director. Best Picture turned into a race between “Reds,” surprise hit “On Golden Pond” — the second highest-grossing film of the year and 10-time nominee — and Olympics drama “Chariots of Fire,” a seven-time nominee. Going into the final award, the three films had each won three Oscars. And in the kind of upset we see more in sports than awards shows,...

Sometimes, when you meet someone, you just know instantly that you'll be the best of friends. Of all the odd pairings in Hollywood, none is more notable than the decades-long friendship between Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. The two Hollywood icons, known for their work in projects such as Vertigo, It's a Wonderful Life, and On Golden Pond, couldn't have been more different in most respects, but their shared love for storytelling, acting, and performing made them as tight a pair as there ever was. If you didn't know much about Stewart and Fonda's life-long friendship before, then consider this your first lesson.

Martin Starger, the first president of ABC Entertainment who went on to produce such films as “Sophie’s Choice” and Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” has died. He was 92.

Starger died of natural causes Saturday in his Los Angeles home, his niece, casting director Ilene Starger, announced.

Starger was born May 8, 1932, in the Bronx, N.Y. He attended the City College of New York, where he received a degree in motion picture techniques. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953 and was assigned to the Signal Corps Motion Picture Location. He served as a motion picture photographer at the U.S. Army’s film production studio. He was sent to U.S. Army Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, and worked there in all phases of motion picture production. He wrote, directed, photographed and edited documentary and feature films for television, the Department of Defense and newsreels.

After his service, Starger spent several...

Martin Starger, a producer for such films as Robert Altman’s Nashville and Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask, died Friday at 92 in his Los Angeles home of natural causes. His death was confirmed by his niece, casting director Ilene Starger.

“He was a brilliant, elegant, remarkable man,” Starger said. “He had wonderful taste in projects, and, on a highly personal level, he was like a father to me, given that his older brother, my father, died very suddenly when I was a teenager.”

As the first president of ABC Entertainment, he helped bring such projects as Roots, Happy Days and Rich Man, Poor Man to television.

As an executive producer, Starger worked on films including Stanley Donen’s Movie Movie (1978), Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata, The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), The Last Unicorn (1982) and Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982).

Martin...

Martin Starger, who shepherded Roots, Happy Days and Rich Man, Poor Man as the first president of ABC Entertainment before producing such films as Robert Altman’s Nashville and Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask, has died. He was 92.

Starger died Friday at his home in Los Angeles, his niece, New York-based casting director Ilene Starger, announced. “He was a brilliant, elegant, remarkable man and had wonderful taste in projects,” she noted.

As an executive producer, Starger worked on films including Stanley Donen’s Movie Movie (1978), Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata, The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), The Last Unicorn (1982) and Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982)

He received Tony nominations in 1987 and 1989 for producing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Starlight Express and the comedy Lend Me a Tenor, respectively,

Starger was born on May 8, 1932, in the Bronx, New York. After graduating from City College,...

Kevin Costner is set to premiere his longtime dream project Horizon at the Cannes Film Festival. In addition, the award-winning actor and director is being honored at Cannes by France with an Order of Arts and Letters by the Culture Minister. This is a very big weekend for the star. However, he took some time out to pay tribute to his Yellowstone father, Dabney Coleman.

What did Costner say about the man who portrayed John Dutton Sr.? Here is his tribute.

Dabney Coleman YouTube/Saturday Night Live Kevin Costner Honors The Late Dabney Coleman His Yellowstone Father

Although Kevin Costner is currently at the Cannes Film Festival to premiere his epic movie Horizon, he took the time to honor the late Dabney Coleman. Coleman’s last acting role was as John Dutton Sr. in Yellowstone. Coleman died at the age of 92 on May 15. Posting on his Instagram Stories, the Field Of Dreams...

Dabney Coleman, the American character actor best known as the sexist boss in 1980 comedy 9 To 5, has died. He was 92.

Born in Texas, Coleman served in the US Army in Europe in the 1950s and studied law at university before beginning his screen career in the 1960s with appearances in TV series including The Outer Limits, The Fugitive and Bonanza. His early feature films included Downhill Racer and The Towering Inferno.

He became more widely recognised after appearing alongside Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton in Twentieth Century Fox comedy 9 To 5, a major hit by the...

Ben Stiller, James Woods, John Ales and more Hollywood notables have taken to social media to pay tribute to Dabney Coleman, who died at 92.

The legendary comic actor known for his roles in 9 to 5, Tootsie and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, died Thursday at his Santa Monica home, his daughter, singer Quincy Coleman, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“My father crafted his time here on Earth with a curious mind, a generous heart and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humor that tickled the funny bone of humanity,” she said in a statement. “As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence and mastery.”

Following the news of his death, fellow actor Stiller took to X (formerly Twitter) to write, “The great Dabney Coleman literally created, or defined, really – in a uniquely singular way — an archetype as a character actor. He was so good...

Dabney Coleman, an Emmy winner whose six-decade career included a sterling run of hit movies in the ’80s such as 9 to 5, On Golden Pond and Tootsie and whose TV work included ranges from Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman to Yellowstone, has died, according to TMZ. He was 92.

Coleman’s career began with appearances on such early-’60s TV staples as Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare and The Outer Limits. Through the decade and into the ’70s he continued to be cast on episodes of some of TV’s most popular shows, with longer arcs on The Fugitive and That Girl.

His big break came with Norman Lear’s Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in 1976, in which he recurred as Fernwood Mayor Merle Jeeter in dozens of episodes, also appearing on spinoffs Fernwood Tonight and Forever Fernwood. But it was in the early ’80s that Coleman Broke through with a series of film roles,...

Veteran actor Dabney Coleman, whose decades-long career in Hollywood included memorable roles in 9 to 5 and Tootsie and an Emmy award, has died at the age of 92, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Coleman had a long career in theater, film and television before playing sexist boss Franklin Hart Jr. in the 1980 hit comedy 9 to 5, alongside Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. After that movie’s success, Coleman became a familiar face to moviegoers throughout the 1980s, with roles in Tootsie, WarGames, On Golden Pond, Cloak & Dagger and The Muppets Take Manhattan. He also starred as...

I recently wrote about the surprise Best Supporting Actress Oscar win by Anna Paquin for 1993’s “The Piano.” At 11 years of age, she became the second youngest competitive Academy Award recipient in history. She remains the last child Oscar champ, though several have since been nominated.

The record for the youngest competitive Oscar victory by a child (someone age 17 or younger) was actually set two decades before the practically hyperventilating Paquin accepted her statuette. And it was in the same category — Best Supporting Actress. Ten-year-old Tatum O’Neal, daughter of the late Ryan O’Neal (a Best Actor nominee for 1970’s “Love Story”), delivered a performance in “Paper Moon” that was loved enough by the academy to bring her the coveted award. The younger O’Neal played Addie Loggins, a child turned con artist who teams up with a man posing as her father during The Great Depression. She was nominated alongside...

Richard Gere remembers his An Officer and a Gentleman co-star as "a tough guy with a heart of gold." The director of the romantic drama, Taylor Hackford, praised Gossett Jr.'s groundbreaking performance. An Officer and a Gentleman was a massive box office hit, making over $129 million globally against a mere $6-million budget.

Richard Gere remembers his An Officer and a Gentleman co-star, the late Louis Gossett Jr., as an actor who possessed “a heart of gold.” Gere portrayed the romantic drama's lead protagonist, Zack Mayo, while Gossett Jr.’s hard-to-love drill sergeant, Emil Foley, was tasked with whipping the young Aviation Officer Candidate School (Aocs) newcomer into shape. Gere said in a statement (per Deadline):

“He stayed in character the whole time. I don’t think we ever saw him socially. He was the drill sergeant 24-hours a day, and it showed clearly in his performance. He drove every scene he was in.

Dianne Crittenden, casting director on the original Star Wars who also worked on Pretty Woman, Spider-Man 2 and dozens of other films during a 40-year career, died March 19 at her home in Pacific Palisades. She was 82.

Her friend and colleague Ilene Starger confirmed her passing to Deadline.

Born on August 6, 1941, in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, NY, Crittenden got her start in the entertainment industry working with Howard Zieff, a photographer and director. They worked on advertising campaigns, TV commercials and films.

Her first project as casting director was Terrence Malick’s 1973 drama Badlands, starring Martin Sheen-Sissy Spacek, on which Bruce Springsteen based his song “Nebraska” a decade later. Crittenden worked on a few other films and TV shows, including the Emmy-winning 1976 Sally Field miniseries Sybil, before land the casting-director role of a lifetime — a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

After working with George Lucas on the iconic Star Wars,...