The big guns come out late at any Academy Awards telecast, and the 77th Academy Awards, held on February 27, 2005 at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, was no different. Except tonight there was fierce competition between (and much speculation about) the five best director nominees.
Would it be Clint Eastwood for “Million Dollar Baby,” who had already won the award for lead actress (Hilary Swank) and supporting actor (Morgan Freeman), and who would shortly after win the award for best picture? Would Martin Scorsese (“The Aviator”) finally win his first Oscar? Could it be Taylor Hackford, who had directed Jamie Foxx to the lead actor award? And what about the indie spoilers, Alexander Payne (“Sideways”) and Mike Leigh (“Vera Drake”)?
And then Julia Roberts made it clear who the winner was: the award would go to Clint Eastwood.
worth every penny
By winning his second Oscar as a director, Eastwood became the oldest winner in the category in the awards show's history; He was 74 years old at the time. Despite his numerous nominations over the years, he never won for acting, only for producing best films (“Unforgiven” in 1993, and shortly after this award, for “Baby”) and directing (also “Unforgiven” ).
After host Roberts read his name, it was heartening to see his “Million” co-star Freeman give Eastwood a squeeze on the shoulder. Eastwood gave his then-wife Dina Ruiz a kiss and headed to the stage, where Roberts wiped Ruiz's lipstick off the Oscar winner's mouth with a finger.
After thanking Ruiz “who is my best friend” (they would divorce in 2014), he recognized his mother, who was in the audience, and noted that she was also with him in the Oscar race for “Unforgiven” in 1993 “She was only 84 years old.” so. But she's here with me again tonight. So at 96 years old I thank him for his genes,” he said. (Margaret Ruth Wood, who was sitting in the row behind Clint, would die the following year.)
He added that making “Million” was “a wonderful adventure. To make a movie in 37 days you need a well-oiled machine.” He thanked the cast and crew, and even gave a shout out to Warren Beatty. “I'm just lucky to be here,” he said. “It is fortunate to continue working. And I saw Sidney Lumet, who is 80 years old, and I imagine I'm just a kid. “I still have a lot of things to do.”
Not yet, guys.
The remaining nominees were all Hollywood veterans, but none had yet received an Oscar for directing. The lack of a victory was most apparent for Scorsese, who despite having 16 nominations over the years, had never won an Oscar for anything. By not winning this year, he joined Robert Altman, Clarence Brown, Alfred Hitchcock and King Vidor as the most nominated people in the directing category without winning.
Fortunately, two years later he would win his first (and still only) Oscar for directing “The Departed.”
Meanwhile, Hackford already had one Oscar: for his live-action short film “Teenage Father” in 1979. His other two nominations (picture and director) were for “Ray,” but he lost both tonight. Alexander Payne has never won in this category, but he has two wins: both for adapted script from “Sideways” (shared with Jim Taylor); and 2012's “The Descendants” (shared with Taylor and Jim Burke). As for Mike Leigh, he has seven nominations in the writing and directing categories, but no wins. He was the only non-American director nominated this year.
