The Golden Globe Awards - the 1980's

Here is a continuing look at the Golden Globe Awards, this time looking at the decade of the 1980's.

1980 - As with the Academy Awards, the evening belonged to Robert Redford. His directorial debut, "Ordinary People," was the big winner taking honors for Best Picture (Drama); Director; Actress - Drama (Mary Tyler Moore); Supporting Actor (Timothy Hutton). All but Moore would win the Academy Award as Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy, Sissy Spacek in "Coal Miner's Daughter," would win the Academy Award. Three of the Best Supporting Actress nominees (Lucie Arnaz "The Jazz Singer"; Beverly D'Angelo "Coal Miner's Daughter"; Debra Winger "Urban Cowboy") would not be nominated for the Academy Award. Gene Kelly was the recipient of the DeMille Award.

1981 - One of the sleeper hits of the year would be the big winner at the Globe's this year. "Arthur," starring Dudley Moore as a free wheeling alcoholic millionaire would win 4 awards (Best Picture - Comedy; Best Actor - Comedy (Moore); Best Supporting Actor (John Gielgud); Best Song) but, predictably, the more serious minded members of the Academy would only honor Gielgud and the song (Arthur's Theme "The Best That You Can Do") though Moore would receive a nomination. The eventual Academy Award winning Best Picture, "Chariots of Fire," would receive no Globe nominations. Only Gielgud and Henry Fonda ("On Golden Pond") would carry their Globe victory to Oscar gold. Sidney Poitier would receive the DeMille award this year.

1982 - "Gandhi" and "E.T." were the big Globe winners this year though "Gandhi," which would win the Academy Award for Best Picture was not even nominated in the Globe category despite its victories for Best Director and Best Screenplay. All four Academy Award winning performances (Ben Kingsley "Gandhi"; Meryl Streep "Sophie's Choice" Louis Gossett, Jr. "An Officer and a Gentleman" Jessica Lange "Tootsie") would first win the Globe - an unusual occurrence. Laurence Olivier would receive the DeMille award this year.

1983 - This was a watershed year at the Globes as for the first time, a woman would win the Globe for Best Director. Barbra Streisand, a longtime Globe favorite was honored for her work on "Yentl."Despite this she would not be nominated by the Academy in the same category. The year was so strong for male actors in a drama that seven men were nominated for Best Actor and, in an equally rare occurrence, the results ended in a tie with Tom Courtenay (The Dresser) and Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies) sharing the prize. As with the Academy, "Terms of Endearment" was the evening's big winner. Three of the four Academy Award winning performances (Duvall; Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson "Terms") won the Globe with the Globe for Best Supporting Actress going to Cher for "Silkwood" while fellow nominee Linda Hunt (The Year of Living Dangerously) winning Oscar gold. Paul Newman was the recipient of the DeMille Award and said, "It's nice to attend one of these when you know you are a lock."

1984 - As with the Academy Awards, "Amadeus" was the evening's big winner. Once again all four acting winners (F.Murray Abraham "Amadeus"; Sally Field "Places in the Heart"; Haing S. Ngor "The Killing Fields"; Peggy Ashcroft "A Passage to India") would carry over their victories to Oscar gold. Elizabeth Taylor was the recipient of the DeMille award.

1985 - John Huston's mafia comedy, "Prizzi's Honor," was the evening's big winner. Stars Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner won lead acting awards in the Musical/Comedy category and Huston won Best Director and the film was voted Best Picture. In a very rare occurrence, none of the acting winners at the Globes would win the Academy Award. The Academy's Best Actor winner, William Hurt (Kiss of the Spiderwoman) would lose the Globe to Jon Voight (Runaway Train). Best Actress winner Geraldine Page (The Trip to Bountiful) would lose to Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple). Best Supporting Actor winner Don Ameche (Cocoon) was not even nominated for a Globe. Best Supporting Actress winner Anjelica Huston (Prizzi's Honor) would lose the Globe to Meg Tilly (Agnes of God). Veteran actress Barbara Stanwyck was the recipient of the DeMille award.

1986 - The Globes this year conformed to the Academy making "Platoon" the year's big winner with 3 awards (Best Picture; Director; Supporting Actor - Tom Berenger). Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God) was the only Globe winner for acting to go on to win the Academy Award. Best Actor winner Paul Newman (The Color of Money) lost the Globe to Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa). Best Supporting Actor Michael Caine (Hannah and Her Sisters) would lose the Globe to Berenger. Best Supporting Actress Dianne Weist (Hannah and Her Sisters) would lose the Globe to Maggie Smith (A Room With A View). Anthony Quinn would win the DeMille award and delighted the crowd by celebrating with a bit of the Zorba dance that helped make him famous.

1987 - Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" was the night's big winner with four awards (Best Picture - Drama; Director; Screenplay; Score) and a precursor to the Academy Awards when it would sweep the Oscars, winning all nine of its nominations, a record that stood until "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." All four acting honors (Michael Douglas "Wall Street"; Cher "Moonstruck"; Sean Connery "The Untouchables"; Olympia Dukakis "Moonstruck") at the Academy Awards were Globe winners this evening as well. Future Globe favorite Clint Eastwood was the recipient of the DeMille Award.

1988 - This may have been the oddest year ever at the Globes. Eight movie dramas were nominated for Best Picture in a field usually reserved for five. Mike Nichols' hit comedy "Working Girl" was the evening's big winner with only three awards as they were spread out over a vast array of films. The big winner at the Academy Awards, "Rain Man," would only win two awards (Best Picture; Best Actor Drama - Dustin Hoffman). In the Best Actress - Drama category there was an unprecedented three-way tie (Jodie Foster "The Accused"; Shirley MacLaine "Madame Souszatska"; Sigourney Weaver "Gorillas In The Mist") that would lead Foster to the Academy Award, Weaver to a nomination, and MacLaine to an Academy snub. Also unprecedented was Sigourney Weaver winning two acting awards, one for Best Actress and one for Best Supporting Actress (Working Girl). Despite the eight dramas nominated for Best Picture, Clint Eastwood's "Bird" was not among the nominees even though Eastwood would win the award for Best Director. In another very rare occurrence, neither actor to win the Academy Award in the Supporting Category (Geena Davis "The Accidental Tourist"; Kevin Kline "A Fish Called Wanda") was even nominated for a Globe. Doris Day was the recipient of the DeMille Award.

1989 - As was the case at the Academy Awards, "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Driving Miss Daisy" duked it out at the Globes with "Born" taking top honors with four awards (Best Picture Drama; Director; Screenplay; Best Actor Drama - Tom Cruise) and "Daisy" winning three awards (Best Picture Musical/Comedy; Best Actor Comedy - Morgan Freeman; Best Actress Comedy - Jessica Tandy). Neither Cruise nor Freeman, who were expected to be in a dead heat for the Academy Award, would go on to win as Daniel Day-Lewis would pull off the upset for "My Left Foot." Also carrying the Globe victory to Oscar gold was Denzel Washington as Best Supporting Actor for "Glory." Best Supporting Actress Globe winner Julia Roberts (Steel Magnolias) would have to be content with just a nomination from the Academy as the award went to Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot). Audrey Hepburn would receive the DeMille award that year.

Coming Next: The Golden Globe Awards - The 1990's.