Barry Fitzgerald: the only actor to have earned two Oscar nominations for the same role
The Oscars have always been a glaring contradiction in Hollywood, both a prestigious ceremony and a farce, an honour and a vaguely meaningless form of external validation. With outrageous wins and nominations over the years, including the staggering number of awards that Emilia Pérez has been put forward for, it is now harder than ever to take any of its decisions seriously.
If the Academy can genuinely justify the decision to shun Martin Scorsese for Raging Bull, award Bohemian Rhapsody ‘Best Editing’ and nominate Wicked for ‘Best Picture’, then I’ll eat my hat, as they remain some of the most haunting moments in the bloody history of the red-carpet season. However, there was one time when they particularly messed up, making a mistake that has never been repeated after an actor earned two Oscar nominations for the same performance.
While there have been actors who have received Oscar nods for more than one film in the same year, most recently Scarlett Johansson earning recognition for both Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit in 2019, or Jamie Foxx winning ‘Best Actor’ for Ray and being nominated in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category for Collateral at the same time, there was only one time in which an actor earned two nominations for the same performance.
Going My Way, directed by Leo McCarey in 1944, follows Chuck O’Malley, who leads a full life before joining the Roman Catholic clergy, appointed to lead a run-down New York church where he helps inspire a group of young boys. Starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald as O’Malley and Father Fitzgibbon, the film broke records for reasons unrelated to the story, with the latter being nominated for both ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’. He won the second race, while his co-star emerged victorious in the first ‘Best Actor’.
This sparked controversy afterwards, with the Academy changing the rules to ensure this bizarre twist would not occur again. However, there have continued to be discussions about the separation between leading actors and supporting actors over the years, with some performers like Mahershala Ali winning ‘Best Supporting Actor’ despite having a joint leading role in Green Book. Some could argue the same for Kiera Culkin in A Real Pain, with the actor also receiving a nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ despite co-leading the film alongside Jesse Eisenberg.
It has opened up an interesting conversation over the years as to what constitutes a supporting role, and while people keep pretending that the awards season doesn’t bear any weight on the film industry, it does, unfortunately, impact the projects that are greenlit in the future and amplifies the voices of the people and projects who win, giving them more power in the industry.
While we complain about its irrelevance and lack of sound logic, it is important for the Academy to reform in order for certain stories to be told, with their lack of critical attention making it harder for similar stories to be shared.
