The only person to have won the Superbowl and an Oscar
Every year, millions of movie lovers tune in to watch the annual Academy Awards ceremony, which honours some of cinema’s finest talents and achievements. Since it was founded in 1929, the Oscars has become the most prestigious of the major award ceremonies and one of the most coveted events in cinema. To win a gold statuette is to be recognised as an outstanding part of film history, although it can be argued that many Oscar winners don’t truly deserve their accolades.
Over the years, many ‘Best Picture’ winners have been clear ‘Oscar bait’, purposefully created to rack up awards. Movies set in another historical period, biopics, overly-emotional flicks and intense dramas tend to receive more recognition than other genres, such as horror, which the Academy has rarely praised. Clearly, winning an Academy Award isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. After all, some of cinema’s greatest filmmakers never won ‘Best Picture’ or ‘Best Director’ awards, like Stanley Kubrick, for example.
Still, the Academy Awards’ power means that many of their ‘Best Picture’ wins are coveted as cinematic classics, despite being somewhat flawed and dated. One example of this is Forrest Gump, a movie which won six Academy Awards, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for Robert Zemeckis. Although the movie has been widely negatively reevaluated in the years since its release, it remains popular amongst many audiences who can’t help but love Tom Hanks’ character.
However, Forrest Gump’s ‘Best Picture’ win led to an unusual record. The movie’s producer, Steve Tisch, became the first and only Superbowl winner to possess an Academy Award. Tisch joins a line of unconventional Oscar winners, such as Kobe Bryant, who became the only person to win both an Oscar and an Olympic gold medal. Moreover, Bob Dylan and George Bernard Shaw are the only two people to earn both an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize.
Tisch, clearly a skilled businessman, earned both prizes by working as a film producer and as the co-owner/chairman of the American football team, the New York Giants. The team was co-owned by his father, Bob Tisch, who passed away in 2005. Subsequently, his son became the chairman, accepting the Vince Lombardi Trophy twice in 2007 and 2011.
However, his film production career began in the 1970s when he produced Richard T. Heffron’s film Outlaw Blues. A few years later, he worked on Risky Business, Tom Cruise’s first leading role. His other credits include movies such as Tony Kaye’s American History X and Guy Ritchie’s Snatch.
Forrest Gump was the producer’s most significant success, also winning a Golden Globe and earning a nomination from the BAFTAs.
