Who was the first musician to win an acting Oscar?
The singer-to-actor pipeline is notoriously tricky to navigate. Some manage it with aplomb—think Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, and Lady Gaga in A Star is Born.
Others, who shall remain nameless, struggle to make the leap, but no matter the outcome, it’s always entertaining to watch our favourite chart-toppers try their hand at acting. While a select few, like the aforementioned trio, go on to achieve the ultimate accolade—an Oscar—one question lingers: who was the very first musician to reach the peak of this double-edged mountain?
Really, it couldn’t be anyone else except the aptly named chairman of the board himself, Frank Sinatra. With the humble title of being one of the greatest icons of the 20th century across both film and music, it’s no surprise that Sinatra had the Midas touch in all of his work, and not least as part of the Rat Pack, who between them made four stellar classic movies including Ocean’s 11 in 1960.
But it was a solo venture years prior to working with the gang that secured Sinatra his first Oscar win, playing the character of Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 romance war drama From Here to Eternity. He scooped the gong for ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ that year, but it was to be the first a huge number across the span of his seismic career, with further nods for acting and humanitarian work as well as various wins for singing on ‘Best Original Songs’.
Back with his initial win, however, it was clear that Sinatra was always destined to conquer Hollywood alongside the charts. In From Here to Eternity, he starred opposite Burt Lancaster and Montogomery Cliff as soldiers stationed in Hawaii in the three months preceding the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941. Overall, it won an impressive eight out of its 13 Oscar nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for Fred Zinnemann, as well as Sinatra’s scoop.
In light of its iconic status, the film was preserved in 2002 into the American National Film Registry for its cultural significance – and you can’t really get more showbiz than that.
With a star of Sinatra’s calibre, the Oscars were, naturally, just one front of many. He took in a plethora of nominations and wins in every film award going, including Baftas, Golden Globes, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Lifetime Achievement. Then, of course, you get to the music – with over 30 nominations and 11 Grammy wins, he’s one of the most decorated crooners of all time, and also had the aforementioned Oscars for songs as well to boot.
While ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ was still in the game, fledgling actors and musicians across the Western world were no doubt cursing his name, because none of them could ever get a look in. But that’s not to take away from his gargantuan legacy and achievements – after all, the industries would never have been the same had Sinatra not graced them with his presence. So what if he snatched all the awards and acclaim? To use his own words: “That’s life”.
