Both Jessica Lange and Teri Garr were both up for Supporting Actress, with Lange winning a much deserved Oscar. After watching the film, I was surprised that Garr was nominated, because she really didn't do anything Oscar worthy. She was mildly funny, but she didn't have the impact that Lange did on the film as a whole. Any thoughts?
"Ahhh!...and boom goes the dynamite."
I did think Lange was better, though it's hard to compare such apples-and-oranges roles. But I think that Garr was very good in her role. She made over the top seem very natural. In the wrong hands this role could have gone very very badly.
And overall, I thought she had as much an impact on the film as Lange did. Her character drove a lot of the plot. First, Michael wouldn't even have auditioned for the soap if it weren't for her. And her relationship with Michael was needed as a contrast to his relationship with Julie: with Sandy we see Michael being a jerk as a man, and with Julie we see him being great as a woman.
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi
See I couldn't feel more differently. I think Garr should have won the supporting oscar. Classic comedic supporting role, and one of the greatest comedic actresses of our time. Too bad her career died along with the 80s. I adore her.
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First of all, I want to clarify that I LOVE Jessica Lange but I honestly think Teri Garr should have won the Oscar.
Lange's performance isn't bad in the slightest but I probably would have ranked her fourth of fifth in that very strong category.
How quickly people forget their history. Lange's victory, which I felt was well-deserved (as was Garr's nomination) may have had as much to do with the fact she was also nominated for Best Actress that year for a brilliant performance as Best Actress ("Frances)" but lost to Meryl Streep. I suspect many who voted for Streep over Lange in that category gave their Supporting Actress vote to Lange.
As for what she (Garr) did or didn't do in the film, her role was much larger than let's say the role of Charles Durning in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" for which he received a Supporting Actor nomination for 1983. I suspect she had more scenes and nearly the same amount of lines as Jack Nicholson did in "A Few Good Men"
Garr was very funny, and did not let Dustin Hoffman, an incredibly talented actor steal any of their joint scenes. She earned that nomination.
I thought Teri Garr was brilliant in this role. She stole every scene she was in IMO. I didn't think Lange's role was that outstanding. Garr was more deserving of the Oscar. But IIRC Lesley Ann Warren was nominated that year too for Victor/Victoria, and she should have won over both.
shareTeri Garr is brilliant. I've seen Tootsie zillion times and the more times I watch it, the more convinced I am that she deserved this Oscar. Lesley Ann Warren was almost on the same level and I think that Lange was less interesting than the both of them.
My ranking for the year:
1.Teri Garr
2.Glenn Close
3.Lesley Ann Warren
4.Jessica Lange
5.Kim Stanley
I thought she stole every scene as well. Right from her first moment with the speech at the party I knew she was good. Note- this was the first performance of hers I saw
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Her nomination in Frances had nothing to do with her winning for this role. It is highly doubtful that she was voted in as a consolation prize....ludicrous. She won for this role because she was excellent in the role.
In any other year, she would have also won for Frances. But, being up against Sophie's Choice, she didn't have a chance. Nobody would have had a chance against that.
Garr struck comedy gold every time yet it's a performance that's always rooted in reality, like the very best comedic performances. I love how she was so honest at the time about her being annoyed that she had to share the nomination with Lange
and then complain that Lange won indirectly for Frances.
Six inches is perfectly adequate. More is vulgar.
Wait - she did what? Do tell...
shareShortly after the nominations were announced, she told Liz Smith, "I am thrilled by the nomination, but what really hurts is that I think Jessica Lange was the leading lady in Tootsie. I played the supporting role with the director telling me 'we can't make you look too good in this move' and I was a real sport abouut it and then I have to share the nomination. Well, I am a little bugged about that".
After the ceremony, she told Entertatainment Tonight, "I expected it 'cause I think Jessica won for Frances and well deserved".
Yeah, I just read her a snippet of her Autobiography, which also makes mention of her frustration. It must have been grief piled on grief that Jessica would go on to win in the Leading category years later, while she would never be nominated again. :(
But, hey, at least she was honest.
I just finished it. I love that she said 'it was the appearance of breeziness (as Sandy) that should have won me the Oscar'. Completely true.
shareI'll have to give the book a read, then. I would have given it to her on virtue of her reaction to Hoffman's revelation at the end, which I found to be easily the most hilarious, lol. I wish they could have drawn that out more.
shareLesley Ann Warren in VICTOR / VICTORIA
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Lange was the Leading Lady in the film not a supporting character.
She was only given that nom because their was no way she could win over the power house performance of Streep in Sophies Choice.
They wanted to award her indirectly for Frances so they gave her Teri Garrs (or Lesley Anne Warrens) oscar.
As Garr said to Hoffman in the film "Baloney!"
Dorothy stop that, Mr. Ha Ha`s lookin at you!!
I remember reading somewhere that they told her that they couldn't make her look as good as Jessica Lange because she wasn't the lead actress, and that miffed her because JL really should have been nominated for lead actress.
I love Teri Garr (saw her recently again in Young Frankenstein), and I agree with most that I find her more funny everytime I see her in this--I love her insecurity and her line about being responsible for her own orgasm! (I think this was an ad lib and not in the original script).
Jessica Lange was good in this, but her role could have easily been played by just about anyone.
it's funny, i think teri was so much more deserving than lange. garr's comic timing is just perfect in tootsie, she delivered a great performance.
shareOscars don't always have to do with the best performance.
As others have stated Lange was nominated in both catergories that year. Something that has only happened a few times.
I remember very clearly Lange looking disappointed when she got it for Tootsie. Even in her walk to the stage she looked hurt. She knew she was now out of the running for Best Actress.
Lange got the best supporting actress award as a consulation prize since the Oscar for best actress was going to Streep.
I remember that too.
Her acceptance speech was on youtube-may still be.
Dorothy stop that, Mr. Ha Ha`s lookin at you!!
I totally agree, Mit800 - Teri Garr was fantastic in Tootsie and really deserved her nom, whereas Jessica Lange (whom I love) was the leading lady and not a supporting character - she was perfectly fine, though the role was really sort of ordinary and as someone else said, could have been played by any number of actresses. But she was destined to lose the Best Actress oscar to Meryl Streep, who was a lock for her role in Sophie's Choice, so they gave Lange the supporting actress consolation prize for Tootsie, sacrificing Garr (or any of the 3 other nominees). A shame, but Garr's performance ("...I've read the Cinderella Complex, I'm responsible for my own orgasm!") remains a classic.
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the minute I saw Lange won for this movie I knew it was so counter to another category she lost in.
I agree Garr should have won, she was great in this movie. I always liked Lange but she never wows me. her character wasn't that funny or interesting. IMO
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Hey Laser Lips Yo Momma Was A Snow Blower - Johnny 5
Jessica Lange is a reknowned lefty loon. Teri Garr doesn't make her politics known, as far as I know. The Oscars are like the Nobel peace prize. All you have to do to win is to be a far leftist or a radical muzlim. Or both.
"They sucked his brains out!"
For the record, Garr is a (very active) democrat. Not that it matters since that's completely irrelevant to the conversation at hand. And the only real "loons" are people like yourself who insist on dragging politics into completely unrelated topics.
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Jessica Lange should have been nominated for LEAD ACTRESS for this film (she would have won), and Teri Garr would have easily won the SUPPORTING ACTRESS for this film. Each of them DOMINATED the scenes they were in. This film stands the test of time and is awesome!
Is it okay if I do it for mom and not you? 'Cause I really like mom.
There is no way that Jessica Lange would have won best lead actress for this film as she would have been up against Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice , which is rightly regarded as one of the best performances of all time , also Jessica's performance in Frances that year (for which she got a lead actress nomination) was also truly great. It's most likely she won best supporting actress because people thought that her performance in Frances should not go unrewarded.
shareFor those out there not old enough to remember, bingo, we have a winner!
shareJessica Lange has 29 minutes of screen time in a 116-minute film. There's only one lead in TOOTSIE, and that's Dustin Hoffman. Everyone else is supporting.
Although Lange's concurrent performance in FRANCES certainly didn't hurt, her TOOTSIE win wasn't simply an Academy consolation prize. She was also named the year's Best Supporting Actress for TOOTSIE by the New York Film Critics Circle, Kansas City Film Critics Circle, Boston Society of Film Critics, National Society of Film Critics, and the Golden Globes. As delightful as Garr is in the film (although she's practically channeling Woody Allen-era Diane Keaton), she received no precursor awards or nominations. Jessica Lange's supporting performance is what gives the otherwise farcical TOOTSIE its emotional core (very reminiscent of what Marilyn Monroe brought to SOME LIKE IT HOT), and this is what she was justifiably honored for. The fact that a 29-minute performance strikes people as a "lead" is a testament to the strong impression she makes in the film.
And all that said, my vote would have gone to Glenn Close in THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP. ;)
"Jessica Lange has 29 minutes of screen time in a 116-minute film. There's only one lead in TOOTSIE, and that's Dustin Hoffman. Everyone else is supporting."
You make a good point. I think you're right about that: Tootsie is ultimately Hoffman's movie. I do think Lange is really good here, but I found Teri Garr especially delightful (and so funny) and think she had the more memorable role. I also get really ticked that the Academy so often overlooks comedic performances - frankly, I feel Dustin Hoffman should have gotten the gold for his work here - when in fact comedy is really, really difficult to pull off well.
But you know, to each his own. And Lange getting the gold here is certainly not a disgrace.
Teri Garr was realy good she gave one of the most RARE comedic perfomances ever!!!
She was hilarious!!