THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280380
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Not all the drama was on stage at the Academy Awards. Here's a look at the sights and sounds backstage at the Oscars:
Oscar will be coming to Virginia. Best actress winner Jessica Lange said she will be taking the award home to her horse farm near Charlottesville today.
She dedicated the Oscar to her three children.
Lange was escorted to the show by Michael Caton Thomas, director of her next film, ``Rob Roy.'' Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard, who has lived with her in Virginia for 13 years, was not in Hollywood to share her triumph.
``Sam doesn't go to these type things,'' she said.
Martin Landau, who won for his role in ``Ed Wood,'' said he felt he was under particular pressure because he was a heavy favorite. ``Every time I heard I was a sure thing, I felt more unsure,'' he told a room full of journalists after leaving the stage. ``I am aware that many more people saw `Forrest Gump' and `Pulp Fiction.' I was worried that no one saw `Ed Wood.' I think, probably, everyone who saw it is in this room.''
Landau said that while his own life as an actor had some ups and downs, he wasn't as similar to B-movie star Bela Lugosi, whom he played, as some have said.
``I don't look like Bela Lugosi,'' he said. ``I don't sound like Bela Lugosi. He was a 74-year-old has-been. I was acting.''
Landau said he was proud to win because he thought the supporting actor category was the strongest of the night. ``I had four other great performances against me,'' Landau said. ``When I was making `Cleopatra' in Italy, Richard Burton talked only about Paul Scofield (nominated for `Quiz Show') all the time. To think that I won anything over Paul Scofield is amazing.''
Flashing his famous grin backstage, Jack Nicholson said his interests were elsewhere. He used the occasion to lead a cheer for UCLA's men's basketball team, saying ``Go Bruins! Fight, fight fight!''
He said that Landau once was his acting teacher. ``The speech he gave tonight is the shortest he ever gave, anywhere.''
In a setting where clothes made the man - and woman - Jennifer Tilly was feeling confident. ``Look,'' the actress chirped before the show, ``my shoes match my dress.''
Lizzy Gardiner, who won the best costume design for ``Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,'' wore a dress made entirely out of American Express gold cards.
And what did she wear under it?
``Gold underwear,'' Gardiner replied, ``and a lot of credit.''
After winning for best supporting actress, Dianne Wiest joked that she would use her set of two Oscars as earrings.
Wiest's director, Woody Allen, wasn't there to cheer. ``Woody has to play the clarinet tonight,'' Wiest said. Eccentric director Woody Allen plays the clarinet every Monday night at a Manhattan pub; after 17 nominations and three wins, he's never attended an Academy Award ceremony.
Asked if she thought her win for ``Bullets Over Broadway'' denotes forgiveness for Allen from the Hollywood community after a year of personal scandal, Wiest said, ``I don't think this is connected to any of that. Woody just makes good movies. He doesn't need any kind of reassurances.''
Wiest said she had at one time asked to be fired from ``Bullets Over Broadway'' because she had trouble getting the voice right for the diva she played. ``I'm glad I didn't give up,'' she said simply. ``Woody helped me all the way.''
Chatting outside the auditorium before the show, director Steve James, a native of Hampton, said he was not bitter about what has become the most controversial Oscar snub, the lock-out of his acclaimed ``Hoop Dreams'' from both the best picture and best documentary categories.
``We still hope to score a tremendous victory tonight,'' James said, noting that the picture was in the running for the film editing award. ``My mom is watching back in Virginia. Give her a call.''
James was bound for disappointment: ``Forrest Gump'' took home that prize.
In fact, ``Hoop Dreams'' was destined to become the most famous loser of the night.
Producer Frieda Lee Mock, who won the best documentary award for ``Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision,'' was harangued backstage by reporters demanding to know what she thought about ``Hoop Dreams.''
``I think it was too long,'' she answered. ``And I think Vietnam is more important than basketball.''
Composer Elton John dedicated his best song Oscar win for ``The Lion King'' to his grandmother, Ivy Sell, who died at the age of 95 last week. ``I grew up in her home because my father was in the air force and was away,'' John said. ``She taught me to play the piano, and I never would be in this business if it wasn't for her.''
Working on the Disney film changed his career, John said. ``I am accosted in airports by kids now.'' MEMO: For list of winners, see microfilm
ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Dianne Wiest...
Martin Landau...
by CNB