Best Actress 1987: Loretta Castorini

They both cleaned up well, both peaking looks-
wise; but, to Cher's credit, he had practically
a two-decade advantage

The frontrunner for Best Actress with the critics groups in 1987 was newcomer Holly Hunter for Broadcast News, James L. Brooks peak inside the workings and politics of primetime news.  She delivered a memorable serio-comic performance as a producer in the middle of a love triangle, Jane Craig, a more likable answer to Faye Dunaway's Oscar winning Diana Christensen in Network.  More liberal virtue, less blood-hungry ratings grabbing, Broadcast News was earnest, but more superficial than it was probably willing to admit.  A theatrical commitment would prevent Hunter from participating fully in the awards season (who was having a great year also having released the hit Raising Arizona).  She was up for the Golden Globe in a Comedy or Musical and when she lost to Cher, her chances for an Oscar win almost evaporated entirely.  A win in this category often leads to an Oscar nomination, sometimes not, sometimes more.  But, a loss in this category seldom bodes well for the actress. A nomination is still possible, if the Drama side isn't so competitive, but a win for lead?  Only Hunter's old roommate and Raising Arizona costar Frances McDormand has pulled it off since for Fargo.  She lost the Globe to Evita's Madonna, whom the HFPA worship, but the Oscars relish in ignoring.

She couldn't steal one
just like a baby, so Oscar,
like motherhood,
would have to wait

But, Cher, another musical icon, had more going for her than Madonna.  With her respected film debut in Come Back to the Five and Dime, a nomination for Silkwood, and a perceived snub for Mask, Cher had built up an immense amount of good-will in the movie industry with only a handful of films (Moonstruck was also her final bow for the year, with three well-received films in 1987).  Not only that, but Moonstruck (which according to commenter Robert A. had Sally Field attached to the project) was an even bigger box-office sensation than Broadcast News.  A Best Picture nominee in its own right, it would go on to prove to have been a formidable candidate winning three Oscars after the evening was finished.  By comparison, currently, Moonstruck is one of the basic positive indicators of Jennifer Lawrence's chances at a win for Silver Linings Playbook.  The Oscar winner is culled from the Golden Globe Comedy/Musical category about 30% of the time.  If you specify modern romantic-comedy, it's less than 10%.  To complicate matters further, Lawrence is not the lead like Cher, and Playbook is idling along at the box-office and may not even eke out the $45M Harvey Weinstein's The Artist managed to do.

The Three Faces of Sally

One of her other main competitors was Sally Kirkland for Anna, who had invested a great deal of time and emotion into getting an Oscar.  Decades later, her reaction to the loss would become a small internet meme.  After twenty-five years of countless movies, plays, auditions, learning Czech, everything rested in this moment for the actress.  But, alas, Hollywood did not want to turn her into a star and she would have been better being thankful for having gotten nominated.  After Paul Newman read Cher's name, if Kirkland's look could kill, she would have keeled over on the spot that night.  The moment mirrored her title character in a plot that was a hat-tip to All About Eve.  It was only a split second later that she realized the camera was on her that she joined in the applause for the victor and painted a smile on her face. Ever the actress that she is, she exposed a vulnerable and real side to the business that often gets painted over with a broad glitzy brush.

You give the performance of a lifetime and the AMPAS
shit on you

Even though she was playing a villain, a character type The Academy doesn't generally cotton to in the Best Actress race, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction had delivered one balls-out amazing turn as batshit crazy singleton book editor Alex Forrest.  A role that originally was turned down by Miranda Richardson, as well as several other actresses including Debra Winger (and sought after by tons of other notable names), Close fought hard for the part, and with costar Michael Douglas' support, eventually won it.  The movie made mad money and became a touchstone in debates regarding feminism, fidelity, and casual sex, especially in the age of AIDS; it also kicked off Douglas unofficial Persecuted White Male Trilogy that would continue with Basic Instinct and Disclosure.  Perhaps Close was never a player for the win, but it's difficult for me to imagine otherwise.

This is how it's done ...

The closest this category has come to a four-way race in modern history, the fifth slot went to Meryl Streep, as she sometimes surfaced as a placeholder.  As for the also-ran's, I've never seen The Whales of August, so I can't speak to the performances, including Lillian Gish's.  I do remember talk of "another shutout" towards Barbra Streisand for Nuts, though I imagine her chances were right down there with Faye Dunaway's, who, herself, had become somewhat of a joke.  Young Emily Lloyd had also made an impression on Siskel & Ebert with her turn in Wish You Were Here.  Perhaps with two comedies in the race already, Diane Keaton didn't have a shot with Baby Boom, but it certainly did some healthy business at the box-office. Sarah Miles was the matriarch in Hope and Glory, but it was the only Best Picture with a lead actress who didn't make it into her respective race. Rachel Chagall (whose costar was nominated) was one of the only lower profile actresses in contention to secure a Golden Globe Drama slot, as well as having a pretty baity role.

The very first year I really began to pay any real close attention to Oscar, 1987 was truly a great year for the Best Actress race, perhaps even my favorite. I would have voted for Close, but I certainly can't begrudge Cher, Sally Kirkland notwithstanding.

The Nominees:

... bitches

-Cher, Moonstruck: GG Comedy, Kansas City winner; BAFTA nominee (Domestic: $80.6M; 94% RT)
-Holly Hunter, Broadcast News: LA, New York, Boston, NBR, Berlin winner; GG Comedy, National Society (3rd) nominee ($51.3M / Worldwide: $67.3M; 98%)
-Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction: GG Drama nominee ($156.7M / $320.2, Fall; 79%)
-Sally Kirkland, Anna: GG Drama, LA, ISA winner ($1.2M)
-Meryl Streep, Ironweed ($7.4M; 65%)

The Competition:
-Rachel Chagall, Gaby: A True Story: GG Drama nominee ($0.1M, Fall)
-Sarah Miles, Hope and Glory: BAFTA nominee ($10M, Fall; 94%)
-Emily Lloyd, Wish You Were Here: National Society winner; BAFTA nominee ($3.3M, Summer; 83%)
-Barbra Streisand, Nuts: GG Drama nominee ($31M; 38%)
-Christine Lahti, Housekeeping: New York (2nd) nominee ($1.1M; 100%)
-Lillian Gish, The Whales of August: NBR winner; ISA nominee ($1.3M, Fall; 63%)
-Maggie Smith, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne: BAFTA winner ($0.5M)
-Diane Keaton, Baby Boom: GG Comedy, National Society (2nd) nominee ($26.7M, Fall; 81%)
-Faye Dunaway, Barfly: GG Drama nominee ($3.2M, Fall; 78%)
-Anne Bancroft, 84 Charing Cross Road: BAFTA winner ($1.1M, Winter; 86%)
-Julie Walters, Personal Services: BAFTA nominee ($1.7M, Spring)
-Bette Midler, Outrageous Fortune: GG Comedy nominee ($52.9M, Winter; 50%)
-Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing: GG Comedy nominee ($6M / $63.5M / $214M, Summer; 68%)

poll by twiigs.com