How One Actress Won an Oscar with Only 5 Minutes of Screen Time

The Art of Supporting Performances in Oscar-caliber Movies

Winning an acting Oscars award can happen with various types of performances, and one actress managed to win with only five minutes of screen time. When it comes to winning a Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, or Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, it is quite common for the most prominent performances from an individual movie to be nominated. The awards ceremony loves to recognize the stars whom audiences are most likely to remember from the film due to the fact that they are seen so frequently throughout the runtime. This is partially how Katharine Hepburn achieved Oscars records with four Best Actress wins. For as memorable and demanding as lead roles can be, there is a different art to supporting performances in Oscar-caliber movies. Performers with limited screen time must make the most of their opportunity and leave a lasting impression. While awards jockeying often occurs so a film's co-lead lands a Best Supporting nomination or win, there are still plenty of examples of performers who get recognized after playing important but relatively minor roles. This has arguably never been more true than at the 1977 Oscars where Network brought an actress a win after only having five minutes of screen time.

Beatrice Straight as Louise Schumacher having an intense moment with her husband Max Schumacher (William Holden) in Network

Beatrice Straight Won Best Supporting Actress In 1977 With Her Small Network Role Sidney Lumet's Network was a major contender at the 1977 Academy Awards, as it received 10 Oscar nominations and won four categories. This included Beatrice Straight winning Best Supporting Actress thanks to her performance as Louise Schumacher, the wife of William Holden's Max Schumacher. Straight delivers a memorable performance playing Max's wife, as his infidelity leads to opportunities for the actress to showcase a range of emotions. Louise plays a critical part in Network's story as a result, and her lasting impression and Straight's Oscars win is even more impressive considering her screen time. Whereas Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway won Oscars for their significant roles in Network, Beatrice Straight was only on screen for about five minutes. This was even less than Network's other Oscar-nominated performances by William Holden and Ned Beatty. The latter only had six minutes of screen time. Beatrice Straight beat some much more prominent Best Supporting Actress nominees to secure this win. The nominated performances she won over include Jane Alexander in All the President's Men, Jodi Foster in Taxi Driver, Lee Grant in Voyage of the Damned, and Piper Laurie in Carrie.

Beatrice Straight and William Holden in Network

Setting a Historic Record at the Oscars

What makes Beatrice Straight's Oscar-winning performance in Network so significant is that it set a new record. She broke the record for the least amount of screen time for an Oscar-winning role. This is across all four major acting categories too, not just Best Supporting Actress. Despite setting this record during the 1977 Oscars, there has been no real threat to the actress losing her place in history over the last 46 years. Based on data from Screen Time Central, no performance with less than five minutes of screen time has been nominated for an Oscar during this span. As a result, Beatrice Straight's remarkable Oscars record could be unbreakable now. Source: Screen Time Central