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I Knew It Was Geraldine Page': Whoopi Goldberg Has No Regrets On Loosing Her First Oscar To Contemporary
Whoopi Goldberg recalls her memorable first Oscar nomination! The actress felt "very odd" imagining her Oscar win when her friends pushed on it, saying she "knew" it would be Geraldine Page!
Who knew that Whoopi Goldberg was a Geraldine Page fan?
The EGOT-winning actress didn’t expect to win her first best actress Oscar for The Color Purple. She mentions in her new memoir Bits and Pieces that she “knew” the award was not meant for her.
Whoopi Goldberg opens up about her first Oscar nomination
First Academy nomination is always special, and one would hope to bag the award! But it wasn’t the case for the Till actress.
"When I got my first Oscar nomination for The Color Purple, I didn’t know how I felt about it," Goldberg, 68, wrote in her book. I knew I was good in the movie and that it was worthy of a nomination, but I didn’t expect one."
Although friends and acquaintances claimed that she should win the award, she didn’t believe it herself. She recalled telling her mom that it was “very odd.” Her mother gave her the perfect piece of advice: Don't lean into what people are saying.
“I know people are already saying to you that you’re gonna get it. That may not happen. You may not. So you need to just be glad you got here the first time out,’” she wrote, sharing her mother’s insight.
That night at the Academy Awards, the best actress category had a star-studded lineup, including Anne Bancroft, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, and Geraldine Page—all of them Oscar winners today.
Goldberg was glad to lose her award to Page
The actress recalled that she was a huge fan of Page and would read about her in newspapers. "I never had the money to see her when I was a kid, but I’d read about her shows in the newspaper,” Goldberg wrote.
She knew that the Sweet Bird of Youth actress was a multiple Academy Award nominee but had never won one. To me, she is one of those be-all and end-all actors,” she wrote, praising the actress.
The Color Purple actress revealed that she had a gut feeling that Page was gonna win, and when she did, Goldberg was the biggest cheerleader. “He announced Geraldine’s name. I was applauding like crazy,” she wrote.
Someone asked Goldberg why she cheered on someone who beat her, and she instantly responded, “That’s Geraldine Page. You know, she’s Geraldine Page.” Now, that’s a heartwarming fan-girl story!
Goldberg’s new memoir Bits and Pieces is now available for purchase.
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