Remember When They Dated? Forgotten Oscar Couples (Photos)

Publish date: 2024-05-16

Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria
Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria were dating for four years when Hunt won best actress in 1998 for her role in As Good as It Gets. In her speech, she called him her "beloved" and said he was the "very best man" she knew.
The couple married shortly after in July 1999, but divorced just over a year later, calling it quits in December 2000.
Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum
When Geena Davis won best supporting actress in 1989 for The Accidental Tourist, her husband Jeff Goldblum was by her side. She thanked him, calling him her "other wonderful acting coach and darling husband" while he smiled in the audience.
The pair divorced in October 1990, less than two years after the show.
Anjelica Huston and Jack Nicholson
Anjelica Huston brought boyfriend Jack Nicholson as her to date to the 1986 Academy Awards, when she won best supporting actress for her role in Prizzi's Honor. She hugged him when her name was announced, but did not thank him in her speech.
Huston and Nicholson shared an on-and-off relationship for 17 years but split three years after her win in 1989. Nicholson went on to date waitress Rebecca Broussard, who had two of Nicholson's children (and accompanied him to the Oscars when he won best actor in 1998 for As Good As it Gets). Huston later married sculptor Robert Graham and stayed with him until his death in 2008.
Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow split from boyfriend Ben Affleck shortly before winning best actress in 1999 for Shakespeare in Love, and she thanked Affleck, who was also in attendance as a presenter, as her "friend" in her acceptance speech. But the two were seen together at the night's afterparties and reportedly rekindled later that year, before officially separating in 2000.
Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt
Julia Roberts and Benjamin Bratt split months after Roberts won best actress for Erin Brockovich in 2001, less than four years after they started dating in 1997.
Roberts thanked him by name in her acceptance speech, but didn't add anything more.
Michael Douglas and Diandra Luker
Michael Douglas had been married to Diandra Luker for 11 years when he won best actor for Wall Street in 1988. The couple married in 1977 when Douglas was 32 and Luker was only 19. Douglas thanked her briefly in his acceptance speech.
Luker filed for divorce in 1995, but the split wasn't finalized until 2000. Douglas has since said they should have separated a decade earlier.
Mira Sorvino and Quentin Tarantino
Mira Sorvino brought Quentin Tarantino as her date to the 1996 Academy Awards when she won best supporting actress for Mighty Aphrodite. She thanked all of her friends, but didn't mention Tarantino specifically.
The pair dated from 1996 until 1998.
Whoopi Goldberg and Timothy Dalton
Whoopi Goldberg briefly dated Timothy Dalton in 1991, when she brought him as her date to the Oscars. Goldberg won best supporting actress for her role in Ghost that night.
She did not thank the former Bond actor in her acceptance speech.
Cher and Rob Camilletti
Cher started dating baker Rob Camilletti in 1986, when she was 40 and he was just 22. She brought him as her date to the 1988 Academy Awards when she won best actress for Moonstruck, but she did not thank him in her acceptance speech.
The pair split a year later in 1989.
Renee Zellweger and Jack White
Renee Zellweger was dating Jack White when she won best supporting actress in 2004 for her role in Cold Mountain. She did not bring him as her date, instead opting for her manager John Carrabino.
During her acceptance speech, she thanked the cast of the film, which included White, but did not thank him individually.
The pair were photographed together at an after-party, but split later that year after dating for a year and a half.