Oscar-Worthy Geek Characters

With the Oscars coming up this weekend, I got to thinking...

I always get to thinking as the Oscars are approaching, although usually I am thinking about the fashion. I call it my one non-geeky indulgence. I LOVE watching the Oscar fashion. For once I pay attention to the dress designers, the jewelry and the hair styles!

Anyway, I was watching The Graduate recently and was paying particular attention to Dustin Hoffman's character, Benjamin Braddock. How sexually awkward he was, how he was an overachiever in everything he'd done. And how Benjamin, at age 21, he decided it was time to rebel!

It got me thinking about others who played geeky characters who have either been nominated for or earned Oscars. Here's the list we GeekMoms came up with. These are characters that either won or were nominated for Best Actor/Actress, or were in films that either won or were nominated for such awards as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay (Adapted or Original), Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, or Best Sound Mixing.

I'm sure this isn't a complete list, and if you can think of others, please feel free to comment! Don't be shy!

1965: Henry Higgins, played by Rex Harrison, garnering a Best Actor win in My Fair Lady. He was like the Sheldon Cooper of his time! He didn't tolerate stupidity.

1967: Benjamin Braddock, who Dustin Hoffman portrayed, thus earning a Best Actor nomination in The Graduate. An adorable overachiever who got seduced.

1981: Dr. Henry Jones, Jr., played by Harrison Ford, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was nominated for Best Picture. And as we all know here, he reprised that special role 3 more times! As GeekMom Corrina put it, "Can we have a favorite Geeky character list without Harrison Ford? I think not!"

1986: Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley. Sigourney Weaver, Best Actress nomination for her role as Ellen Ripley in Aliens, the sequel to the 1979 Alien. This honor is considered to be the first time a woman was recognized by the Academy in a science fiction work.

1988: Otto West, played by Kevin Kline, earning a Best Supporting Actor win in A Fish Called Wanda. To be honest I can't remember the movie, it had been years since I'd seen it, but I remember Otto West for "trying too hard".

1989: Jaime Escalante, played by Edward James Olmos, earning a Best Actor nomination in Stand and Deliver. His portrayal of a selfless high school AP Calculus teacher in East Los Angeles was so awesome.

1990: Annie Wilkes. Kathy Bates earned the 1990 Best Actress Oscar for her role as a psycho uber-fan in Stephen King's Misery. GeekMom Amy called her the "total fangirl!"

1992: Clarice Starling. I'm sure you're all saying to yourself, "Hello Clarice..." in that low, slow Hannibal-drawl, right? Jodie Foster earned the Best Actress Oscar for playing the super-smart FBI cadet who outsmarted a serial killer in The Silence of the Lambs. The film garnered a "clean sweep" at the 1992 Academy Awards, bringing in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress! Thanks to GeekMom Amy.

1994: Dr. Allen Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, Dr. Ian Malcolm, Tim Murphy, Lex Murphy...heck, j____ust about everyone in Jurrasic Park! Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Richards and Wayne Knight portrayed a host of geeky characters in Jurrasic Park. The film earned three Oscars for Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Thanks to GeekMom Sophie!

1995: "Verbal" Kint. "Verbal" is played by Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects and the role earned him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Contributed by GeekMom Amy.

1996: Jerry Lundergaard & Marge Gundersen. Frances McDormand earned a Best Actress Oscar for playing an ever-persistent, pregnant Brainerd, MN, sheriff in the film Fargo. William H. Macy earned a Best Actor nomination. The film won for Best Original Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen). The film also garnered nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. GeekMom Amy suggested Marge Gundersen, but I tossed Jerry Lundergaard in there.

1996: David Levinson, who was played by Jeff Goldblum in Independence Day, which won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. He manages to connect a late nineties laptop to an alien spaceship's OS which takes some pretty advanced geekery!

1997: Will Hunting. Matt Damon, Best Actor nomination for playing Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting. Good Will Hunting won Best Original Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture.

2000: Everett Ulysses T. McGill. George Clooney played this geek superbly in the Coen brothers'* O Brother, Where Art Thou?* The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay (adapted from Homer's The Odyssey!) and Best Cinematography. Personally, I LOVE the music in this film. T-Bone Burnett knows how to bring classic American folk music to film! The soundtrack to this film earned a Grammy, but I digress!

2001: Dr. John Nash. Russell Crowe earned a Best Actor nomination for playing Dr. John Nash in *A Beautiful Mind. * The film won Best Picture.

2007: Juno MacGuff. Ellen Page earned a Best Actress nomination for portraying Juno MacGuff in Juno. The film was nominated for Best Picture. Diablo Cody won an Oscar for writing Juno's screenplay, with many of the themes in the film being based on her own life (but not the pregnancy). Despite the main theme of the movie being about a teenaged girl dealing with a pregnancy, Juno is a smart girl who didn't care about cliques or fitting in. Her love of 80s punk rock deems Juno a GeekMom! Thanks to GeekMom Brigid for this one!

2009: Natalie Keene. Anna Kendrick earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for playing Natalie Keene in Up in the Air. The film was also nominated for Best Picture. She was absolutely adorable -- I totally related with her character, it brought back memories of my first job after college!

2009: Dr. Grace Augustine. Sigourney Weaver, for her part as Dr. Grace Augustine in Avatar, which was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. It earned three Academy Awards. Dr. Augustine was the hard-charging lead scientist for the planet Pandora's Avatar Program. She risks everything, including her own life, for the good of furthering humans' relationships with the Na'vi.

Richard Dreyfuss deserves his own special space here: he's played geeks in no less than FOUR Oscar-worthy films!

1973: __Curt Henderson. __ Played by Richard Dreyfuss in American Grafitti, which earned a Best Picture nomination. Curt is the "good, clean kid" who is mulling over getting on an airplane to go off to college. He attempts a tryst with a mysterious blonde which never comes to fruition.

1975: Matt Hooper in Jaws. Richard Dreyfuss played marine biologist Matt Hooper in Jaws. Jaws was nominated for Best Picture. Matt butted heads with Quint all through the movie, attempting to use science to locate and take out the big bad shark.

1977: Roy Neary. Richard Dreyfuss portrayed Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which won the Best Cinematography Oscar and was nominated for 8 others. Roy was a model railroader. Need I say more?

1995: Glenn Holland. Richard Dreyfuss earned a Best Actor nomination for playing Mr. Glenn Holland, that lovable selfless high school music teacher in Mr. Holland's Opus. As a member of the music-geek clique in high school, *Mr. Holland's Opus *is a tearjerker movie for me. Every. Single. Time.

Check out this database for everything you ever wanted to know about who has been nominated for, and who has won, ANY Academy Awards!