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A study explores comparisons between those who win Oscars and those who aren’t nominated or never move beyond nominee status.
It is probably safe to say most actors dream of getting suited and booted, attend an Academy Awards ceremony, and win a coveted golden statuette. After all, having the moniker “Oscar winner” next to one’s name would highlight a definite milestone in their career and most assuredly bring joy after being recognized for such hard work.
The debate over an Oscar winner’s life expectancy is nothing new. In fact, a 2006 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine discovered that winners seemed to outlive their overlooked colleagues on an average of four years. One example in the study noted Meryl Streep, 72, was nominated for her role in the 1987 film Ironweed, while four other female cast members, including Margaret Whitton, weren’t nominated. Although Streep did not win, she does have a few Oscar trophies under her belt and is still alive. Whitton, who also starred in the movie A League of Their Own, passed away in 2016 at age 67. However, it should be noted that the actress died following a short battle with cancer.
A study published in the journal PLOS ONE with research led by Dr. Donald Redelmeier, director of clinical epidemiology at Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Center in Toronto and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, had some interesting findings. According to data based on 2,111 actors from 1929 to 2020, the study showed those who took home the prestigious prize were likely to live to the ripe old age of 81. The winless nominees had a life expectancy of 76.4 years while the un-nominated came in at 76.2 years old.
Gwyneth Paltrow Inspired the Study
Dr. Redelmeier embarked on the three-year study after observing an ecstatic Gwyneth Paltrow give an emotional speech upon winning for her role in 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. He admitted that he was not saying winning an Academy Award means a promise of living longer, but to him, Paltrow seemed full of life and theorized that social factors are important, plus winners tend to “follow the ideals of a prudent lifestyle that bring more gains with adherence.”
Other researchers believe there is a psychological component at play such as winning an award could soften the blow of a humiliating rejection and help buffer the hypothalamic-pituitary stress responses. Researchers do plan to continue investigating the matter with hopes of unraveling more data.
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