In 1943, Paxinou was summoned to Hollywood to appear in Sam Wood's version of Hemingway's war novel, “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” as Pilar, opposite Gary Copper and Ingrid Bergman, for which she received the Supporting Actress Oscar.

Did You Know….the woman that inspired Julie Andrews' famous role in the 1965 Oscar-wining musical “Sound of Music,” is actually in the film

Watson made a splashy screen debut as the tormented, slightly slow woman in Lars von Trier's “Breaking the Waves,” for which he received her first Oscar nomination. She then played Daniel Day Lewis' strong-willed lover in Jim Sheridan's “The Boxer,” and the doomed cellist in “Hilary and Jackie,” for which she received a second Best Actress Oscar Nomination.

Irish-born Jim Sheridan received two Oscar nominations as Best Director: In 1989, for My Left Foot, and in 1993, for In the Name of the Father.

How many men of color will be nominated this year for an acting Oscar, particularly in the lead category, Best Actor Last year, there were two, Will Smith for “The Pursuit of Happyness,” and Forest Whitaker, who actually won, for “Last King of Scotland.” In the supporting league, we had Eddie Murphy, receiving his first nomination for the movie musical “Dreamgirls.”