...An Oscar for Miss Kitty!
...Ginger was VERY deserving of the 1940 Best Actress Oscar for her superb performance in RKO's Kitty Foyle... there were other awesome actresses up for the award that year (including the two who are (rightly so) perennially tabbed the greatest actresses of all time, Kate Hepburn and Bette Davis), but Ginger won over the Academy with a surprising turn in a major dramatic role she sank her pretty pearly whites into.
Ms. Hepburn actually turned down the role, feeling it wasn't 'refined enough' for her talents... and she really would have been SO wrong for the role, so it's great that she declined. I think Jimmy preferred to hang with Ginger at the Award Ceremony, anyway...
Ginger was given a heroes' (heroines'?) welcome back on the RKO set of 'Tom, Dick, and Harry' the next day, with a '21 top hat and cane' salute by the staff. It seems like she got on REAL well with the RKO bunch, which is probably why she (and Lela) hung around there for dang near a decade...
There are, as always, modern-day detractors who note that Ginger 'shouldn't have even been nominated, much less won'... well, y'all KNOW where those folks can take that smack... as for me, her performance was flawless, and probably a bit unexpected from the Academy at the time...which no doubt added to their lean towards Ginger for the win. The thought of the day was "Ginger's a song and dance girl", which, of course, was correct... but it was pretty goofy to try to limit her abilities. Thank goodness the RKO brass decided to allow her to try a few dramas, as the rest of course, is history.
...this pic of Ginger and Lela is TOTALLY priceless, as y'all know...
As for Hu, I was VERY lucky to have been able to run thru the GingerCentury exhibit at Boston University back in 2011... and to see Ginger's Oscar on display... it's REALLY cool to see all of the previously posted pics of Ginger with her 'gold man' and then know it was the same one I saw... just wish I had had a bit better camera at the time...
Just one more pic of a bit more seasoned Ginger with the award occurs below... she still has that look of pride (good, DESERVED pride, not 'haughty' pride) and accomplishment in her eyes... she TRULY appreciated it, as validation of her awesome talent (not that it should have EVER been in doubt, right?)
...man, it's the penultimate piece of Gingerbilia, y'all... ...by the way, Christmas IS nigh... ...and I've TRIED to be pretty good all year... so... I'll be looking under the tree pretty intensely...
...so, there's the FIRST day of GINGER... pretty hard to top this aspect of
Ginger's career, as it was obviously the apex... but she had quite a few
other wickedawesome moments before as well as after this one, and we'll
probably touch on a few of them later in this 'series'... and a LOT of the posts will be a bit on the 'lighter' side, but hopefully entertaining nevertheless...
Until TOMORROW (the SECOND Day of GINGER)...
...KIG!
Hu
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