Best Actress Oscar = Bad For Your Love Life?

by Ellen Kim on March 15, 2010

Sandra Bullock, you've been warned.

With the news today that Kate Winslet is splitting from her husband of seven years, American Beauty's Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (who also helmed Revolutionary Road, starring his wife), she's been added to a long (and sad) list of Best Actress winners whose career highs have been followed by a personal low. It could be coincidental, it could be the straw that broke the camel's back, but just as some feel the Best Supporting Actress award carries a "career curse" (those who win it are typically young ingenues whose career fails to come near the mark afterwards), the Best Actress trophy could now be spelling doom for your idyllic home life.

Consider the stats from the last 10 years:

Kate Winslet, 2009
Won for: The Reader
Age at the time of win: 33
Status at the time: Married to Sam Mendes since 2003; two children
Status since: Announced split March 2010

Reese Witherspoon, 2006
Won for: Walk the Line
Age at the time of win: 29
Status at the time: Married to Ryan Phillippe since 1999; two children
Status since: Announced separation October 2006, divorced 2008

Hilary Swank, 2005
Won for: Million Dollar Baby (also won in 2000 for Boys Don't Cry)
Age at the time of win: 30
Status at the time: Married to Chad Lowe since 1997
Status since: Divorced in 2007

Charlize Theron, 2004
Won for: Monster
Age at the time of win: 29
Status at the time: Dating Stuart Townsend since 2001
Status since: Split in January 2010

Halle Berry, 2002
Won for: Monster's Ball
Age at the time of win: 35
Status at the time: Married to Eric Benet since 2001
Status since: Divorced in 2005



Julia Roberts, 2001
Won for: Erin Brockovich
Age at the time of win: 33
Status at the time: Dated Benjamin Bratt since 1998
Status since: Split in June 2001

2008 winner Marion Cotillard and 2003 winner Nicole Kidman were both single at the time of their wins; the only marriage to have survived an Oscar so far, is that of 2007 winner Helen Mirren. Whether her maturity (she was 62 at the time of her win, married to Taylor Hackford since 1997 and) or that the Oscar was the icing to an already illustrious 40-year-career that needed nothing else to prove, you can draw your own conclusions. --Ellen

 

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