Oscars 2016: Virginians Who Have Won Academy Awards

PHOTOS: Poster of this year’s Academy Awards, with host Chris Rock Screen grabs from Oscar presentations to Virginia natives and former residents Warren Beatty, Bruce Cohen (on the right), Sandra Bullock and Julianne Moore; photos courtesy of the Academy

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Did you catch the Oscars Sunday night?

Virginia Beach native Mark Ruffalo was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in “Spotlight,” which won Best Picture. Ruffalo lost out to Mark Rylance, who was featured in “Bridge of Spies.”

Northern Virginia native son Dave Grohl performed The Beatles’ “Blackbird” during the Oscars memoriam and Virginia Beach native Pharrell Williams was a presenter.

See the full list of 2016 Academy Award winners here.

Some of the past Academy Award-winners from Virginia include:

• Sandra Bullock: From Arlington, a graduate of Washington & Lee, she won the Best Actress award in 2010 for her role in “The Blind Side.” She was nominated again in 2014 for her role in “Gravity.” Watch a video of the presentation of the Oscar here.
• Shirley MacLaine: Also from Arlington, nominated three times, she won the Best Actress Oscar in 1984 for her role in “Terms of Endearment.” In high school (she was a 1952 grad of Washington & Lee) she was known as Shirley Beaty. Watch a video of the presentation of the Oscar here.
• Warren Beatty: Shirley’s younger brother has been nominated 14 times for Oscars (four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director, three for Original Screenplay and one for Adapted Screenplay) and won Best Director for “Reds” in 1982. (Beatty added an extra “t” to the family last name so people would pronounce the name correctly, according to the book “Warren Beatty: A Private Man.”) He was a 1955 grad of Washington & Lee and a star football player. Watch a video of the presentation of the Oscar here.
• George C. Scott: Born in Wise, Va. (and he also spent time in Arlington, where he guarded the Tomb of the Unknowns as a Marine), Scott refused to accept his Oscar for Best Actor for his role in “Patton.” Instead, the film’s producer accepted it. In a letter to the Academy, he stated that he did not feel himself to be in competition with other actors. However, regarding his second rejection of the Academy Award (he was nominated previously for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in “Anatomy of a Murder”), when he was nominated for his acting in “Patton,” Scott was reported to have said: “The whole thing is a goddamn meat parade. I don’t want any part of it.” Scott died in 1999 at age 71 in California.
• Julianne Moore: Moore took home the Best Actress Oscar last year, grew up in Northern Virginia. She attended Fairfax County’s J.E.B. Stuart High School in 1975-1976 and 1976-1977. Students back then knew her as Julie Smith. The school is located in the Falls Church area of the county. “I became serious with drama at J.E.B. Stuart. My first play was ’Sleeping Beauty,’” she told The Washington Post in an interview 15 years ago. I played Sleeping Beauty. It was the year I got contact lenses, so it was a big one for me.” Watch a video of the presentation of the Oscar here.
• Bruce Cohen: A friend of Moore’s who also went to J.E.B. Stuart High School and grew up in the Lake Barcroft area, Cohen’s career includes a Best Picture Oscar win for “American Beauty,” as well as Best Picture nominations for “Milk” and “Silver Linings Playbook.” He was a producer of the 83rd annual Academy Awards in 2011. Watch a video of the presentation of the Oscar here.