Winning an Oscar is one of the most significant achievements for anyone in the film industry. Actors dream of it and many directors make films with the prestigious award in mind. Like many things, however, the golden statue means the world to some and is insignificant to many. While some spend their entire lives looking forward to the day that they might win this trophy, many do win but do not hold much sentimentality to them.
Many actors have won the award but no longer have the trophy in their possession. Then there are those who simply lost it. It would seem that it is quite common for celebrities to not know the whereabouts of their Oscars after winning them. One would assume the reason for the misplacement to be simple, however, it would seem that the tales are probably as interesting as the films that won them the awards.
Angelina Jolie
In 2000, Angelina Jolie won an Academy Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress for her work in Girl, Interrupted. It would seem that the actress isn’t all too fond of keeping trophies as she has not seen the award since the day that she won it.
After giving her speech, she gave the statue to her mother, Marcheline Bertrand. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2007 after a long battle with cancer, which has made its whereabouts to be unknown.
Matt Damon
Matt Damon is one of the most respected actors in the film industry. What many seem to forget about him, however, is that he is an exceptionally talented writer, having won an Oscar for co-writing Good Will Hunting. It would seem that this Oscar saw some truly unfortunate things, as the actor told the London Daily Express, via The New York Post.
“I know it ended up at my apartment in New York,” says the actor. “But unfortunately we had a flood when one of the sprinklers went off when my wife and I were out of town. That was the last I saw of it.”
The location of the Oscar statue is still unknown, much to Damon’s dismay.
Colin Firth
Colin Firth’s story is quite interesting, as the actor seems to have gotten his Oscar back, even though he could have easily never seen it again. Having won an Academy Award for his work in The King’s Speech, the actor seemed to have accidentally left his statue in the washroom of an afterparty.
Thankfully, the washroom attendant ended up finding the actor and returning it to him. While the actor ended up getting the award back, he could have very easily lost it had the attendant not been so kind.
Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel winning an Oscar for Gone With The Wind was a historical event, with her becoming the first Black actor to have ever won an Academy Award. At the time, people who won in the categories of Best Supporting Actor and Actress did not get the statue, getting plaques instead. Regardless, the moment held great significance for the entire film industry.
Many years after her win, the actress got quite sick, and understanding the weight of her award, she decided to donate it to Howard University in Washington DC. Unfortunately, the plaque very quickly went missing, with its whereabouts missing and its status lost to time.
Jennifer Lawrence
Much like Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence also does not believe in putting these sorts of achievements out for her everyday eyes. She told The Sun Newspaper, via The Daily Express, that as soon as she received the aways and stumbled through her acceptance speech, she gave the statue to her mother.
“I don’t know where it is,” says Lawrence. “I think it might be in Kentucky. If not, it’s gone I don’t have it.”
It can now be said that Oscar is somewhere in her family home in Kentucky. While the assumption can be made, the actress made it clear that she has no idea where it is.
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg’s story of how she lost her Academy Award is quite interesting. Having won the category of Best Supporting Actress for her 1991 film, Ghost, the actress held this achievement very close to her heart for eleven years.
After over a decade passing, she decided to get the statue professionally cleaned by the company that makes them. Unfortunately, the Oscar was stolen on its way to them and was discovered in a dustbin at Ontario airport.
Jared Leto
In 2014, Jared Leto won the Category of Best Supporting Actor for his work in Dallas Buyers Club. It would seem that the award was misplaced and Leto had no clue of it for a long time. Speaking on the Late Late Show with James Corden, he revealed that his entire team spent quite a lot of time looking for it, however, they were unable to find it.
“It’s been missing for, like, three years, and I didn’t know that,” said Leto, “I don’t think anyone wanted to tell me.” He added, “Everyone searched for it high and low, and, you know; I hope it’s in good hands wherever it is, but, you know, we haven’t seen it in quite some time.”
Alice Brady
Finally, Alice Brady’s story is, perhaps one of the most interesting in this list. In 1938, the actress won the category of Best Supporting Actress for her work in In Old Chicago. Unfortunately, during the actual ceremony, she was far too sick to attend, so someone else took the award on her behalf.
Soon, however, it was quickly noticed that nobody had an idea who the man on the stage was and it was evident that he was not a part of Brady’s team. As soon as he got off the stage, he was not seen again, having tried his luck at stealing an Oscar statue from the actual ceremony and actually doing it.
Unfortunately, Brady was never able to get her replacement trophy as she passed soon after these events.
