Feb 23, 2019 3 min read

In the monumental-ego – “Don’t you know who I am!?” – world of Hollywood, it is refreshing when an A-List movie star displays humility and a sense of humor, and even more so when it happens twice.

In 2005, having earlier become the first African-American woman to win an Oscar for best actress, for the 2001 movie “Monster’s Ball,” Halle Berry showed up in person to accept her “Razzie Award,” given out every year the night before the Oscars, for worst actress, in the movie “Catwoman.”

Holding her Academy Award in one hand and her Razzie (named after the phrase “blowing a raspberry” to signal disapproval) in the other, she told the audience, “I never in my life thought I would be here, winning a Razzie. It’s not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you. When I was a kid my mother told me that if you couldn’t be a good loser, there’s no way you could be a good winner.”

In 2010, Sandra Bullock did something no actress or actor has ever done, winning both awards in the same year: Best actress Oscar in the movie “The Blind Side” and worst actress Razzie in “All About Steve.” She, too, showed up to accept her Razzie, not knowing she would be the Oscar nominee to win best actress the next evening.

The Razzies – or, more formally, the Golden Raspberry Awards – are the brainchild of a Hollywood publicist, John Wilson, who traditionally had a party at his Los Angeles home on Oscar night. After the 1981 event, Wilson asked his guests to give out random awards for the worst movies of 1980, the idea coming to him after watching two truly awful movies, “Can’t Stop the Music” and “Xanadu.”

Thus, he decided to create a parody, an Oscar-like ceremony in which awards were given out for the worst actor, actress, movie, director, screenplay, etc. The “Razzie” statue (worth $5) is a painted-gold raspberry sitting atop a Super-8 piece of film. The ceremony is also broadcast nationwide.

Since its premiere there have been some notable Razzie moments and milestones. The singer and would-be actress Madonna has been nominated 15 times and won nine times (although in 2002 she tied with her younger self, Britney Spears). Sylvester Stallone has been nominated 30 times and won 10 times. As a result Madonna and Stallone were voted the worst actress and actor of the 20th century, respectively.

And in 2011, Sarah Palin became the only woman nominated for worst actress for playing herself, which she did in the movie “The Undefeated.” That prompted one movie critic to note that if you can’t convincingly play yourself, you must be a very bad actress.

Bruce G. Kauffmann’s email address is bruce@historylessons.net.