Why did Faye Dunaway's career not surge after she won the Oscar for NETWORK?

Submitted by Lili_Danube t3_127o4hu in movies

That was a pretty fierce performance. She followed it up with the TV movie with Bette Davis where she infamously angered Miss Davis. Then Voyage of the Damned, Eyes of Laura Mars, First Deadly Sin and then TV as Evita.

Mommie Dearest didn't end her career. It was already struggling. It wasn't even a flop, it made okay at the Box-Office.

What roles could she have played in the late 70s? Did she turn down anything good? What about Norma Rae? Everyone turned that down.

She gave some interesting performances post Mommie Dearest and before moving to London in the early 80s. Back on Broadway doing The Curse of an Aching Heart in 1982, and The Country Girl for cable TV. In the latter she is better than Grace Kelly in the movie, but Dick Van Dyke said she was a nightmare to work with. Apparently she replaced Blythe Danner.

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ClankSinatra t1_jef47cd wrote

Conflunce of things, probably. From her choices, it seems like she started looking for films where she was the main lead instead of co-lead or supporting actor. Those tend to be hard to find if you're a woman older than 35, especially in like 1978.

The kind of New Hollywood movies she was best in and best known for started to wind down post-Jaws and Star Wars.

She was also notoriously difficult to work with, and not in the euphemistic "she wouldn't fuck the producer" way that Weinstein used to brand actresses with. She was actually a right asshole that would just not show up on set sometimes or make the production remake her whole wardrobe on a whim.

For what it's worth I think she's the best American actress of the 70s and her Chinatown performance is top 10 all-time.

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pmmemoviestills t1_jefk78b wrote

Yup, she was also in things like Three Days of the Condor. She's THE actress of the 70s in my opinion.

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skrillskroll t1_jeg5yux wrote

I agree but you really understated the age issue. Only very recently have actresses around 40 years began to thrive. 35 used to be a career ender or the start of a 20 year long slump. And the rebound from the slump was never spectacular. It just meant you came back to some respect for having survived the desert. I think her lack of resurgence has to do with her not signing onto a show for the long term. She's done many 1 episode guest star bits but never committed to a show like Sally Field or Jane Fonda did. TV and streaming is fantastic for older actresses careers.

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MartinScorsese t1_jef0hbj wrote

Her career already surged after Bonnie & Clyde, and you can only have so many.

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tetoffens t1_jef18o3 wrote

Yeah, it was her first win but her third nomination. She was nominated for Chinatown too. Her career was already in basically a decade long surge, 3 Best Actress noms from 68-77.

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TheCosmicFailure t1_jef1ppg wrote

She was 35 at the time of The Network. Back then Hollywood wasn't inclined to give diverse and big roles to older actresses. They typically were pigeonholed into specific roles.

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Bippy73 t1_jef3lp0 wrote

Think she had a rep for being difficult, but I could be mistaken.

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EnterPlayerTwo t1_jefvzsj wrote

I think she got in a car accident while drunk driving the directors car, but I could be mistaken.

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Scopejack t1_jefe5q1 wrote

Because Meryl Streep came along.

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Khan4269 t1_jeff2hl wrote

Booze and the rumor is she was incredibly difficult to work with.

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Routine-Bass-1790 t1_jefujn7 wrote

Probably cause even though she's an icon of 70s cinema.. Faye Dunaway has always been known as a huge diva who is unprofessional and mean to everyone around her. Most of her costars will say this about her. There's clips of Bette Davis bashing her in multiple interviews for being unprofessional, never knowing her lines etc and that is surely what led to her career slowly declining over time.

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Next-Mobile-9632 t1_jefehsl wrote

She already had her career, Bonnie and Clyde, Thomas Crown Affair, Oklahoma Crude etc

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Competitive-Pin-9533 t1_jef0047 wrote

Idk what happened as I still can’t wrap my head around the fact Faye Dunaway was married to Peter Wolf . The lead singer of The J GEILS Band . They were married from 1974-1978 . I can only wonder to what extent the marriage played in her career.

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adamsandleryabish t1_jefbszc wrote

I thought The Bye Bye Man was going to give her a resurgence a few years ago but it unfortunately never did

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Sonny_Crockett_1984 t1_jefpf90 wrote

>Dick Van Dyke said she was a nightmare to work with

This is a big part of it. She was notoriously difficult. And getting older is never a benefit to an actress.

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HardSteelRain t1_jefqipm wrote

As cringingly 80s as Eyes of Laura Mars is today,I love it

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