Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 January 31

= January 31 =

Who holds Academy Award records for longest gaps between awards?
Does anyone know who has achieved the following Academy Award records?


 * (1) Winner with the greatest time span between two awards. For example, John Smith won an award in 1960 and then did not win another award until 2000, a period of 40 years.
 * (2) Same question as #1, but limited to actors/actresses only.
 * (3) Winner with the greatest time span between first and last awards. For example, Suzy Smith won her first award in 1950 and her last award in 2000, a period of 50 years.
 * (4) Same question as #3, but limited to actors/actresses only.

Just to clarify the difference between Question 1 and Question 3. In Question 1, I want to know the greatest "dry spell" between the two awards (that is, two awards that "sandwich" a period of no awards at all). In Question 3, I just want to know the greatest amount of time between a person's first and last award, regardless of whether or not there were awards in the period in between. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 02:31, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * The answer to item 2 is Helen Hayes, as indicated in List of Academy Award records. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:51, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * And the answer to 4 is Katharine Hepburn, since the page Bugs cited (in the entry directly below the Helen Hayes one) says that she holds the record for longest period between first and last nominations (and she won both times). Deor (talk) 19:17, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * I've added that point regarding Katharine Hepburn to the page. But regarding Helen Hayes, the page only says it's the longest span between between the first and second awards, not between any two, as the OP requested.  However, since she only won two, it must be that too; and I'll add that point as well. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 00:19, 1 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Thanks for doing so. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 03:42, 1 February 2016 (UTC)


 * But I was wrong. If for example someone had won three awards in 1940, 1941, and 1986, that would beat Hayes's record for gap between any two awards.  I'll revert the second change. --76.69.45.64 (talk) 04:38, 1 February 2016 (UTC)


 * Two points. (1) I don't understand what you are saying up above about the 1940, 1941, and 1986 winner.  How does that (hypothetical scenario) disqualify Hayes?  (2)  I actually think that the wording in that article is unintentionally incorrect.  It states: "longest gap between first and second awards".  I think its intent was to be "longest gap between any two awards that a person received, not necessarily first and second".  For example, it could be a long gap between a person's 5th and 6th award.  The main idea is the "gap" between awards; not which set of awards was "gapped".   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:00, 1 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Looking at articles such as Academy Award for Best Actress, you could deduce or confirm the answers to questions 2 and 4. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 09:14, 1 February 2016 (UTC)
 * Their point was that Hayes only definitely had the record between her first and second noms. If someone had nominations in 1940, 1941, and 1986, they would have had a longer gap between any two nominations. Hayes would still have the record between first and second noms, but you can't generalize from that to cover the circumstances in Q1. Matt Deres (talk) 16:10, 1 February 2016 (UTC)


 * I actually think that the wording in that article is unintentionally incorrect. It states: "longest gap between first and second awards". I think its intent was to be "longest gap between any two awards that a person received, not necessarily first and second". For example, it could be a long gap between a person's 5th and 6th award. The main idea is the "gap" between awards; not which set of awards was "gapped". I think that is what was meant (intended) in that article, despite the (poor) wording.   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:32, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 19:08, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

Actor vs. Actress FYI
On one of the ref desks recently, I forget which one, the question was raised about the use of "actor" for both sexes. I was pretty sure there was one that said "male actor" and "female actor", and that was tonight - the SAG awards. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:48, 31 January 2016 (UTC)


 * It began with a discussion of Time Magazine's Man of the Year versus Woman of the Year versus Person of the Year Award.  See: Reference desk/Archives/Language/2016 January 8.   Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 04:23, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

song on the charts / famous
the major thing I remember is that it was from 1997-2005. and it's vocals were a pitched female voice that went higher and higher, and it was either a female artist or a band with females. Very famous & was on the charts. the beat was like, dun dun dun.... dud dud dud dud, and yes, very popular. quite old now though. It could be kylie minogue ... or madonna ? I'm not sure. 31.209.144.137 (talk) 14:37, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * That's not a whole lot to go on :) but could it be Can't Get You Out of My Head? &mdash;  Rhododendrites talk  \\ 15:58, 31 January 2016 (UTC)
 * Perhaps Emotions by Mariah Carey? Wabbott9   Tell me about it....  18:45, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

Sadly neither of those. I think it was from similar time as Can't Get You out of my head. 31.209.144.137 (talk) 21:49, 31 January 2016 (UTC) and oh the voice in the chorus always goes higher and higher like... ??? ... ???? ... ??????? while in this kind of pitched voice, so not a normal female voice. and it was either a very popular band or female artist.


 * Try Kate_Bush for songs in the higher register. Youtube will give the most popular.196.213.35.146 (talk) 11:58, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm wondering if it might have been something by a man singing falsetto, rather than a woman. Reminds me a bit of this version of Don't Leave Me This Way, which features Jimmy Sommerville singing falsetto, except that was 10 years earlier than the period you cite. --Dweller (talk) 15:14, 4 February 2016 (UTC)