I am an Oscar junkie, and no 12-step program I know of will break me of my addiction. Okay, so this year's Oscars were a bit of a snoozefest. I love Ellen DeGeneres, but I just don't think she was the right choice to host an event that needs a shot of Jolt Cola to keep people awake, especially on the East Coast. Ellen's humor is kind of subtle, and while her handing Martin Scorsese a script or nearly vacuuming up the hem of Penelope Cruz's gown made you smile, it didn't elicit any belly laughs, and belly laughs are what we remember long after the event itself fades from memory. Still, that doesn't mean I won't watch the Oscars next year—because I will.
 Marianne Dougherty |
I opened my first charge account in college when my television broke on the day of the Oscars' broadcast and I had to replace it. I didn't care how much it cost, I wasn't going to miss finding out if Romeo & Juliet won Best Picture. It didn't, I might add, but that did nothing to deter my enthusiasm. I believe I threw a pillow at the TV when Dustin Hoffman didn't win Best Actor for Midnight Cowboy, losing to John Wayne for True Grit. Of course, those were the heady days when it was still possible to be surprised, shocked or deeply moved when the winner's name was announced. The Oscars were it. There were no Golden Globes, no SAG Awards, no Independent Spirit Awards. You just never knew what was going to happen that night.
 This is as close as I ever got to the actual red carpet, but it was good enough for me. |
When I lived in Los Angeles and the Oscars were still held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Downtown Los Angeles, I knew someone who got me into the rehearsal the day before the actual event. For me, it was as good as walking the red carpet. I could not believe that I was sitting in a seat that someone who made movies would be sitting in the next day. I saw stars, like Denzel Washington, walk to the podium and rehearse their lines. What could be better than that for someone who'd taken movies seriously her whole life? How seriously? Well, I was asked to leave the same theater twice because I was crying too hard, first when Susan Kohner threw herself on Lana Turner's coffin in Imitation of Life and then when Tony died in West Side Story.
 The Way I Was |
Since I've been in the beauty industry, I've paid particular attention to the hairstyles each actress wears on Oscar night. For our pull-out section on Oscar night on page 33, we talked to Hollywood insiders who shared their advice for duplicating these looks for prom and wedding season. See you at the movies. Hey, I always wanted to say that. —Marianne Dougherty, editor in chief, [email protected]