Gig Young

Gig Young, to Louella Parsons, after receiving his first Academy Award nomination for "Come Fill the Cup" (1951): "So many people who have been nominated for an Oscar have had bad luck afterwards."

Young is considered the ultimate victim of the Oscar curse, so-called because many Academy Award winners have seen their careers decline or reach a dead-end after winning the ultimate accolade from their peers. According to his fourth wife Elaine Young, "What he was aching for, as he walked up to collect his Oscar, was a role in his own movie, one that they could finally call a Gig Young movie." Young was shattered when that opportunity did not materialize. "For Gig, the Oscar was literally the kiss of death, the end of the line," according to Elaine.

When Gig's former agent, Martin Baum, became the president of ABC Pictures, he insisted that Gig play Rocky, the seamy dance marathon emcee, in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969). The backers of the movie, as well as Jane Fonda, the film's star, were initially shocked and furious because Gig was known for his comedy forte and that he had severe personal problems. Red Buttons, another co-star, was also given the same boost and the two actors relied upon each other for solace. Young and Buttons were brilliant and Young won the Oscar.

Young, in the 1958 "Studio One in Hollywood" production of "A Dead Ringer", when arrested for killing his spouse, delivered the final line: "Do I look like a man that would murder his own wife?" On October 19, 1978, Young did just that in life, shooting and killing Kim Schmidt, his bride of twenty-two days before turning the weapon on himself. His will, which covered a $200,000 estate, left his Academy Award to Baum and Baum's wife. The wording of the will called it "the Oscar that I won because of Martin's help." New York City police found the statuette beside the bodies of Young and his wife.

Happy Birthday, Gig Young!