Thank you, Kevin Kline

How the "A Fish Called Wanda" actor winning an Oscar helped me win a contest that brought me (and my brother) to Hollywood

Before we dive into this week’s post, thanks to everyone who read last week’s “Memories of Mom” post. I heard from so many of you in the comments here, on other platforms where I was sharing the link and some direct messages, too. It touched me that so many people related to my story and if you didn’t know my mom, Patsy, you maybe feel like you do now. Happy Mother’s Day this weekend! (And apologies for this week’s post being slightly later than usual - I was hunting for the few photos from the Hollywood trip which I ended up not finding so if they turn up I’ll post on social media or add to this post at a later time).

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Since moving to Thailand, I’ve been slowly going through boxes that were shipped over from our West Hollywood home and earlier this week in a box marked MEMORABILIA I found among photos, books and random other items there was a full page newspaper ad from the Bloomington Herald Telephone newspaper dated April 6, 1989, which is the same year as my first trip to Hollywood. Yes, the two are connected. Let me explain…

When I was growing up in South Bend, Indiana, going to the movies was a regular part of my life. And since I loved the Oscars, I would regularly enter the annual Oscar contest in the South Bend Tribune, picking who I thought would probably win the awards on the big night every year. Usually I’d get enough categories correct that I’d score a few movie passes to take my Mom or one of my siblings to the local theater and save a few bucks

Kevin Kline not only helped me get my first trip to Los Angeles but also graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1970.

Then, I went away to college at Indiana University in Bloomington and during my senior year as an undergraduate, I found out the Herald Telephone also had an Oscar contest. I was ready to give it my best shot but one problem was that I wasn’t a subscriber to the newspaper so my friend Amy let me know she had the paper with the entry form that I needed to fill out and send in. I still remember stopping by her apartment to pick it up so I could enter. (Yes, this was pre-computers so you actually had to buy the physical paper, fill it out with a pen and mail the entry in in a stamped envelope — seriously, how did we live in those days?!)

Now, this contest was for the 1988 movie season, which would be presented at the 61st annual Oscars on March 29, 1989. And if you don’t remember or are not aware, 1988 was a damn good year at the movies. Comedies like Working Girl, Big, The Accidental Tourist, Married to the Mob, Bull Durham came out as well as some of the best dramatic movies with Rain Man, Gorillas in the Mist, Running on Empty (OMG, River Phoenix is so damn good so if you’ve never seen it, see it!), A Cry in the Dark, Mississippi Burning, The Last Temptation of Christ and Dangerous Liaisons.

It was also the year Sigourney Weaver was nominated in both the Best Actress category for Gorillas in the Mist and in the Best Supporting Actress category for Working Girl. (Alas, she didn’t win either). But overall the 1988 season was a wealth of great movies that I’ve gone back to watch over and over again since they came out.

1988’s Working Girl starred (l-r) Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver, who was also nominated in the Best Actress category for Gorillas in the Mist

Picking the main six categories (Picture, Director, Supporting Actor and Actress and Best Actor and Actress) to enter the contest this year was anything but easy. Normally, I’d base my picks on who I thought would win. Even back then, newpapers and magazines (anyone remember Premiere magazine, which was the best for movie junkies?) would let you know who was getting pushed hard to win or who might win in one possibly lesser category because there was no way they were going to win in another category. (For example, Jessica Lange winning for Tootsie in 1983 to me always felt like a win that was really for Frances, which she was nominated for but there was also no way anyone was going to beat Meryl Streep for Sophie’s Choice.)

But in 1989, I decided to change my system and vote for who I truly wanted to win, even if it didn’t feel like they’d actually take home the statue. I also hadn’t seen every movie that was nominated (sorry, Pelle the Conquerer) so why not? So, here we go!

Best Picture just felt like Rain Man, which would make you pick Barry Levinson for directing the Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise film. Hoffman was also my pick for Best Actor.

Best Actress was so tough since Weaver, Melanie Griffith, Meryl Streep and Glenn Close were all nominated and while I saw all their films, The Accused and Jodie Foster’s performance in it as a multiple-rape victim is still tough to watch but she was incredible.

Jodie Foster in 1988’s The Accused.

Then in the supporting actress category, it could’ve been anyone’s to win with Weaver again, Joan Cusack, Frances McDormand all nominated as well as Michelle Pfeiffer, who I almost picked since she didn’t get a Best Actress nod for Married to the Mob (and was deserving of one) but did get one in this category for Dangerous Liaisons. (My thinking was basically the same as with Jessica Lange in 1983). But what my gut was really telling me was that Geena Davis was going to win for The Accidental Tourist.

But the Supporting Actor category was the hardest. Again, everyone (Martin Landau, Dean Stockwell, Phoenix and Alec Guinness) was a standout in their respective films. And one thing I saw over and over again in the Oscar prediction stories I was reading is that comedy just doesn’t win as often as drama. But there was something just so nutty, off the rocker and insanely fun about Kevin Kline’s performance in A Fish Called Wanda so I went with Kline. I’m so glad I did!

My ballot was filled out and sent in to the Herald'-Telephone offices before the cut-off date. The winner would get an all-expense paid trip to Hollywood including hotel and a Hollywood tour and tickets to Universal Studios. I had only been on a plane once at this point and had never been to California. That said, I didn’t think a lot about actually winning but I did keep a copy of my picks since I would, of course, be watching the Oscars.

On the night of March 29, I watched as each one of my picks for the main six categories won. I was very proud to start getting all the main six categories correct. In not the exact order they won….Geena Davis, check. Dustin Hoffman, check. Jodie Foster, check. And, yes, Kevin Kline won his first and only Oscar (to date) for A Fish Called Wanda. Rain Man also took Best Director and Picture. But I didn’t get too excited yet because I knew a hundred people could get the same six categories correct and it would come down the luck of getting picked put of a hat as to who would win the big prize.

A few days later, the telephone rang in my apartment and I answered. It was the entertainment editor of the Herald-Telephone to tell me that I was one of only three people who picked all six categories correct. I started getting excited. I held my breath waiting to hear what he was going to say next. “Do you want to go to Hollywood?” he asked and I remember dancing in place and laughing. My answer, of course, was YES.

I said it then and I still believe it was Kevin Kline’s unexpected win that helped me win that contest. I’ve never met Kline or talked to him for any project I may have been covering but he’ll always hold a special place in my heart and every time I’ve watched A Fish Called Wanda, I’m reminded of this whole story.

One small bit of controversy comes in to the story since I didn’t ask my friend Amy, who gave me her newspaper with the entry. Yes, we’re still friends to this day and we can laugh about it now but I know my picking my brother Mike to go with me was a point of conversation where I probably wasn’t painted in the best light. To be honest, I hadn’t traveled a lot in those days and I had just gotten to know Amy via our job working at the IU Bookstore (she was a cashier, I was the backpack area guy who gave a small card with a number in exchange for holding backpacks while people shopped. We still say it was the best job we ever had!). So choosing my brother Mike just made sense to me.

The full page ad that ran in the Bloomington Herald-Telephone announcing my win! So glad I kept this all these years.

And how was the trip to Hollywood with Mike? Like any trip, there were ups (we loved the California beaches) and downs (I may have lost my mind in Hollywood when we had a mishap with renting a car since I think the issue was that my credit card was already maxed out but Mike ended up renting the car and had the fun of driving on the crazy Los Angeles freeways.) Overall the trip was a lot of fun for the two of us. Ironically, I do remember thinking that outside of the gorgeous beaches, Los Angeles seemed overcrowded, dirty and not a place I would ever want to live. (It shows just how much - or little - I knew since I would end up moving there in 1995 and lived there for over 20 years!). It’s all definitely a good memory and one I’m glad I had the chance to relive many years later.

Have you ever entered a contest and won? Tell me about it in the comments or send me a message.