The internet is still flame with the now well-spread story of how Moonlight was awarded Best Picture after a mis-announcement had people believing that La La Land had won for a few moments. People began poring over the footage of the mis-announcement immediately, jokes were made, and we’re all still kind of reeling.
This event, however, eclipsed a pretty amazing Oscar story that is getting less attention. Kevin O’Connell, a very talented, and long-working sound re-recording mixer, won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for his work on Hacksaw Ridge, an honor he shared with fellow mixers Andy Wright, Peter Grace, and Robert MacKenzie. You may be asking why this is significant. Well, it’s because O’Connell won his first Oscar after having been nominated 21 times.
You read that right. O’Connell has been nominated for 21 Oscars, and only just now won. Indeed, O’Connell has lost so many times he actually set the record for the the most Oscar losses back in 2006, when he lost his 18th Academy Award.
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Also: THE BIGGEST BLUNDER IN OSCAR HISTORY
O’Connell’s work is very well-known to the moviegoing public, as he has worked on some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters of the last 30 years. He has frequently worked for Michael Bay, and did the Oscar-nominated sound on Transformers, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, and The Rock. His first Oscar nomination came way back in 1983 for his work on the lauded, and less bombastic Terms of Endearment.
Last night, O’Connell, 59, not expecting to win, was finally recognized for mixing the noisy battle scenes in the World War II pacifism polemic Hacksaw Ridge. This was his second time working with director Mel Gibson, having previously mixed Apocalypto. In his acceptance speech, O’Connell thanked his mother for getting him his start in sound. He said, “And when I asked her how I could thank her, she told me, ‘You can work hard. You can work really hard, and someday you can win yourself an Oscar, and you can stand on the stage, and you can think me in front of the whole world.’ Mom, I know you’re looking down on me tonight, so thank you.”
Join us as we look back at Kevin O’Connell’s incredible history at the Academy Awards. Twenty worthy films nominated, zero awards. Who would have believed it?
Kevin O’Connell’s 20 Oscar Losses:
Top image: Patrick Wymore/ABC via Getty Images
Witney Seibold is a longtime contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and the co-host of The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon. He also contributes to Legion of Leia and to Blumhouse. You can follow him on “The Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
The 20 Unsuccessful Oscar Nominations of Kevin O'Connell
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Terms of Endearment
The soulful drama lost the Best Sound Oscar to The Right Stuff in 1983.
Image: Paramount
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Dune
David Lynch's bizarre sci-fi epic lost Best Sound in 1984, to Amadeus.
Image: Universal
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Silverado
The revisionist western lost Best Sound in 1985, to Out of Africa.
Image: Columbia
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Top Gun
O'Connell's work on the high-octane pilot thriller lost Best Sound in 1986, to Platoon.
Image: Paramount
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Black Rain
O'Connell's fifth loss for Best Sound was in 1989, to Glory.
Image: Paramount
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Days of Thunder
Loud engines from the 1990 thriller couldn't compete with Dances with Wolves for Best Sound.
Image: Paramount
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A Few Good Men
In 1992, O'Connell lost Best Sound again, this time to Last of the Mohicans.
Image: Columbia
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Crimson Tide
O'Connell's eighth loss for Best Sound was in 1995, when Apollo 13 took away the Oscar.
Image: Buena Vista
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Twister
The noisy, effects-driven blockbuster from 1996 was impressive, but O'Connell lost Best Sound to The English Patient.
Image: Warner Bros.
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The Rock
Technically, O'Connell lost twice in 1996, as he was nominated twice in the same category. The Rock and Twister both lost to The English Patient.
Image: Buena Vista
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Con Air
O'Connell has done a great deal of great work in action films, including this awesome B-picture from 1997, but he lost this Oscar to, what else?, Titanic.
Image: Buena Vista
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The Mask of Zorro
The 1998 action/comedy about one of the world's most famous heroes didn't stand a chance against Saving Private Ryan.
Image: TriStar
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Armageddon
Another instance where O'Connell lost twice in one year was 1998, when both this film and The Mask of Zorro lost to Saving Private Ryan.
Image: Buena Vista
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The Patriot
O'Connell was nominated for Best Sound for the 14th time in 2000 for this Revolutionary War actioner, but he lost to Gladiator.
Image: Columbia
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Pearl Harbor
The most infamous attack in recent warfare, presented with all the bells and whistles 2001 special effects could provide, still lost out to Black Hawk Down.
Image: Buena Vista
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Spider Man
The first film in an ongoing wave of successful superhero flicks was not recognized for its sound in 2002. It lost to Chicago.
Image: Columbia
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Spider-Man 2
New Spider-Man film, same old story of loss. O'Connell lost for the 17th time, to Ray (although by this point the name of the category had changed to Best Sound Mixing).
Image: Columbia
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Memoirs of a Geisha
The lavish period production was lauded by the Academy, but lost the Best Sound Mixing award to Peter Jackson's King Kong in 2005.
Image: Columbia
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Apocalypto
Mel Gibson directed a violent film about early Central Americans, and O'Connell was nominated for the 19th time. He lost to Dreamgirls.
Image: Buena Vista
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Transformers
O'Connell's last loss before his big win for Hacksaw Ridge was in 2007 for Michael Bay's first Transformers film. He lost to The Bourne Ultimatum.
Image: DreamWorks
