Julia, then 22, didn't win the 1989 Best Supporting Actress for Steel Magnolias, losing to Brenda Fricker who played Daniel Day-Lewis's mother in My Left Foot.

Nominated for Best Actress the very next year for Pretty Woman, she lost out to Kathy Bates's maniacal stalker in Misery.

Success finally came her way 10 years later, when she defeated a field including Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Joan Allen (The Contender), Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me) and Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream) to win Best Actress as Erin Brockovich.

These last ten years, Julia has raised three children, become a Hindu it seems and shot a film (Eat, Pray, Love) in India. Though no Oscar noms have come her way since EB, she remains one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, with a worldwide fan following.

Julia will begin shooting next month for August: Osage County, the movie version of the acclaimed American play where she plays Meryl Streep's eldest daughter. We predict Oscar nods for both women.

Nominated for Best Actress the very next year for Pretty Woman, she lost out to Kathy Bates's maniacal stalker in Misery.

Success finally came her way 10 years later, when she defeated a field including Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Joan Allen (The Contender), Laura Linney (You Can Count on Me) and Ellen Burstyn (Requiem for a Dream) to win Best Actress as Erin Brockovich.

These last ten years, Julia has raised three children, become a Hindu it seems and shot a film (Eat, Pray, Love) in India. Though no Oscar noms have come her way since EB, she remains one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, with a worldwide fan following.

Lee also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in 2001. The director traditionally accepts that Oscar. He is now an American citizen.

Only two other filmmakers of Asian origin -- both Japanese -- have been nominated in the Best Director category so far: Hiroshi Teshigahara for Woman of the Dunes and Akira Kurosawa for Ran.

Pondicherry-born American director M Night Shyamalan was also nominated for The Sixth Sense.

Interestingly, Lee is currently filming Life of Pi -- starring Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Adil Hussain, based on Yann Martel's Booker Prize-winning novel, with Pondicherry origins -- which Night Shyamalan, whose parents are Pondicherry natives, was once tipped to make.

Lee had been nominated in 1994 for Best Foreign Language Film (The Wedding Banquet); again the next year for Best Foreign Language Film (Eat Drink Man Woman). He was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), but did not win.

He is the only director to win two Golden Lions at the Venice Film Festival within two years of each other (Brokeback Mountain and the sensual Lust, Caution, which also featured Anupam Kher).

His Sense and Sensibility won seven Oscar nominations including two nods for Emma Thompson (Best Actress in A Lead Role and Writing Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published). Emma won an Oscar for writing!

Lee also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) in 2001. The director traditionally accepts that Oscar. He is now an American citizen.

Only two other filmmakers of Asian origin -- both Japanese -- have been nominated in the Best Director category so far: Hiroshi Teshigahara for Woman of the Dunes and Akira Kurosawa for Ran.

Pondicherry-born American director M Night Shyamalan was also nominated for The Sixth Sense.

Interestingly, Lee is currently filming Life of Pi -- starring Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Adil Hussain, based on Yann Martel's Booker Prize-winning novel, with Pondicherry origins -- which Night Shyamalan, whose parents are Pondicherry natives, was once tipped to make.

Lee had been nominated in 1994 for Best Foreign Language Film (The Wedding Banquet); again the next year for Best Foreign Language Film (Eat Drink Man Woman). He was also nominated for Best Director and Best Picture (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), but did not win.

He is the only director to win two Golden Lions at the Venice Film Festival within two years of each other (Brokeback Mountain and the sensual Lust, Caution, which also featured Anupam Kher).

This year will be the 83rd Academy Awards, and only 13 black actors have won Oscars.

Hattie McDaniel was the first, winning the Best Supporting Actress prize in 1940 for her role in Gone With The Wind.

Twenty-three years later, Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor (Lilies of the Field); he also won an Honorary Oscar in 2002.

Poitier was first nominated in the Best Actor category in 1958, for The Defiant Ones, but lost to David Niven (Separate Tables).

2002 was a landmark year for black actors, when Denzel Washington won the Oscar for Best Actor (Training Day) and Halle Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress (Monster's Ball).

Two years later, Jamie Foxx won the Best Actor trophy for playing the blind music legend Ray Charles in Ray. The year Foxx won, the actor was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Collateral), but that trophy was picked up by the awesome Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby).

Two years later, in 2006, Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor prize, playing another historical figure, Uganda's maniacal dictator Idi Amin. That short-list had another black actor, Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) on it, alongside stalwarts like Peter O'Toole (Venus), Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) and Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson).

Freeman has been nominated five times -- thrice for Best Supporting Actor (Street Smart, 1987; Driving Miss Daisy, 1989, Million Dollar Baby) and twice for Best Actor (The Shawshank Redemption; 1998, and Invictus, 2009).

Two black women have won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress in recent years: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006) and Mo'Nique in 2009 for Precious.

Precious director Lee Daniels and John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood; 1991) are the only black directors to be nominated for Best Director.

Hattie McDaniel was the first, winning the Best Supporting Actress prize in 1940 for her role in Gone With The Wind.

Twenty-three years later, Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win the Oscar for Best Actor (Lilies of the Field); he also won an Honorary Oscar in 2002.

Poitier was first nominated in the Best Actor category in 1958, for The Defiant Ones, but lost to David Niven (Separate Tables).

2002 was a landmark year for black actors, when Denzel Washington won the Oscar for Best Actor (Training Day) and Halle Berry won the Oscar for Best Actress (Monster's Ball).

Two years later, Jamie Foxx won the Best Actor trophy for playing the blind music legend Ray Charles in Ray. The year Foxx won, the actor was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Collateral), but that trophy was picked up by the awesome Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby).

Two years later, in 2006, Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor prize, playing another historical figure, Uganda's maniacal dictator Idi Amin. That short-list had another black actor, Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) on it, alongside stalwarts like Peter O'Toole (Venus), Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) and Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson).

Freeman has been nominated five times -- thrice for Best Supporting Actor (Street Smart, 1987; Driving Miss Daisy, 1989, Million Dollar Baby) and twice for Best Actor (The Shawshank Redemption; 1998, and Invictus, 2009).

Two black women have won Oscars for Best Supporting Actress in recent years: Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006) and Mo'Nique in 2009 for Precious.

Guinness was one of the few people who believed in George Lucas's film, which is why when he agreed to play the Jedi Master, he asked for a two per cent stake of what the movie made.

It made $775,398,007 (you can do the math :-)) and made him a very rich man for the rest of his life (Sir Alec lived for 23 years after the first Star Wars movie released).

In interviews and in his memoirs, he spoke about his weariness with fans after Star Wars became a worldwide phenomenon. 'Alec Guinness blasts Jedi mumbo-jumbo' was a typical headline in his later years.

All the great parts he had played -- including Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge of Kwai (1957), which won him his first Oscar -- were forgotten in the overwhelming obsession with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Sir Alec was also nominated for Best Actor (The Lavender Hill Mob) in 1952, and for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, for The Horse's Mouth (1958).

Eight years after he was presented an Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1980, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Little Dorrit (1988).

Guinness -- who featured in the first Star Wars movie -- was one of the few people who believed in George Lucas's film, which is why when he agreed to play the Jedi Master, he asked for a two per cent stake of what the movie made.

It made $775,398,007 (you can do the math :-)) and made him a very rich man for the rest of his life (Sir Alec lived for 23 years after the first Star Wars movie released).

In interviews and in his memoirs, he spoke about his weariness with fans after Star Wars became a worldwide phenomenon. 'Alec Guinness blasts Jedi mumbo-jumbo' was a typical headline in his later years.

All the great parts he had played -- including Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge of Kwai (1957), which won him his first Oscar -- were forgotten in the overwhelming obsession with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Sir Alec was also nominated for Best Actor (The Lavender Hill Mob) in 1952, and for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, for The Horse's Mouth (1958).

Eight years after he was presented an Honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1980, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Little Dorrit (1988).

Canadian actress Bujold played Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's ill-fated wives, in Anne of A Thousand Days (1969). The movie was panned, Bujold was praised, the film won 10 Oscar nominations, but only won for Best Costumes.

English legend Redgrave played Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). (We won't get into Scottish nationalism here.) She has been nominated six times, and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Julia (1977).

Another English treasure, Dench -- who young readers will recognise as 'M' from recent Bond movies -- has been nominated six times as well, and won the Best Supporting Actress prize, playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998).

Interestingly, she won her first nomination a year earlier playing another formidable British monarch, Queen Victoria, in Mrs Brown.

Aussie Blanchett has been nominated twice for Best Actress for playing the first Queen Liz in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).

The role made her an international star, but Cate had to wait for Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) to win her first Oscar -- For Best Supporting Actress. Cate has made the short-list five times so far, including a Best Supporting nod (for I Am Not There) in the same year as the second Elizabeth film.

Helen Mirren, of course, won for her role as the second Queen Liz in The Queen. She was amazingly close in manner and spirit to the current British monarch. Helen has played queens before and been nominated as well -- she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Madness of King George, where she played Queen Charlotte.

Canadian actress Bujold played Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's ill-fated wives, in Anne of A Thousand Days (1969). The movie was panned, Bujold was praised, the film won 10 Oscar nominations, but only won for Best Costumes.

English legend Redgrave played Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). (We won't get into Scottish nationalism here.) She has been nominated six times, and won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Julia (1977).

Another English treasure, Dench -- who young readers will recognise as 'M' from recent Bond movies -- has been nominated six times as well, and won the Best Supporting Actress prize, playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998).

Interestingly, she won her first nomination a year earlier playing another formidable British monarch, Queen Victoria, in Mrs Brown.

Aussie Blanchett has been nominated twice for Best Actress for playing the first Queen Liz in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).

The role made her an international star, but Cate had to wait for Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) to win her first Oscar -- For Best Supporting Actress. Cate has made the short-list five times so far, including a Best Supporting nod (for I Am Not There) in the same year as the second Elizabeth film.

Helen Mirren, of course, won for her role as the second Queen Liz in The Queen. She was amazingly close in manner and spirit to the current British monarch. Helen has played queens before and been nominated as well -- she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for The Madness of King George, where she played Queen Charlotte.