Diana Scarwid’s performance as Louise, Roary’s girlfriend in “Inside Moves” (1980) earned her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
The movie also marked the return to the screen by disabled veteran Harold Russell, thirty-four years after his Oscar-winning role in “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946).
Director Richard Donner persuaded the double amputee to take a sabbatical from his work as head of the US President’s “Commission for Affirmative Action on Hiring the Handicapped” to appear in the key supporting role of Wings.
Donner’s biographer James Christie relates how the director confused Cinematographer Kovács with his fellow Hungarian Vilmos Zsigmond, referring to him as “Vilmos” repeatedly.
When Zsigmond dropped by the set to visit, Donner had T-shirts made up that read “MY NAME IS NOT LÁSZLÓ” and “MY NAME IS NOT VILMOS” for each of them. Later they switched shirts and confused everyone.
The following year, Scarwid portrayed the adult Christina Crawford, the abused adopted daughter of Hollywood legend Joan Crawford in the 1981 film “Mommie Dearest” (below).
Her performance earned her a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress, making her the first actress ever to go from being an Oscar nominee to a Razzie “winner” in just one year.
“Mommie Dearest” director Frank Perry used the Minnesota Multi-Phasic Personality test (a widely used and researched clinical assessment tool used by mental health professionals) to help Scarwid, and Mara Hobel, the 9-year-old actress who plays Christina Crawford as a child, come to similar conception of their character.
The test test was administered to the two actresses four times over a four-week period. They were told to answer the questions as they thought Christina would answer them. (Wikipedia/IMDb)
Happy Birthday, Diana Scarwid!