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The curse of Oscar

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By Deirdre Reynolds
Friday Mar 19 2010

Just a fortnight ago, she had Hollywood at her feet after scooping the ultimate acting accolade but right about now Sandra Bullock must be wondering if she can hand her Oscar back.

The star of The Blind Side is the latest in a catalogue of Best Actress winners to seemingly be struck by the infamous 'Curse of the Oscar' after speculation that her husband cheated on her surfaced in recent days.

Earlier this week, the actress pulled out of the UK premiere of the film which hits cinemas here next week -- citing unforeseen personal reasons.

But that personal reason is believed to be splashed all over the US celebrity magazine which published an interview with a model who claimed to have slept with Bullock's husband Jesse James while the actress was away filming last year.

American sweetheart Sandra (45) wed the MTV motorcycle hardman (40) five years ago and during her awards sweep for the acclaimed movie, she put her success down to her happiness at home.

However, it appears the actress may, indeed, have been blind-sided by her husband's alleged infidelity.

At the Academy Awards earlier this month, the odd couple looked the picture of domestic bliss with the scrubbed-up reality TV star whispering tenderly into his wife's ear and watching on teary-eyed as she thanked him in a touching acceptance speech.

Now though, her Oscar triumph has been tarnished by reports that while she was shooting the career-capping role in Atlanta, her husband was romping with a tattooed vixen named Michelle Bombshell McGee in a bike shed.

If the betrayal proves true, Bullock joins the humiliating ranks of the leading ladies who've apparently lost their man to a 13.5 inch tall baldie.

The Tinseltown shockwave comes just days after Oscar winners Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes announced they've split after after seven years of marriage.

Accepting an Oscar for The Reader just last year, the British rose gushed: "I'm so lucky to have a wonderful husband and two beautiful children who let me do what I love and who love me just the way that I am."

Now, less than 12 months later, the couple are headed for the divorce courts.

The news has left Oscarologists wondering if there really is a kiss of death curse scourging the Best Actress gong?

Over the past 12 years, eight recipients of that particular award have wound up single after winning -- Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Helen Hunt. Five of the break-ups occurred less than a year after the actress reached the top of her game by scooping the coveted statuette.

So could an Oscar really be the relationship equivalent of walking under a ladder for Hollywood's leading ladies?

For these unlucky-in-love starlets, the Oscar Curse has proved more than mere superstition. In 2006, Hollywood darling Reese Witherspoon picked up the Best Actress prize for her role in Walk The Line while married to lesser-known Ryan Phillippe.

Six short months after thanking her wonderful husband in front of the world, she had filed for divorce and was seeking joint custody of their two children, Ava and Deacon.

Halle Berry got the honour for her role in Monster's Ball in 2002 her marriage to R&B singer Eric Benet crumbled less than a year later due to his serial adultery.

Scoring her second Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2005, Hilary Swank cooed: "I am going to start by thanking my husband . . . Chad, you're my everything." Within a year of the win, husband of 10 years Chad Lowe was history and she had started dating her agent.

Of course, eagle-eyed Oscar fans argue that the signs of impending relationship doom were already writ large when some of the casualties of the curse took to the stage to accept the statuette.

First time round, Hilary Swank failed to even mention hubbie Chad Lowe after bagging the baldie for Boys Don't Cry in 2000.

Devoted Benjamin Bratt cheered on his famous girlfriend Julia Roberts when her name emerged from the gold envelope for Erin Brockovich in 2001 but she scarely acknowledged him in her speech. Sure enough, it all ended in tears for the lovebirds of four years just three months later.

Even British thespians Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh weren't immune to the hex.

In 1993, the actress failed to mention husband of six years Branagh in her Best Actress acceptance speech for Howards End concentrating on the heroism and courage of women instead.

Within two years, the marriage was over and the Hamlet actor hooked up with her co-star Helena Bonham Carter.

Others chalk the coincidental breakups down to the fact that Hollywood's egotistical leading men can't stand being upstaged by their partner's success.

Take Ryan Phillippe -- the faltering star pouted his way through the Oscar ceremony and after parties on his ex-wife's big night in 2006.

The hunk-du-jour should have been celebrating as his own film Crash snatched a surprise win for Best Picture, however, the actor himself missed out on a nod for the ensemble drama.

And insiders say he sulked in the corner as his missus showed off her trophy.

Nonetheless, believers in the now notorious curse says the mere sniff of the red-carpet outside the Kodak Theatre can be enough to cause even Hollywood's sturdiest romances to crash and burn.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Sarah Larson, Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer, Leonardo DiCaprio and Gisele Bundchen, Anne Hathaway and Raffaello Follieri all called it quits shortly after attending the ceremony together.

If so, Academy bridesmaids such as Meg Ryan, Isabella Rossellini and Scarlett Johannson might be thanking their lucky stars they've never taken one home.

After all, it might look good on the mantle piece but who would you rather cuddle at night, Oscar or Ryan Reynolds?

- Deirdre Reynolds

Irish Independent