Record-breaking Oscars drought comes to an end for one of the 2017 winners

It seems the 21st time was the charm for Kevin O’Connell’s quest for an Academy Award. The sound re-recording mixer has a long history in the movie industry and has racked up a shocking amount of nominations before finally winning at the 2017 Oscars for his work in “Hacksaw Ridge.”

If you’ve seen a movie in the last 30 years, chances are you’ve experienced O’Connell’s work. Whether it was blockbuster action films like “Spider-Man,” “Twister,” “Transformers” and “Armageddon” or modern classics like “Terms of Endearment,” “Top Gun,” “A Few Good Men” and “Crimson Tide,” his filmography is one of the most impressive in Hollywood.

But it was “Hacksaw Ridge” — the Mel Gibson-directed story of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a conscientious objector who was drafted into the army and saved the lives of many at war without ever picking up a gun — which finally earned O’Connell his coveted golden statue.

RELATED: A bus full of unknowing tourists was the best thing that happened at the Oscars

And just in case you wanted to see the full list of his previous nomination…

• Terms of Endearment (1983)
• Dune (1984)
• Silverado (1985)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Black Rain (1989)
• Days of Thunder (1990)
• A Few Good Men (1992)
• Crimson Tide (1995)
• Twister (1996)
• The Rock (1996)
• Con Air (1997)
• The Mask of Zorro (1998)
• Armageddon (1998)
• The Patriot (2000)
• Pearl Harbor (2001)
• Spider-Man (2002)
• Spider-Man 2 (2004)
• Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
• Apocalypto (2006)
• Transformers (2007)

Still, despite 20 nominations, he left the Oscars each and every year without a trophy — until now. And who did he thank when he finally got to accept an award and give a speech? His mom, of course.

RELATED: Watching the Oscars: Complete winners list

“A special thank you tonight to my mother, Skippy O’Connell, who 39 years ago got me a job 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.”

It took a while to get there but O’Connell was the victor at these awards and surely made his mother proud.

Source link