The curse of the Oscar

BY CATHERINE WOULFE

TWO more Oscar-winning Best Actresses have been struck by the curse that has haunted A-listers for the last 12 years.

Out of the blue, 2008 winner Kate Winslet has announced that her marriage to director Sam Mendes is over. And Sandra Bullock, this year's golden girl, is lying low amid rumours her hubby's been cheating.

Could it be the little golden statuette is to blame for all this heartache?

Winslet and Bullock's crumbling marriages fit a spooky pattern – which some are calling a curse – that once a girl walks off with the top prize at the Oscars, her man will soon walk off too.

Of course, this could have more to do with the fact that it's movie stars we are talking about here. They are not exactly reknowned for their fidelity.

Here's the list so you can decide:

Sandra Bullock

She's been married to Jesse James since 2005 but is rumoured to have moved out. Two days after she won her Oscar, tabloids claimed James had an affair with a sleazy-looking tattoo model, while his wife was filming The Blind Side.

Kate Winslet

She announced just days ago that she had split with her director hubby of seven years Sam Mendes. Mendes has his own Oscar, which can't have helped them fend off the curse. Rumours are rife that Mendes cheated on Winslet with actress Rebecca Hall.

Marion Cotillard

She has, so far, avoided the curse, perhaps by staying single until after winning for La Vie en Rose in 2007. Cotillard's blissfully shacked up with director Guillaume Canet. We reckon it can only a matter of time...

Helen Mirren

Seriously, what kind of bad-ass curse would be brave enough to mess with this lady? Mirren's been with her hubby Taylor Hackford for 24 years, but only married in 1997.

Reese Witherspoon

She's had a double dose of curse karma. Her split from boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal came four years after the breakdown of her marriage to Ryan Phillippe in 2006. She won the Oscar in 2005.

Hilary Swank

It didn't help that Swank blanked her husband during her 2000 acceptance speech. She remembered in 2005 when she collected her second Oscar but it was too late. The next year she divorced Chad Lowe .

Charlize Theron

The South African beauty's nine-year relationship with Stuart Townsend bit the dust early this year, seven years after her Oscar.

Nicole Kidman

Nic was dumped by Tom Cruise in 2001, the year before she won her Oscar. We reckon Nic did okay out of the curse, though. She's now blissfully in love with her hubby Keith Urban.

Halle Berry

After she wore that see-through dress to the Oscars in 2001 the world was stunned that any man could look away, let alone leave her. But Berry's second husband Eric Benet managed to and the pair split in 2003.

Julia Roberts

She split from Lyle Lovett and Benjamin Bratt before winning best actress in 2000. She is now married to cameraman Daniel Moder who divorced his wife for her.

Helen Hunt

She made the fatal mistake of marrying long-term boyfriend Hank Azaria the year before her Oscar win and divorced him the year after. Doh.

- © Fairfax NZ News