Just Keep Winnin'
Austin's own Matthew McConaughey could make history this summer
There is no doubt that Austinite Matthew McConaughey is having a very good year. After a killer performance as Ron Woodroof in 2013's Dallas Buyers Club, McConaughey scored an Academy Award for Best Actor in March. Thursday morning, the 2014 Emmy Awards announced McConaughey's nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his critically acclaimed turn as Rust Cohle on True Detective.
Though he's up against some steep competition including Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad, Jon Hamm for Mad Men and even his own True Detective co-star Woody Harrelson, many critics are already putting the odds on McConaughey to take home the trophy on August 25. If he does, he will make history as the first man to win a best actor Oscar and Emmy in the same year. That's right, Wooderson could make acting history.
Though he will be the first actor to do so, McConaughey joins an elite club of actresses who have pulled the Oscar/Emmy one-two punch. Liza Minnelli (Cabaret and Liza with a "Z" in 1973) and Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets and Mad About You in 1998) have also pulled off the feat. (Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep have come close. Both have been nominated for an Oscar and an Emmy in the same year, but neither won both awards.)
There has been one man to earn both an Academy Award and an Emmy in the same year, albeit not for acting. Bob Fosse earned both awards for directing, winning in 1973 alongside Minnelli for Cabaret and Liza with a "Z."
