The Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role was on expected lines: Renee Zellweger won for playing the American singer and entertainer Judy Garland in the biopic Judy. Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy traces the final years of the American singing legend, who died in 1969 at the age of 47 from a barbiturate overdose.
Zellweger has previously won an Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role for Cold Mountain in 2004.
Zellweger was widely tipped to pick up the Academy Award, and it helped that the competition wasn’t strong enough. The other nominees in the category were Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story, Charlize Theron for Bombshell, Saoirse Ronan for Little Women and Cynthia Erivo for Harriet.
The Wikipedia page listing Zellweger’s various awards and nominations had already declared her a winner a day before the Oscars (it was later changed to ‘Pending’).
Zellweger also sang all of Garland’s songs herself, including the famous Over the Rainbow.
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‘Judy’ movie review: Renee Zellweger shines in biopic of the troubled American showbiz legend