Redgrave Speech
During the ceremony, Vanessa Redgrave won the Best Supporting Actress award for Julia, and, aware of members of the Jewish Defense League (JDL) protesting outside, made the following comments:
| “ | My dear colleagues, I thank you very much for this tribute to my work. I think that Jane Fonda and I have done the best work of our lives, and I think this is in part due to our director, Fred Zinnemann.
And I also think it's in part because we believed and we believe in what we were expressing--two out of millions who gave their lives and were prepared to sacrifice everything in the fight against fascist and racist Nazi Germany. And I salute you, and I pay tribute to you, and I think you should be very proud that in the last few weeks you've stood firm, and you have refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression. And I salute that record and I salute all of you for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period when Nixon and McCarthy launched a worldwide witch-hunt against those who tried to express in their lives and their work the truth that they believe in . I salute you and I thank you and I pledge to you that I will continue to fight against anti-Semitism and fascism. |
” |
Two hours later, when it came his turn to announce an award winner (for Best Writing), Paddy Chayefsky, perturbed by what he perceived as "cracks about Jews" at the Academy Awards, replied:
| “ | Before I get on to the writing awards, there's a little matter I'd like to tidy up--at least if I expect to live with myself tomorrow morning. I would like to say, personal opinion, of course, that I'm sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal propaganda.
I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation and a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed. |
” |
Read more about this topic: 50th Academy Awards
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