Monday, Feb. 21, 2005 | 8:13 a.m.
For Whoopi Goldberg, winning the 1990 best supporting actress Oscar over the likes of Annette Bening, Lorraine Bracco and Mary McDonnell was quite the upset.
As it turned out, Goldberg's victory for "Ghost" might as well serve as a career achievement award.
After a hit two years later with "Sister Act," Goldberg moved on to such box-office poison as "The Little Rascals," "Corrina, Corrina," "Boys on the Side" and "Theodore Rex."
In fact, the closest Goldberg has come to an Oscar since 1990 was as four-time host of the show: 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002.
Recent history of the Academy Awards show that the Oscar gold doesn't necessarily spark a lasting career.
Call it the Timothy Hutton Syndrome, when the promising career of an actor or actress seems to peak at the Academy Award podium stage while accepting a performance Oscar.
Hutton was 19 when he picked up a best supporting actor Oscar for "Ordinary People" over co-star Judd Hirsch, Joe Pesci ("Raging Bull") and Jason Robards ("Melvin and Howard").
Two decades later Hutton has become a regular in made-for-TV movies such as "Deliberate Intent" and "WW3."
Despite occasional appearances in prestige films such as "Kinsey" or box-office hits such as "The General's Daughter," Hutton's career is more about what might have been.
Likewise, Tatum O'Neal was 10 when she received her first and only Oscar -- the youngest winner of a competitive Academy Award (Shirley Temple received a special juvenile Oscar at the age of 6) -- for "Paper Moon" in 1974.
While the actress limited her film roles, and even had a hit in 1976 with "The Bad News Bears," some questionable choices in the remake of "International Velvet" in 1978 and "Little Darlings" in 1980 did irreparable damage to her film career.
O'Neal is perhaps best known now as the former Mrs. John McEnroe and author of the recently published "A Paper Life," her warts-and-all autobiography.
The 1980s and '90s were particularly tough for some Oscar-winning actors and actresses.
"Mad About You" co-star Helen Hunt seemed to prove she was more than a sitcom actress with her Oscar-winning role in 1997 with "As Good as It Gets," a film, coincidentally, written and directed by former TV scribe James Brooks. With the exception of "What Women Want," the actress' film career has stalled with mainly bit roles ("Cast Away" ) or critical and commercial bombs ("Dr. T & The Women," "Pay It Forward").
Certainly Louis Gossett Jr. never lived up to the potential of his best supporting Oscar win in 1982 as Sgt. Emil Foley in "An Officer and a Gentleman." Gossett is probably best known now for his ill-advised roles in "Jaws 3-D," "Enemy Mine" and the "Iron Eagle" series.
It wasn't difficult to understand why Marlee Matlin's career peaked with a best actress Academy Award in 1986. After all, Hollywood scripts don't often call for a deaf actress.
In the case of Geena Davis, Mira Sorvino and Cuba Gooding Jr., however, the post-Oscar blues are more about poor career choices.
"I think their career decisions are made by people who are often functional idiots," Sean Clark, assistant professor of film at UNLV, said. "I've seen it over and over again -- even on television. Somebody does something really good and they get critical notice, and their agents go, 'Well, he won't read (for a part) he's "offer-only." '
"They'll say yes or no, and that's it and they'll decide whether they'll take it or not."
Often an actor with limited range can find a role perfectly suited to his or her skills.
"They may have only one shot because that's all that's in us," Clark said. "Sometimes we find that lightning in the bottle."
It's not just actors and actresses, however, whose careers may fizzle after receiving an Academy Award.
Although Michael Cimino won the best director award in 1978 for "The Deer Hunter," his colossal 1980 flop, "Heaven's Gate," nearly destroyed his career.
Nearly two decades later Cimino told People magazine: "Since then, I've been unable to make any movie that I've wanted to make. I've been making the best of what is available."
Five years after winning a best director Oscar for "Dances With Wolves" -- beating out Martin Scorsese in the process -- Kevin Costner's acting career almost ended with the notorious bomb "Waterworld," and he nearly sank his directing career with another bomb, "The Postman," in 1997.
And Warren Beatty hasn't lived up to his directing Oscar for "Reds" in 1981, with the follow-ups "Dick Tracy" in 1990 and "Bulworth" in 1998.
Looking ahead at this year's Oscar race, it's not too far-fetched to see Thomas Haden Church added to this list if he should pick up a best supporting actor Oscar for "Sideways." After all, prior to the nomination, Church was best known for his sitcom roles on "Wings" and "Ned and Stacey " -- hardly Oscar fare.
Then again, it wasn't but three years after her best actress Oscar win that Hilary Swank was starring in "The Core."
This year, though, Swank is nominated for best actress again in "Million Dollar Baby" -- proof even Oscar can be forgiving.
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