Accepting her best actress Oscar on Sunday, Mikey Madison was greeted with cheers when she thanked the sex worker community for their contributions to Anora.
“All of the incredible women I have had the privilege of meeting from that community have been one of the highlights of this entire experience,” she told the Dolby Theatre crowd. “I will continue to support and be an ally.”
Anora, which swept nearly all of its six nominations, including a win for best picture, tells the story of sex worker Anora Mikheeva, a stripper who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, played by Mark Eydelshteyn.
Though many lauded the film’s big night as a historic moment for historically taboo subject matter, Hollywood (and the Oscars) actually has a long history of recognizing those in the sex worker community — going all the way back to the first-ever ceremony in 1928, when Janet Gaynor won for Street Angel, and in 1960, when both female acting categories — supporting and lead — went to women who portrayed sex workers, Shirley Jones in Elmer Gantry and Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8.
Anora isn’t even the first sex work movie to take home best picture — 1969’s Midnight Cowboy, about the friendship of two hustlers, didn’t take home any acting trophies, but did win best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay.
Of course, representation is only half the battle, and the below list doesn’t take into consideration how respectfully each film might be received by the real-life sex worker community today. But the Anora team did a lot of work to make sure their 2024 depiction was authentic, and several former sex workers told The Hollywood Reporter that the film got a lot (but not all) right. Madison, for her part, sang the praises of the profession during THR‘s Roundtable. “It’s not only physically demanding, but it’s mentally demanding as well, because you’re having to walk up to someone and immediately try to connect with them,” she said. “And then physically, you’re on your feet all day, dancing in these really tall stilettos. Just understanding the stamina that comes with that.”
Here are 14 actors who won Oscars for their portrayal of sex workers.
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Janet Gaynor in ‘Street Angel’
Image Credit: Copyright © 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection Janet Gaynor played Angela in 1928’s Street Angel, a woman who turns to sex work in order to fund her dying mother’s health care. Gaynor won the first-ever Oscar for her performance; it was one of only 12 trophies handed out at the ceremony, which lasted 15 minutes.
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Helen Hayes in ‘The Sin of Madelon Claudet’
Image Credit: Everett Helen Hayes played the titular Madelon Claudet in 1931’s The Sin of Madelon Claudet, which followed a woman using sex work (and theft) to support her son. She won a best actress trophy for the role at the fifth Academy Awards.
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Anne Baxter in ‘The Razor’s Edge’
Image Credit: Everett Collection. Anne Baxter played Sophie MacDonald in 1946’s The Razor’s Edge, about an American pilot traumatized by World War I and now in pursuit of identifying the meaning of life. Sophie is a childhood friend of the protagonist who later turns to sex work and struggles with alcoholism after losing her husband and child in a car crash. Baxter won a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance.
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Clare Trevor in ‘Key Largo’
Image Credit: Everett Clare Trevor played Gaye Dawn in 1948’s Key Largo, a film noir crime drama adapted from the 1939 play of the same name. Gaye is an aging sex worker struggling with alcoholism who plays a key role in the dynamic between film leads Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. The movie was also the final to pair Bogart with fellow movie star Lauren Bacall. Trevor won a best supporting actress Oscar for the performance.
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Donna Reed in ‘From Here to Eternity’
Image Credit: Everett Donna Reed played Alma in 1953’s From Here to Eternity, which followed Burst Lancaster, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra as soldiers stationed in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor. The film is based on a 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. In the book, Reed’s Alma was a sex worker, but the movie portrayed her as a social club hostess who used to be a sex worker in order to meet the Code Office standards of the time. Reed won a best actress Oscar for her performance.
Also won: best picture, best director (Fred Zinnemann), best supporting actor (Frank Sinatra), best screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best sound recording
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Jo Van Fleet in ‘East of Eden’
Image Credit: Everett Jo Van Fleet played the iconic Cathy Ames in Elia Kazan’s 1955 adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Cathy, later revealed to actually be Kate Trask, is a well-known literary figure of Steinbeck’s creation, often compared to the devil and Pandora’s box. In the film, she is a former prostitute who uses her beauty to destroy others. Van Fleet won a best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of the character.
Also won: best director (Elia Kazan), best actor (James Dean) and best screenplay
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Susan Hayward in ‘I Want to Live!’
Image Credit: United Artists/courtesy Everett Collection Susan Hayward played Barbara Graham in 1958’s I Want to Live! The movie is a fictionalized adaptation of the life of Barbara Graham, a sex worker and petty criminal convicted of murder after a robbery with Jack Santo and Emmett Perkins led to the killing of an elderly woman. Graham and her accomplices were executed at San Quentin Prison in 1955. Hayward won best actress for her performance in the movie, which heavily implied Graham’s innocence.
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Shirley Jones in ‘Elmer Gantry’
Image Credit: Everett
Shirley Jones plays Lulu Baines in 1960’s Elmer Gantry, a semi-adaptation of the 1927 novel of the same name. Lulu becomes a sex worker after a relationship with Burt Lancaster’s Elmer Gantry destroys her relationship with her father, a minister. The movie is loosely based on American radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Jones won best supporting actress for her performance.
Also won: best actor (Burt Lancaster) and best adapted screenplay
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Elizabeth Taylor in ‘BUtterfield 8’
Image Credit: Everett Elizabeth Taylor played Gloria Wandrous in 1960’s BUtterfield 8, a story of a high-class sex worker who attempts to change her life after meeting “Mr. Right” Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey). Taylor won her first-ever Oscar — a best actress trophy — for the performance.
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Jane Fonda in ‘Klute’
Image Credit: Everett Jane Fonda played New York City sex worker Bree Daniels in 1971’s Klute. In the film, Fonda’s protagonist helps a Pennsylvania detective solve a missing person case related to the man who is stalking her. She won a best actress Oscar for her performance.
Also won: best screenplay
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Mira Sorvino in ‘Mighty Aphrodite’
Mira Sorvino played Linda Ash in 1995’s Mighty Aphrodite from writer-director-star Woody Allen. Linda is the sex worker revealed to be the biological mother of Lenny Weinrib’s (Allen) adopted son. Sorvino won a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance.
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Kim Basinger in ‘L.A. Confidential’
Image Credit: Everett Kim Basinger played Lynn Bracken in 1997’s L.A. Confidential, an adaptation of James Ellroy’s 1990 novel. Bracken plays a prostitute encountered by Los Angeles police officer Bud White, played by Russell Crowe. She won a best supporting actress Oscar for her role.
Also won: best adapted screenplay
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Charlize Theron in ‘Monster’
Image Credit: Newmarket/courtesy Everett Collection Charlize Theron played sex worker Aileen Wuornos in 2003’s Monster, which told the true story of Wuornos’ murdering of seven male clients between 1989 and 1990. Wuornos was executed in Florida in 2002. Theron won a best actress Oscar for her performance.
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Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things’
Image Credit: Searchlight Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection Emma Stone played female Frankenstein Bella Baxter in 2023’s Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ adaptation of the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. Baxter begins as a nonverbal, uncoordinated toddler in an adult body, but then grows into herself as the transplanted brain inside her skull sees the world. Early on, she discovers sex and, for a period of time in the back half of her adventure, Baxter works at a brothel where she befriends a fellow sex worker named Toinette. Stone won a best actress Oscar for her performance.
Also won: best production design, best makeup, best costumes
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Mikey Madison in ‘Anora’
Image Credit: Neon /Courtesy Everett Collection Mikey Madison played the titular protagonist in Sean Baker’s 2024 Anora, which followed a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch. Madison won a best actress Oscar for her performance.
Also won: best picture, best director (Sean Baker), best original screenplay, best editing
