Whoopi Goldberg has revealed why her mother, Emma Harris, didn’t attend the 1991 Academy Awards, where Whoopi won Best Supporting Actress. It was her second Oscars nomination, having previously been nominated for Best Actress in 1986 but losing to Geraldine Page.
On a recent episode of “The View,” Whoopi, 68, discussed this while talking about Kathy Bates’ emotional interview on CBS Sunday Morning, where Bates realized she had thanked her mother in her 1991 Oscars speech after initially thinking she hadn’t, as reported by Daily Mail.
Whoopi sympathized with Bates’ forgetfulness and explained to her cohosts: “It’s easy to think that you haven’t done it because you’re trying to remember everything you’re supposed to do, and you know you have to get off the stage and people want you to… and the music, you’re listening for the music, you’re listening for the stuff, you wanna remember the people….”
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She then divulged: “My mother didn’t come when I won. She came when I was nominated for The Color Purple, but she didn’t want to be there in case I didn’t win again,” referring to when she won for her role as Oda Mae Brown in Ghost.
Asking about her mother being present when she lost out to Page, Sara Haines asked: “And she had angry face?” to which Whoopi replied: “No, she didn’t have angry face because the woman who won was from our neighborhood, [she] was from Chelsea and so we were really… the neighborhood was represented.”
“So, her winning and the film she won for was The Trip to Bountiful, and she had been nominated six times, she’d never won. She won for that, and then she passed like six, seven months later so I’m really glad she got her due,” the Sister Act star added.
When Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Whoopi if she’d ever watched her Oscars speech back, the mother-of-one hesitated before responding: “No, people have showed me pieces of what I said.”
She then added: “And you don’t always remember what you did, but thank goodness somebody can say, ‘Actually, no babe you were fine, you did it.’ That’s great.”
At the 1991 Academy Awards, Whoopi attended with her older brother, Clive, and her daughter, Alex. In her acceptance speech, she mentioned her family.
She began: “Thanks. Ever since I was a little kid I wanted this. You don’t know. My brother’s sittin’ there, he says, ‘Thank God we don’t have to listen to any more. You can do it now.’ My mom’s home, everybody’s watching.
“I have to thank the people at Paramount. I have to thank Jerry Zucker for taking the time he took before he decided to use me, because it meant he was sure that it was for me.
“I have to thank Patrick Swayze, who’s a stand-up guy, and went to them and said, ‘I want to do it with her.’ I want to thank Demi. I want to thank everybody who makes movies.
“I come from New York. As a little kid I lived in the projects, and you’re the people I watched. You’re the people wanted — made me want to be an actor. I’m so proud to be here. I’m proud to be an actor and I’m gonna keep on acting. And thank you so much.”
