Oscar Winners Who Have Also Starred in Adult Films

      Here are five Oscar-winning actors who have also appeared in X-rated films.

      This list does not highlight actors who made poor choices during difficult times; rather, it showcases bold decisions by actors who were ahead of the game when it came to the ratings system of their time.

      Here are the Oscar winners who participated in X-rated films, including one whose movie won an Oscar for Best Picture.

      **Robert De Niro in Greetings (1968)**

      Sigma III

      The first American film to receive an “X” rating was Brian DePalma’s Greetings, released in 1968 and featuring a very young Robert De Niro. The Motion Picture Association of America deemed the film too explicit for an X rating.

      The movie, a dark comedy about men going to extreme lengths to evade the Vietnam War draft, was later reclassified with an R rating.

      De Niro and DePalma both achieved significant acclaim, continuing to challenge boundaries throughout their careers. De Niro received the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Godfather Part II (1974) and the Best Actor award for Raging Bull (1980).

      **Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (1969)**

      United Artists

      In the late '60s and early '70s, the X rating briefly suggested sophistication rather than sleaze.

      This peaked when Midnight Cowboy won the Oscar for Best Picture despite having an X rating.

      United Artists released Midnight Cowboy with an X to avoid conflict with the MPAA (now the MPA). However, after its Oscar win—and following the MPAA's revision of its guidelines, which raised the restricted age from 16 to 17—the film was granted an R rating.

      The film starred Dustin Hoffman, who later won the Best Actor Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and again for Rain Man (1989).

      He was nominated for Midnight Cowboy but did not win, likely splitting the Oscar vote with...

      **Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy (1969)**

      United Artists

      Voight was nominated for Best Actor alongside Hoffman, and both delivered outstanding performances. However, as noted, Oscar voters who favored Midnight Cowboy may have been divided between the two strong leads.

      Voight eventually won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as a paraplegic veteran returning from Vietnam in Coming Home (1978)—the year prior to Hoffman receiving his first Best Actor Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer.

      Voight also has the unfortunate distinction of appearing in what Rotten Tomatoes considers one of the worst films ever, Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2.

      Do you notice a trend? Actors who take significant risks—sometimes with less-than-stellar outcomes—can also receive substantial accolades.

      **Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris**

      United Artists

      Last Tango in Paris received an X rating when first released but was reissued with an R rating in 1981. Later, in 1997, the MPAA assigned the original version of the film an NC-17 rating.

      This gave Last Tango in Paris the title of the highest-grossing NC-17 film in the U.S.

      Today, the film is often referenced due to a controversial scene involving butter that has not aged well.

      Brando is regarded as one of the greatest actors ever and won Best Actor twice: for On the Waterfront (1954) and again for The Godfather (1972). Both are considered by Rotten Tomatoes to be among the finest films produced by their respective studios.

      Brando was nominated for Best Actor for Last Tango in Paris but did not win. The experiences of him, Hoffman, and Voight illustrate that there was a time when esteemed actors could not only take part in X-rated films but also potentially win Oscars for their work.

      **Jack Nicholson in Carnal Knowledge (1971)**

      Avco Embassy Pictures

      To be frank, this mention may be a stretch.

      The film received an R rating from the MPAA in the U.S. and an X from the British Board of Film Classification, which later updated that rating to indicate that no one under 18 should watch it.

      Nicholson went on to win three Oscars: for Best Actor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and As Good as it Gets (1997), and for Best Supporting Actor in Terms of Endearment (1983).

      **Honorable Mention: Helen Mirren**

      Analysis Film Releasing Corporation

      Helen Mirren, one of the greatest actresses, narrowly misses inclusion in the list of Oscar winners who have appeared in X-rated films.

      She was in the 1979 film Caligula, which nearly received an X rating from the MPAA. The upset producer Bob Guccione decided to release it without a rating, even renting theaters for its screening.

      Mirren also starred in the acclaimed film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, which was released unrated to avoid an X rating. Following this, the MPAA recognized