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Harold Russell

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Actor

The Resume

    (January 14, 1914-January 29, 2002)
    Acted in 'Inside Moves' and `Dogtown.'
    Won the 1946 Best Supporting Actor Oscar (`The Best Years of Our Lives')

Why he might be annoying:

    He won an Oscar playing a soldier who lost his hands in combat, although he lost his hands in a training accident.
    He auctioned off his Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He joined the U.S. Army on Dec. 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, as an instructor in the parachute corps.
    He lost both hands while demonstrating how to assemble explosives when a defective blasting cap ignited in the hand grenade he was using.
    Director William Wyler first noticed him in a documentary chronicling the rehabilitation of a permanently injured soldier.
    After seeing the documentary, Wyler decided to change a character in ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives’ from a spastic to a double amputee.
    In addition to the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, he was also given an Honorary Oscar for ‘for bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans.’
    He is the only actor ever to win two Oscars for the same role.
    He served three terms as the National Commander of the AMVETS.
    He wrote two autobiographies, 'Victory in My Hands (1949)' and 'The Best Years of My Life (1981).'
    He ran a non-profit organization that specialized in finding jobs for people with disabilities.
    He sold his acting Oscar because he needed money to pay his wife’s medical bills, but said nothing could induce him to sell the Honorary Oscar because it would be disrespectful to his fellow veterans.

Credit: Professor Moriarty


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 27.27% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 24 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 21 Votes: 38.10% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 35 Votes: 37.14% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 38 Votes: 42.11% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 33 Votes: 30.30% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 59 Votes: 47.46% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 121 Votes: 44.63% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 188 Votes: 37.77% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 363 Votes: 41.32% Annoying
    In 2003, Out of 407 Votes: 43.00% Annoying