Jeremy Irons Wins Oscar For Lead In 'Reversal of Fortune'
by Wire Services, Associated Press
March 26, 1991
He wasn't the first choice for the part and his accent may not have been quite right, but Oscar voters thought Jeremy Irons was the best as the sinister, enigmatic Claus von Bulow in "Reversal of Fortune."
"This is great," Irons said in accepting the best acting Oscar at Monday night's 63rd Academy Awards. "Thank you everybody who had wished me well for this."
Irons also gushed thanks to co-stars Ron Silver and Glenn Close.
"And lastly, if I may cut the call of a telephone to London where my wife is trying to keep awake in her bedroom, I wish you were here to help me carry this because you helped me win it," Irons said.
"Dances With Wolves" may have been the predictable big winner at this year's Oscars -- winning seven awards out of 12 nominations -- but the announcement of Jeremy Irons as the year's best actor drew the biggest whoops inside the press tent.
Looking as laid-back and composed as Kevin Costner, though without a trace of Costner's nasal monotone, Irons joked that he'd like to meet the man he played, suspected wife-killer Claus von Bulow.
"I'd love to meet him, and tell him what he's all about," he joked.
"Reversal of Fortune," based on Alan Dershowitz' book of the same title, tells the story of von Bulow's 1982 conviction for attempting to murder his rich wife, Sunny, and the ruling's overturning three years later.
Dershowitz, von Bulow's attorney, said his client would have preferred Robert Duvall. Despite hearing good things about Irons, von Bulow had been concerned Irons wouldn't have the correct accent, Dershowitz said in a recent interview.
"He said Jeremy Irons had never been to Oxford or Cambridge," said Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor.
Irons also thanked David Cronenberg, who picked him for "Dead Ringers," a 1988 film in which the actor played twin brothers. Irons was named best actor by the New York Critics Film Circle and won a Canadian Genie Award for the roles.
He has won acclaim for his work in the television adaptation of "Brideshead Revisited." He was nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe and British Academy Award for his portrayal of Charles Ryder in the production.
The British-born actor made his film debut in "Nijinsky" and also appeared in "The French Lieutenant's Woman" and "The Mission."