In 1965's Darling, Julie Christie plays a model who sleeps her way to the top — but Christie's talent was enough to earn her the Oscar for the role. Ironically, the film also won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. [Anglo-Amalgamated]
While none of Crash's ensemble cast walked away with individual Academy Awards in 2004, the film (which featured a nude scene between Don Cheadle and Jennifer Esposito) snagged Best Picture. [Lionsgate]
Obsessively wrapped up in the events that led to the murder of his wife, British diplomat Justin Quayle — played by Ralph Fiennes in the 2005 drama The Constant Gardener — delves into an endless array of flashbacks, mulling over how they met and the time they spent together. Of course, Quayle’s mind occasionally drifts to some of the more carnal passions shared by he and wife Tessa, whose portrayer Rachel Weisz won an Oscar for the role. [Focus Features]
The gritty, often horrific 2003 drama Monster sets star Charlize Theron in a role that would win her Best Actress at the Academy Awards. Playing a tortured prostitute who seeks bloody catharsis through a vicious killing spree, Theron finds affection with another young woman: Christina Ricci… that is, when she’s not busy taking down scummy men. [DEJ Productions]
Kevin Spacey won the coveted Best Actor statuette in 1999 for his role as a depressed father confined to suburbia in American Beauty. While Spacey's Lester is often lost in his fantasies, one of the film's most memorable scenes comes (ha!) when Lester takes care of his own business in the shower. [DreamWorks]
After five unsuccessful nominations, Kate Winslet finally took home her Oscar in 2009 for The Reader. Hanna Schmitz (Winslet) begins a romance with the much younger Michael (David Kross) before being put on trial for war crimes she allegedly committed during World War II. While the idea of a woman in her thirties seducing a teen half her age comes with a major ick factor, Winslet's nude scenes, which include her undressing and bathing, are surprisingly tender. [The Weinstein Company]
Playing a nurse during World War II, Juliette Binoche falls for the nameless, injured soldier suffering from memory loss (Ralph Fiennes) for whom she is caring. Binoche was up against screen legend Lauren Bacall for Best Supporting Actress, but she managed to snag the trophy. We're sure her two nude scenes had nothing to do with the win...[Miramax]
Plagued with mental illness and a husband whose military career has placed tremendous strain on their marriage and happiness, you wouldn’t think that Jessica Lange would find a good deal of joy in the 1994 drama Blue Sky. But when the Oscar-winning actress shed layers for this scene, she seemed to be having a pretty free-wheelin’ time. [MGM]
Cuba Gooding Jr. famously cries, "Show me the money!" in 1996's Jerry Maguire, the film that ensured he would have "Oscar-Winning Actor" emblazoned before his name for the rest of his career. But Gooding shows us more than just his cash in a locker room scene with co-star Tom Cruise. [Warner Bros. Pictures]
Halle Berry became the first black woman to win the Best Actress Oscar in 2002, for a role in Monster's Ball that required her to strip down. In the film, Berry shares an intense sex scene with co-star Billy Bob Thornton. Coincidence? We think not. Here are 15 nude scenes (that range from sensual to terrible) that clinched the trophy for their stars, proving the link between nudity and Oscar wins. [Lionsgate]
You can't think of 1998's Shakespeare in Love without picturing the dramatic unraveling of Gwyneth Paltrow's chest bandage. The image — and the steamy sex scene that followed — must have left an impression on Oscar voters as well, as Paltrow took home the prize for Best Actress. [Miramax]
In the heartrending story of a marriage hitting the rocks, we see the once-ripe passions all but disappear entirely from between Kramer Vs. Kramer title characters Ted and Joanna. In such times of sorrow, these kinds of passions are sought elsewhere — specifically, in the bed of JoBeth Williams’ Phyllis Bernard, who disrobed to contribute to the roller coaster of emotions that we experienced when the film was named Best Picture in 1979. [Columbia Pictures]
Glenda Jackson won Best Actress in 1970 after baring her breasts in Ken Russell's adaptations of D.H. Lawrence's famously racy 1920 novel. [Brandywine Productions]
For her Best Actress-winning role in Klute (1971), Jane Fonda plays a prostitute who helps solve a missing persons case – so naturally she would show a little skin. Fonda's Bree Daniels falls for detective John Klute (Donald Sutherland), despite her wish to remain detached and the two share a memorable romp in a trundle bed. Fonda also appeared nude (with some help from a body double) in 1978's Coming Home, for which she won her second Oscar. [Tristar Pictures]
In this tragic tale of forbidden love, Holly Hunter's Ada consummates her affair with Harvey Keitel's George Baines to disastrous ends. Hunter won Best Actress for the role in 1994. Funnily, the same year, Hunter was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Firm. Hunter lost out in that category to her young Piano co-star, 11-year-old Anna Paquin. [Miramax]
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