Absolutely. I was in fact surprised Shepard got the nod ahead of Quaid, who I viewed as, if anyone, the film's standout. Shepard was in the news more often, however.Precious Doll wrote:The Right Stuff should have yielded more supporting actor nominees other then Sam Shepard. Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid & Fred Ward were all worthy of serious consideration.
Looking at all Mike's examples, and the others we've come up with as possible three-ers, I think we might conclude that, so far, the secret ingredient for getting this rare triple placement is to be not just a best picture nominee but a best picture winner.
In fact -- this is sliding way off-topic -- back in early '75, I thought Chinatown had the edge in the best film race because it had all the tech nominations Godfather II missed (including that all-important editing nod). In retrospect, though, the surprise extra slot for Gazzo (and Shire as well) should have been a tip-off that the dominant actors' branch was going all in for Coppola's film.