Whoopi Goldberg won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Oda Mae Brown in Ghost (1990).
Oda Mae is a fraudulent medium who unexpectedly becomes able to hear Sam Wheat, the murdered banker played by Patrick Swayze. Her comic performance balances the film’s supernatural romance and crime-story elements. Goldberg also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the part.
Ghost was directed by Jerry Zucker and released in July 1990. It became one of the decade’s most successful films, combining romance, fantasy, thriller elements, and comedy. Its pottery-wheel scene, set to “Unchained Melody,” became especially famous.
A common mix-up is confusing Goldberg’s Oscar with the film’s other Academy Award: Ghost also won Best Original Screenplay. Demi Moore played Molly Jensen, while Swayze played Sam, so neither was the supporting-actress winner.