Marquette Alumna Amy Madigan Makes History With Oscar Win

Incredible! A famous actress with Wisconsin ties not only won an Oscar at the big ceremony but also made history while doing so in a bunch of different ways. This is awesome!

The ceremony was held in Los Angeles on Sunday night (March 15th) and is the top award show in the business. In fact, you have a 1 in 310-million chance of ever winning the shiny gold statue in your lifetime.

Get our free mobile app

One of the big winners of the night broke right through that statistic - making history and representing Wisconsin in a huge way along the way. Congratulations to Amy Madigan, the winner of Best Supporting Actress for her role as Aunt Gladys in Weapons.

In doing so, she became the second oldest actress to ever win in the category. She's proof to never give up on your dreams - she's 75 years old!

Wisconsin Resident (For A Short Time!) Scores An Academy Award

The 2026 ceremony was a big one and her category kicked it all off. The actress attended Marquette University in Milwaukee. She earned a degree in Philosophy back in 1972. A few years later, she moved to Hollywood.

RELATED: Why Sean Penn Skipped The Oscars - And His Acceptance Speech

Her alma mater was so proud of her that they gave her a big congratulations just minutes after her win on social media. The whole world is proud of her and I am sure she loved the shoutout from the place that started it all.

As if this wasn't cool enough, she also made history yet again back when the nominations were announced. She holds the record for the longest gap between nominations - forty years! - and it surely paid off.

RELATED: Duluth Actress Snags Role In Huge Hollywood Comedy

Her last nomination was in 1986 for Twice In A Lifetime. Horror performances are also typically overlooked at the award show, making the win even that much cooler. Her speech was also awesome!

I love award season! It's fun to see such a strange and unique character like Aunt Gladys get some national attention.