Sandra Bullock falls victim to Oscars ‘curse’

LOS ANGELES: Sandra Bullock has had her life turned upside down after winning the Oscar for Best Actress in The Blind Side.

The latest news from the 45 year-old Hollywood actor is that she has adopted a African American baby boy, Louis Badro Bullock, and filed for divorce from husband Jesse James. It followed reports that James — who Bullock proudly stated had “got her back” during her win at the Golden Globes in January — had cheated repeatedly with a tattooed stripper and other women.

Yet Bullock was only the latest woman to have been brought back to Earth after receiving the crowning glory of a best actress Academy Award. In the past 12 years, eight other best actress winners have split with their husbands or long-term partners after winning one of the gold statuettes — Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Charlize Theron, Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Helen Hunt. Six of those partings -- involving Bullock, Winslet, Swank, Witherspoon, Paltrow, Roberts -- occurred less than a year after an Oscar triumph.

Berry and Hunt split with their respective partners, Eric Benet and Hank Azaria, less than two years after collecting Oscars. More often than not, Oscar-winning actresses have paid tribute to their significant others during their acceptance speeches. Witherspoon praised her “wonderful husband” Ryan Philippe when she was honored for Walk the Line in 2006 while Swank described husband Chad Lowe as “my everything,” when she won for Million Dollar Baby in 2005.

Bullock did not mention James during her acceptance speech at the Kodak Theatre on March 7, but her burly husband could be seen welling up as his wife poignantly paid tribute to her late mother. James meanwhile could be said to have fallen victim to a curse affecting reality television stars. James, the star of the series “Monster Garage,” first met Bullock after she arranged for her 10-year-old godson to tour the set of the show.

Now James has joined Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Whitney Houston and Carmen Electra as personalities whose marriages have ended after participation in reality television shows.