As time has proven, an Oscar win doesn't always translate into Hollywood superstardom for the people who take home the statuette.

For example, Michael Cimino won the 1978 Best Director Oscar for "The Deer Hunter," which also won Best Picture. Since following that up with the flop "Heaven's Gate" in 1980, he's directed only five films, including the 1985 Mickey Rourke film "Year of the Dragon" and the 1996 Woody Harrelson indie drama "The Sunchaser."

Cimino's most recent credit is from 2007, when he directed a short for "Chacun Son Cinéma," a French film featuring 33 shorts by different directors.

Or take Mira Sorvino. She was at the top of the world after winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the 1995 Woody Allen film "Mighty Aphrodite." Her subsequent film choices, such as "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" and "Mimic," derailed that.

She did play Marilyn Monroe in the 1996 HBO movie "Norma Jean & Marilyn" and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the Lifetime film "Human Trafficking," but most of her roles have been on television or in lower budget and independent films since the late-1990s. Her most recent credits include TV appearances on "House M.D." and "The Last Templar" and the 2009 indie film "Like Dandelion Dust."

Some actors, of course, choose to take different paths, and aren't completely out of show business after thanking the Academy at the podium.

Mercedes Ruehl, for example, found plenty of awards success after her Best Supporting Actress for the 1991 drama "The Fisher King," but on Broadway with a Best Actress Tony win and two other nominations.

Click here to see what else the actress and other lone Oscar winners are up to today.