Oakwood-raised actress up for first Oscar

On the heels of seizing a Screen Actors Guild best supporting actress win for her role as LaVona Harding, figure skater Tonya Harding's mother, in the dramatic dark comedy "I, Tonya," the Oakwood-raised star has nabbed her first  Academy Award nomination.

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With wins at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes for this same role, Janney is considered the front-runner. 

The other nominees for best supporting actress are: Mary J. Blige in “Mudbound,” Leslie Manville in “Phantom Thread,” Laurie Metcalf in “Lady Bird” and Octavia Spencer in “The Shape of Water.”

If she wins, she will be the first Daytonian awarded an Academy Award in an acting category. 

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Not only did Janney, the star of CBS’s “Mom,”  win the SAG award for the portrayal of Harding’s mom, but also nabbed the Golden Globe and other major supporting actress awards.

"She is certainly the front-runner," Jonathan McNeal, a film expert and manager of the Neon movies, told us. "The only other person in contention is Laurie Metcalf for 'Lady Bird,' but I think it is really Allison's. She is the best thing about 'I, Tonya'."

“Mom” airs weekly on WHIO-TV.

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In September, the former Miami Valley School student and Ashley's Pastry Shop fanatic was inducted into the Dayton Region's Walk of Fame. She told this news organization then she'd place that hometown award next to her major acting statues and recognitions.

In addition to her recent wins for her role in “I, Tonya,” Janney has won Emmy awards for her television roles on “Mom” as well as “The West Wing” and a guest role on “Masters of Sex.”

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McNeal said Janney's mom, Macy, who she praised as a role model in last Sunday's edition of "Parade"magazine (an insert in the Dayton Daily News), is a Neon regular.