This year’s Academy Award nominations held a pleasant surprise and new record. In the Best Actress in a Leading Role category, we have both the oldest and the youngest nominees in the history of the Oscars. Emmanuelle Riva [2], nominated for the foreign film Amour, was 85 years old when announcements were made last week. At the other end of the spectrum is Quvenzhané Wallis [3], star of Beasts of the Southern Wild, who was 9 years old. These records will probably stand for a long time to come.
But I did start to wonder about past Oscar winners and nominees. Who were the oldest and the youngest before now? Below are the actors and actresses who had the records for a while. A few still do. And we’re fortunate to have copies of many of the movies that won them so much acclaim.
Oldest Winners
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Tandy [4](80) -- Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Katharine Hepburn [5](74) – On Golden Pond (1981)
Marie Dressler [6](63) – Min and Bill (1930/31)
Katharine Hepburn [5](61) – The Lion in Winter (1968)
Helen Mirren [7](61) – The Queen (2006)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Peggy Ashcroft [8](77) – A Passage to India (1984)
Josephine Hull [9](74) – Harvey (1950)
Ruth Gordon [10](72) – Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Margaret Rutherford [11](71) – The V.I.P.’s (1963)
Helen Hayes [12](70) – Airport (1970)
Actor in a Leading Role
Henry Fonda [13](76) – On Golden Pond (1981)
John Wayne [14](62) – True Grit (1969)
George Arliss (62) – Disraeli (1929/30)
Paul Newman [15](62) – The Color of Money (1986)
Jack Nicholson [16] (60) – As Good as it Gets (1997)
Actor in a Supporting Role
Christopher Plummer [17](82) – Beginners (2011)
George Burns [18](80) – The Sunshine Boys (1975)
Melvyn Douglas [19](79) – Being There (1979)
John Gielgud [20](77) – Arthur (1981)
Don Ameche [21](77) – Cocoon (1985)
Youngest Winners
Actress in a Leading Role
Marlee Matlin [22](21) – Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Janet Gaynor [23](22) – 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise (1927/28)
Joan Fontaine [24](24) – Suspicion (1941)
Audrey Hepburn [25](24) – Roman Holiday (1953)
Jennifer Jones [26](25) – The Song of Bernadette (1943)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Tatum O’Neal [27](10) – Paper Moon (1973)
Anna Paquin [28](11) – The Piano (1993)
Patty Duke [29](16) – The Miracle Worker (1962)
Anne Baxter [30](23) – The Razor’s Edge (1946)
Teresa Wright [31](24) – Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody [32](29) – The Pianist (2002)
Richard Dreyfuss [33](30) – The Goodbye Girl (1977)
Marlon Brando [34](30) – On the Waterfront (1954)
Maximilian Schell [35](31) – Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Nicolas Cage [36](32) – Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Actor in a Supporting Role
Timothy Hutton [37](20) – Ordinary People (1980)
Cuba Gooding, Jr. [38](29) – Jerry Maguire (1996)
George Chakiris [39](29) – West Side Story (1961)
Heath Ledger [40](29) – The Dark Knight (2008)
Jack Lemmon [41](31) – Mister Roberts (1955)
For more complete lists of winners and of the nominees, check Oldest/Youngest Acting Nominees and Winners by Category [42] at the official Academy Awards site.
Flickr: CC [43] : Oscar [44] Photo by Kara Brugman [45]
- Academy Awards [46]
- Movies [47]
- Oscars [48]
