List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees explained

This is a list of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees in the award categories Acting and Directing.

This list is based on "statistics valid through the nomination announcement for the 88th Academy Awards, announced on January 14, 2016", as documented in The Official Academy Awards Database.^[1]

At the 90th Academy Awards, James Ivory became the oldest-ever Oscar winner in any category, at age 89, after receiving the award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on Call Me by Your Name.^[2] At the 93rd Academy Awards, Ann Roth became the oldest-ever woman to win an Oscar in any category, at age 89, after receiving the award for Best Costume Design for her work on Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.^[3]

At the 95th Academy Awards, John Williams became the oldest Oscar nominee in any category, at age 90, after receiving his 53rd Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for his work on The Fabelmans.^[4] At the 96th Academy Awards, he beat the record again, at age 91, after receiving his 54th Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for his work on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.^{[5] [6]}

There are only five people in Oscar history who have won two Oscars by the age of 30 or younger:

• • Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld and The Good Earth Jodie Foster for The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs
• Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby
• Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell for the songs No Time to Die from No Time to Die and What Was I Made for? from Barbie

Rainer, Foster, and Swank won their awards in the Best Actress category, while Eilish and O'Connell won theirs in the Best Original Song category. Eilish is the youngest person to have won two Oscars, aged 22 at the time of her second win.

Superlatives

Among the oldest and youngest winners and nominees of Academy Awards in standard competitive categories, the following superlatives emerge:

	Superlative	Overall		Director		Actor/Supporting Actor		Actress/Supporting Actress
Oldest Nominee		Age 88		Age 81		Age 88		Age 87
Oldest Winner		Age 83		Age 74		Age 83		Age 80
Youngest Nominee		Age 8		Age 24		Age 8		Age 9
Youngest Winner		Age 10		Age 32		Age 20		Age 10

Oldest winners

Source: "Academy Award Statistics: Directing: Oldest/Youngest Directing Nominees/Winners: AMPAS Awards Database^[7]

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			Million Dollar Baby	2004			Has held record for years (2005–present)
2			The Pianist	2002			Held record for 2 years (2003–2005)
3	67 years, 331 days	Jane Campion	The Power of the Dog	2021	April 30, 1954	March 27, 2022
4			My Fair Lady	1964			Held record for 38 years (1965–2003)
5			The Departed	2006
6		Clint Eastwood	Unforgiven	1992
7			Oliver!	1968
8			A Man for All Seasons	1966
9			Gandhi	1982
10			The Quiet Man	1952			Held record for 12 years (1953–1965)

Oldest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1	81 years, 67 days	Martin Scorsese	Killers of the Flower Moon	2023	November 17, 1942	January 23, 2024	Has held record for 0 years (2024–present)
2			Prizzi's Honor	1985			Held record for 38 years (1986–2024)
3			A Fish Called Wanda	1988
4		Martin Scorsese	The Irishman	2019
5			Gosford Park	2001
6			A Passage to India	1984			Held record for 1 year (1985–1986)
7			Letters from Iwo Jima	2006
8			Midnight in Paris	2011
9	76 years, 37 days	Steven Spielberg	The Fabelmans	2022	December 18, 1946	January 24, 2023
10			Ran	1985

Youngest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			La La Land	2016			Has held record for years (2017–present)
2			Skippy	1930/31			Held record for 86 years (1931–2017)
3			Two Arabian Knights	1927/28			Held record for 2 years (1929–1931)
4			American Beauty	1999
5			7th Heaven	1927/28
6			Everything Everywhere All at Once	2022
7		Lewis Milestone	All Quiet on the Western Front	1929/30
8			Everything Everywhere All at Once	2022
9			Tom Jones	1963
10			The Godfather Part II	1974

Youngest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Boyz n the Hood	1991			Has held record for years (1992–present)
2			Citizen Kane	1941			Held record for 50 years (1942–1992)
3			Henry V	1989
4			A Man and a Woman	1966
5			The Sixth Sense	1999
6			American Graffiti	1973
7			Beasts of the Southern Wild	2012
8			Juno	2007
9			Being John Malkovich	1999
10			Close Encounters of the Third Kind	1977

Source: "Academy Award Statistics: Acting: Oldest/Youngest Winners and Nominees for Acting, By Category: Actor [in a Leading Role]", AMPAS Awards Database^[8]

Oldest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			The Father	2020			Has held record for 3 years (2021–present); Oldest acting winner in any category
2			On Golden Pond	1981			Held record for 39 years (1982–2021)
3			True Grit	1969			Held record for 12 years (1970–1982)
4			Disraeli	1929/30			Held record for 40 years (1930–1970)
5			The Color of Money	1986
6			As Good as It Gets	1997
7			Network	1976			Posthumous award
8			Crazy Heart	2009
9			Darkest Hour	2017
10			A Double Life	1947

Oldest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			The Father	2020			Winner Has held record for years (2021–present)
2			The Straight Story	1999			Held record for 21 years (2000–2021)
3			Nebraska	2013
4			On Golden Pond	1981			Winner Held record for 18 years (1982–2000)
5			Million Dollar Baby	2004
6			Venus	2006
7	73 years, 43 days	Bill Nighy	Living	2022	December 12, 1949	January 24, 2023
8			Invictus	2009
9			The Two Popes	2019
10			The Boys from Brazil	1978			Held record for 3 years (1979–1982)

Youngest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			The Pianist	2002			Has held record for years (2003–present)
2			The Goodbye Girl	1977			Held record for 25 years (1978–2003)
3			On the Waterfront	1954			Held record for 23 years (1955–1978)
4			Judgment at Nuremberg	1961
5			Leaving Las Vegas	1995
6			The Philadelphia Story	1940			Held record for 14 years (1941–1955)
7			My Left Foot	1989
8			The Theory of Everything	2014
9			It Happened One Night	1934			Held record for 6 years (1935–1941)
10			The Private Life of Henry VIII	1932/33			Held record for 1 year (1934–1935)

Youngest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Skippy	1930/31			Has held record for years (1931–present)
2			Babes in Arms	1939
3			Call Me by Your Name	2017
4		Mickey Rooney	The Human Comedy	1943
5			Saturday Night Fever	1977
6			East of Eden	1955			Posthumous nomination
7			Giant	1956
8			Half Nelson	2006
9			Citizen Kane	1941
10			Brokeback Mountain	2005

Source: "Academy Award Statistics: Acting: Oldest/Youngest Winners and Nominees for Acting, By Category: Actress [in a Leading Role]", AMPAS Awards Database^[8]

Oldest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			Driving Miss Daisy	1989			Has held record for years (1990–present)
2			On Golden Pond	1981			Held record for 8 years (1982–1990)
3			Nomadland	2020
4			Min and Bill	1930/31			Held record for 51 years (1931–1982)
5			The Iron Lady	2011
6		Katharine Hepburn	The Lion in Winter	1968
7			The Queen	2006
8			The Trip to Bountiful	1985
9		Katharine Hepburn	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	1967
10		Frances McDormand	Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri	2017

Oldest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Amour	2012			Has held record for years (2013–present)
2			Driving Miss Daisy	1989			Winner Held record for 23 years (1990–2013)
3			The Whisperers	1967			Held record for 22 years (1968–1990)
4			Philomena	2013
5			Lady for a Day	1932/33			Held record for 34 years (1934–1968)
6			On Golden Pond	1981			Winner
7			Notes on a Scandal	2006
8			The Wife	2018
9			Mrs Henderson Presents	2005
10			45 Years	2015

Youngest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			Children of a Lesser God	1986			Has held record for years (1987–present)
2			Silver Linings Playbook	2012
3			7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise	1927/28			Held record for 58 years (1929–1987)
4			Suspicion	1941
5			Roman Holiday	1953
6			The Song of Bernadette	1943
7			The Country Girl	1954
8			Boys Don't Cry	1999
9			Darling	1965
10			Gone with the Wind	1939

Youngest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Beasts of the Southern Wild	2012			Has held record for years (2013–present)
2			Whale Rider	2003			Held record for 9 years (2004–2013)
3			Winter's Bone	2010
4			The Story of Adele H.	1975			Held record for 28 years (1976–2004)
5			Pride & Prejudice	2005
6			Juno	2007			Page was presenting as female when he received this nomination. He came out as transmasculine in 2020.
7			Children of a Lesser God	1986			Winner
8			Brooklyn	2015
9			A Patch of Blue	1965			Held record for 10 years (1966–1976)
10			Titanic	1997

Source: "Academy Award Statistics: Acting: Oldest/Youngest Winners and Nominees for Acting, By Category: Actor [in a Supporting Role]", AMPAS Awards Database^[8]

Oldest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			Beginners	2011			Has held record for years (2012–present)
2			The Sunshine Boys	1975			Held record for 36 years (1976–2012)
3			Being There	1979
4			Arthur	1981
5			Cocoon	1985
6			City Slickers	1991
7			Little Miss Sunshine	2006
8			The Paper Chase	1973			Held record for 2 years (1974–1976)
9			Affliction	1998
10			Miracle on 34th Street	1947			Held record for 26 years (1948–1974)

Oldest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			All the Money in the World	2017			Oldest nominee in any acting category Has held record for years (2018–present)
2			The Fabelmans	2022
3			The Judge	2014			Held the record for 3 years (2015–2018)
4			Into the Wild	2007			Held the record for 7 years (2008–2015)
5			Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	2011
6				1984			Posthumous nomination Held record for 23 years (1985–2008)
7		Christopher Plummer	Beginners	2011			Winner
8			The Two Popes	2019
9	80 years, 159 days	Robert De Niro	Killers of the Flower Moon	2023	August 17, 1943	January 23, 2024
10		Christopher Plummer	The Last Station	2009

Youngest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			Ordinary People	1980			Has held record for years (1981–present)
2			Jerry Maguire	1996
3			West Side Story	1961			Held record for 19 years (1962–1981)
4			The Dark Knight	2008			Posthumous
5			Mister Roberts	1955			Held record for 6 years (1956–1962)
6			The Godfather Part II	1974
7			Judas and the Black Messiah	2020
8			The Best Years of Our Lives	1946			Held record for 9 years (1947–1956)
9			Traffic	2000
10			Johnny Eager	1942			Held record for 4 years (1943–1947)

Youngest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Kramer vs. Kramer	1979			Youngest nominee in any category Has held record for years (1980–present)
2			The Sixth Sense	1999
3			Shane	1953			Held record for 26 years (1954–1980)
4			Oliver!	1968
5			Rebel Without a Cause	1955
6			Running on Empty	1988
7			What's Eating Gilbert Grape	1993
8			Manchester by the Sea	2016
9			Ordinary People	1980			Winner
10		Sal Mineo	Exodus	1960

Source: "Academy Award Statistics: Acting: Oldest/Youngest Winners and Nominees for Acting, By Category: Actress [in a Supporting Role]", AMPAS Awards Database^[8]

Oldest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			A Passage to India	1984			Has held record for years (1985–present)
2			Harvey	1950			Held record for 34 years (1951–1985)
3			Minari	2020
4			Rosemary's Baby	1968
5			The V.I.P.s	1963
6			Airport	1970
7			None But the Lonely Heart	1944			Held record for 6 years (1945–1951)
8			Everything Everywhere All at Once	2022
9			Shakespeare in Love	1998
10			Network	1976

Oldest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Titanic	1997			Has held record for years (1998–present)
2	87 years, 61 days	Judi Dench	Belfast	2021	December 9, 1934	February 8, 2022
3			American Gangster	2007
4			Nebraska	2013
5			Fried Green Tomatoes	1991			Held record for 6 years (1992–1998)
6			Resurrection	1980			Held record for 11 years (1981–1992)
7			The Whales of August	1987
8			Mrs. Miniver	1942			Held record for 38 years (1943–1981)
9			A Passage to India	1984			Winner
10			The Chalk Garden	1964

Youngest winners

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1			Paper Moon	1973			Youngest winner in any competitive category. Has held record for years (1974–present)
2			The Piano	1993
3			The Miracle Worker	1962			Held record for years (1963–1974)
4			The Razor's Edge	1946			Held record for years (1947–1963)
5			Mrs. Miniver	1942			Held record for years (1943–1947)
6			Cactus Flower	1969
7			Girl, Interrupted	1999
8			Dreamgirls	2006
9			Elmer Gantry	1960
10			The Danish Girl	2015

Youngest nominees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Nomination	Notes
1			Paper Moon	1973			Winner Has held record for years (1974–present)
2			To Kill a Mockingbird	1962			Held record for 11 years (1963–1974)
3			The Goodbye Girl	1977
4			Little Miss Sunshine	2006
5			The Bad Seed	1956			Held record for 6 years (1957–1963)
6			The Piano	1993			Winner
7			Atonement	2007
8			These Three	1936			Held record for 20 years (1937–1957)
9			True Grit	2010
10			Taxi Driver	1976

Honorary Awards

Source: "Academy Award Statistics: Acting: Oldest/Youngest Winners and Nominees for Acting, By Category: Acting Honorary Award Winners", AMPAS Awards Database^[8]

Oldest honorees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1				2007			Has held record for years (2008–present)
2				2023
3				2010
4				2014
5				2018
6				1983			Held record for 24 years (1984–2008)
7				2024
8				2019
9				2016
10				2021

Oldest acting honorees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1				2010			Has held record for years (2010–present)
2				2014
3				2018
4				2013
5				1990			Held record for 19 years (1991–2010)
6				2015
7				2009
8				1975			Held record for 15 years (1976–1991)
9				1973			Held record for 2 years (1974–1976)
10				2021

Youngest honorees

Rank	Age	Name	Film	Year in Film	Date of Birth	Date of Award	Notes
1				1934			Has held record for years (1935–present)
2			The Little Kidnappers	1954
3			Meet Me in St. Louis	1944
4			The Little Kidnappers	1954
5			The Search	1948
6			The Yearling	1946
7				1949
8			A Tree Grows in Brooklyn	1945
9			Pollyanna	1960
10				1938

See also

• Academy Award
• Academy Juvenile Award
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
• List of posthumous Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of superlative Academy Award winners and nominees

External links

• "Academy Award Statistics" – Index ("Statistics Menu") published in The Official Academy Awards Database (Awards Database), on the official AMPAS website. ("Statistics are arranged by award category and represent eighty years of Academy Awards history through the 80th Academy Awards, presented on February 24, 2008." [Documents for "Directing" and "Acting" both last updated March 2008.])
• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) – Official website.

Notes and References

1. Web site: . The Official Academy Awards Database . https://archive.today/20120701144137/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/ . dead . 2012-07-01 . oscars.org (AMPAS) . 2008-02-24 . 2008-07-27 . The [searchable] Academy Awards Database contains the record of past Academy Award winners and nominees. The data is complete through the 2008 (81st) Academy Awards. ... The ["Academy Award Statistics" in the "Directing" and "Acting" sections of the ''Awards Database''] are based on the most reliable birthdate information available to us at the time of publishing. We welcome any information from primary sources that might indicate a different birthdate for an individual. Such sources might be birth or death certificates or databases based on such records, published interviews with the individual or published documents that cite their sources. This would not include the Internet Movie Database or other web sites that do not cite primary sources for their information. . N.B.: Ages (including for those persons receiving nominations and/or awards posthumously) are computed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS); for nominations, all ages are computed "from date of birth to date of nominations announcement"; for awards won, all ages are computed "from date of birth to date of awards ceremony."
2. Web site: James Ivory Becomes Oldest Oscar Winner on Record in Any Category . Verhoeven . Beatrice . The Wrap . March 4, 2018 . March 5, 2018.
3. Web site: Ann Roth is now the oldest woman to win a competitive Oscar . Ordoña . Michael . Los Angeles Times. April 25, 2021 . April 26, 2021.
4. Web site: John Williams Sets Record For Oldest Oscar Nominee; Judd Hirsch Becomes Second-Oldest Acting Nominee 42 Years After His First Nom . Andreeva . Nellie . Deadline . January 24, 2023 . January 25, 2023.
5. Web site: France . Lisa Respers . 2024-01-23 . Oscar nominations 2024: See the full list of nominees . 2024-01-23 . CNN . en.
6. Web site: France . Lisa Respers . 2024-01-23 . Martin Scorsese and John Williams just made Oscars history . 2024-01-23 . CNN . en.
7. Web site: . Oldest/Youngest Directing Nominees/Winners . Awards Database . oscars.org (AMPAS) . March 2008 . 2008-07-27 . Statistics are valid through the 2007 (80th) Awards, presented on February 24, 2008. [document last updated 3/08] ... (indicates a win). . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090301005626/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/helpMain.jsp?helpContentURL=statistics%2FindexStats.html . March 1, 2009 .
8. Web site: . Oldest/Youngest Winners and Nominees for Acting, By Category . Awards Database . oscars.org (AMPAS) . March 2008 . 2008-07-27 . Statistics are valid through the 2007 (80th) Awards, presented on February 24, 2008. [document last updated 3/08] ... (indicates a win). . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090301005626/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/help/helpMain.jsp?helpContentURL=statistics%2FindexStats.html . March 1, 2009 .