Every month, we’re going to be looking at the Oscars in a different way. While most of our content deals with predictions and precursors and reviews and previews and everything in between, the facts and statistics surrounding the Oscars are seldom referenced but in passing. These articles will change that. No more than once a month, we’ll take a narrow (or broad as it suits) look at statistics about and surrounding the Oscars.

One of the myriad controversies that surround the Academy Awards is their comparative treatment of men and women in the acting categories; frequently honoring younger or older actresses while ignoring middle-aged ones and treating their male counterparts differently. There is some truth in this idea as the data I put together for this article shows. While I will mostly be discussing the discrepancy in ages, this article will also look at records regarding age in general, not just in specific to the question of “are the Oscars Ageist?”

However, it is with caution that I urge you to take data like this. There are a lot of mitigating factors at play in Oscar nominations that cannot possibly be interpreted with raw data. Some of those factors are worrisome in their own right while others are merely a byproduct of a recognition system that plays up certain types of performances from certain types of films rather than making nominations out of a broader range of available content.

The absolute baseline of data for this article is based on the age of an actor at the time of their nomination (the day nominations were announced) or at the time they were formally awarded the prize (the day of the ceremony). Four things of note on this. First is that in the early days of the Academy Awards, winners were announced prior to the ceremony. For consistency, I applied the ceremony date rule to all winners. The second is that at the 2nd Academy Awards, no formal nominations were announced. I still have a date for that year and while I have eliminated that year from the overarching data I’ll start off with, many of the other facts and figures do include that year. While I would like to say that this is for consistency, it’s more for ease of data tabulation and collection.

The third caveat is regarding the early nominations data. I tried to collect the most accurate data possible as the Academy’s own website is a bit light on the information. As such, a couple of the nominations announcement dates are off by a day or two at maximum. This won’t cause too big an issue regarding the accuracy of data, but it does shine a light on the difficulty of getting the most accurate data. The fourth is that the Academy’s records calculate the dates on posthumous nominees and winners on the date of the nomination or win rather than on the date of the actor’s death. I did not do this. As such, James Dean, Heath Ledger, Ralph Richardson, and all other posthumous nominees and winners most notably are listed as being younger than the Academy’s records show when they accomplished their age-related records.

No on to the overall assessment. The easiest way to showcase the difference between male actors and female actors is to look at how the average age of nominees and winners compare to counterparts from other categories. I have broken each category into the following data points: Average (Overall) – This is averaging out all nominees and winners across all 89 Academy Awards years; Average (20 Years) – This looks at only the nominees and winners of the last 20 years; Average (10 Years) – This looks at only the last ten years; and Average (5 Years) – This only looks at the last five.

What this does is examine how recent trends compare to the overall and then provides an opportunity to see where there might be improvement or a lack thereof. The truth is, sometimes the more frequent citation of older actresses than older actors can skew averages, but that’s a different topic we’ll tackle later in this article. Before we dig into the numbers, here they are so you can reference them as we chat.

Acting Averages – Nominations

Best Actor

Average (Overall) – 43 years, 182 days
Average (20 Years) – 47 years, 159 days
Average (10 Years) – 48 years, 147 days
Average (5 Years) – 46 years, 125 days

Best Actress

Average (Overall) – 37 years, 191 days
Average (20 Years) – 41 years, 185 days
Average (10 Years) – 42 years, 200 days
Average (5 Years) – 43 years, 187 days

Best Supporting Actor

Average (Overall) – 46 years, 182 days
Average (20 Years) – 49 years, 184 days
Average (10 Years) – 49 years, 169 days
Average (5 Years) – 49 years, 148 days

Best Supporting Actress

Average (Overall) – 40 years, 177 days
Average (20 Years) – 41 years, 186 days
Average (10 Years) – 42 years, 180 days
Average (5 Years) – 44 years, 183 days

Now let’s do some comparisons. First, we’ll look at how the averages have changed over time on the nominations side. In Best Actor, the average over 89 years is 43 years, 200 days. Comparative, in the last 20 years, the average has been higher by 4 years and as you get closer to the present, it’s only dropped to a 3 years difference. For Best Actress, The 89-year average is 37 years, 191 days. The 20 year average is 41 years and has been consistently increasing ever since. In five years, the average now sits 6 years higher. That’s a noticeable difference. Yet, comparing Actor and Actress, the Actors are definitely older. While the average over 89 years is a 6-point difference, in the last five years, that average has dropped to a 3-year difference. There’s more to these numbers, though, so saying it’s an improvement is an oversimplification.

On the supporting side, the average age of a Best Supporting Actor nominee over the 89 years is 46 years, 182 days. In the last 20, 10, and 5 years, that average has sat at a consistent 49 years. On the Supporting Actress side, the average has also been creeping up steadily. In 89 years, the average was 40 years, 177 days. That went from 41 in the last 20 years up to 44 in the last 5. Comparing the men and women, the 89-year average is a 6-point difference whereas the five-year numbers are a 5-point difference. That isn’t a marked improvement.

Acting Averages – Winners

Best Actor

Average (Overall) – 44 years, 193 days
Average (20 Years) – 44 years, 200 days
Average (10 Years) – 46 years, 178 days
Average (5 Years) – 43 years, 155 days

Best Actress

Average (Overall) – 36 years, 186 days
Average (20 Years) – 36 years, 209 days
Average (10 Years) – 38 years, 185 days
Average (5 Years) – 35 years, 166 days

Best Supporting Actor

Average (Overall) – 50 years, 178 days
Average (20 Years) – 52 years, 167 days
Average (10 Years) – 50 years, 125 days
Average (5 Years) – 51 years, 61 days

Best Supporting Actress

Average (Overall) – 40 years, 174 days
Average (20 Years) – 38 years, 192 days
Average (10 Years) – 40 years, 171 days
Average (5 Years) – 37 years, 154 days

We now do the same for the winners, which tells an entirely different story. For Best Actor, the 89-year average is 44 years, 193 days. It’s the same at 20 years, slightly higher for 10, and 1 year lower in the last 5. That’s little in the way of change. In Best Actress, 36 years, 186 days is the 89-year average. It’s the same at 20, slightly higher for 10, and a year lower for the last 5. The male and female categories are exactly the same number of years apart: 8. It follows that while the nominations have been more spread out in terms of age, the winners remain incredibly far apart.

The supporting categories are almost worse. For the Best Supporting Actor category, the average over 89 years was 50 years, 178 days. That goes up at 20 years, remains consistent at 10, and ticks up slightly at 5 years, a 1-year difference. In Best Supporting Actress, the 89-year average is 40 years, 197 days. That goes down at 20 years, back up at 10, and back down again at 5 years, for a decrease of an average of 3 years. That means that the supporting categories have shifted from an older demo for Actors over Actresses of 10 years to a staggering 14-year differential. This is almost triple the comparative nominations averages.

So, why are the nominations averages more consistently even compared to the winner averages? It’s who’s being nominated. Although Katharine Hepburn has 12 nominations, she was nominated across a larger span of time than someone like Judi Dench, who burst onto the Oscar scene in the last two decades. In recent years, the Academy has shown a greater capacity of recognizing actresses over 60 than they once did.

This is where the Academy’s numbers are undoubtedly skewed. Although the age ranges between lead actors and actresses are relatively narrow, the Academy has a higher tendency to recognize older actresses, who counter-balance the number of younger actresses. As part of my initial observations of the data, I highlighted actors and actresses under the age of 30 and those 60 years or older. What I found was that recognition of younger performers was higher in the Best Actress category than in the Best Actor category. A similar, but more muted comparison was found in the supporting categories. Older performers were more evenly-matched.

Historically, 26 individuals have been nominated in Best Actor who were under 30. In Best Actress, the number was 108. In Supporting Actor, that figure is 43, while in Supporting Actress, it’s 95. Looking solely at the last 20 years, 6 Best Actor nominees have been under 30; 22 actresses have been nominated under that age; in Supporting Actor, the number is 9; and in Supporting Actress, it’s 18.

While we’ve focused in on the young nominees, we also need to examine how older nominees are treated. Historically, the numbers for acting nominees 60 or older are Best Actor 39; Best Actress 30; Best Supporting Actor 77; Best Supporting Actress 49. The difference between the lead categories isn’t very noticeable, but in support, the numbers are heavily skewed towards older actors. As for the last twenty years, the figures come in as follows: In Best Actor, 18 actors who are 60 years of age or older were nominated. Best Actress saw 18 as well. In the supporting categories, the numbers were 24 for actors and 10 for actresses. This indicates a tightening of consideration for older lead actresses compared to actors, but a continued heavy disparity in the supporting categories.

To look further at the data, we can see a trend based on the percentage of nominees and winners in each age bracket. The following chart shows numbers and percentages. We’ll discuss these immediately after the charts.

Number of Nominees in Each Age Range by Category

Age Range

|

Actor

|

Actress

|

S. Actor

|

S. Actress

Age 0-9 Age 10-19 Age 20-29 Age 30-39 Age 40-49 Age 50-59 Age 60-69 Age 70-79 Age 80-87

| | | | | | | | |

1 1 24 163 134 75 30 9 0

0.2% 0.2% 5.5% 37.3% 30.7% 17.2% 6.9% 2.1% 0.0%

| | | | | | | | |

1 1 106 201 80 22 22 5 3

0.2% 0.2% 24.0% 45.6% 18.1% 5.0% 5.0% 1.1% 0.7%

| | | | | | | | |

1 6 36 104 105 76 48 22 7

0.2% 1.5% 8.9% 25.7% 25.9% 18.8% 11.9% 5.4% 1.7%

| | | | | | | | |

0 20 75 120 92 49 30 14 5

0.0% 4.9% 18.5% 29.6% 22.7% 12.1% 7.4% 3.5% 1.2%

And here we come to the most obvious sign that there’s a severe age discrepancy between men and women at the Oscars. First let’s look at where the highest percentage of nominations come. For Best Actor, it’s the 30-39 year age range that saw the most with 37.3% and 40-49 with 30.7%. By contrast, Best Actress is 45.6% in 30-39 and 24.0% in 20-29. To put it another way, in Best Actor, 50% of actors have been 41 years or younger (that’s the median age for the category). In Best Actress, it’s 35, a six-year difference.

In the supporting categories, it’s similar. Best Supporting Actor has 25.9% in the 40-49 year range and 25.7% in 30-39. Best Supporting Actress is the reverse with 29.6% in 30-39 and 22.7% in 40-49. The medians there are 45 in Best Supporting Actor and 38 in Best Supporting Actress, a seven-year discrepancy.

Thus, historically, only 26 actors have been nominated for Best Actor in their 20s or younger while Best Actress has seen 108. That’s a difference of 82. The entirety of that difference is in the 20-29 year range, as both categories have seen a single nominee in their teens and a single nominee under the age of 10 nominated.

Best Supporting Actor has featured 42 actors under the age of 30 nominated. 95 actresses have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress, a difference of 53. While Supporting Actor is the only one to feature a nominee below 10, in the 11-19 range, there are 6 actors and 20 actresses.

Number of Winners in Each Age Range by Category

Age Range

|

Actor

|

Actress

|

S. Actor

|

S. Actress

Age 0-9 Age 10-19 Age 20-29 Age 30-39 Age 40-49 Age 50-59 Age 60-69 Age 70-79 Age 80-87

| | | | | | | | |

0 0 1 31 37 14 6 1 0

0.0% 0.0% 1.1% 34.4% 41.1% 15.6% 6.7% 1.1% 0.0%

| | | | | | | | |

0 0 32 35 13 2 6 1 1

0.0% 0.0% 35.6% 38.9% 14.4% 2.2% 6.7% 1.1% 1.1%

| | | | | | | | |

0 0 4 15 28 13 11 8 2

0.0% 0.0% 4.9% 18.5% 34.6% 16.0% 13.6% 9.9% 2.5%

| | | | | | | | |

0 3 14 26 23 6 4 5 0

0.0% 3.7% 17.3% 32.1% 28.4% 7.4% 4.9% 6.2% 0.0%

If we just looked at nominees, we could see that there’s an obvious bias towards younger actresses than actors. However, looking at the winners, an even more dire result occurs. 41.1% of Best Actors winners have been in their 40s. 34.4% have been in their 30s. Only one actor has ever won under the age of 30. In Best Actress, 38.9% of winners were in their 30s and 35.6% were in their 20s. That’s 32 actresses under the age of 30 compared to one in Best Actor.

Looking at this on the other end of the age spectrum, 21 Best Actor winners have been over the age of 50. In Best Actress, that number is 10. Only 2 women in their 50s have managed to secure Oscars and that’s dispiriting, especially since 14 men have achieved that. Above 60, the numbers are almost at parity with 6 in both categories between 60 and 69, and 1 each between 70 and 79. Best Actress is the only category to see a winner over the age of 80 and that was veteran stage and screen actress Jessica Tandy in 1989, twenty-eight years ago.

On the supporting side, we have actors at 34.6% in their 40s and 18.5% in their 30s. Actresses are at 32.1% in their 30s and 28.4% in their 40s. Comparatively, only 4 actors under the age of 30 have ever won supporting Oscars. By contrast, 17 actresses have done so. On the flip side, 34 actors over the age of 50 have won Oscars and actresses total 15. Over 60, that number is 21 for actors and 11 for actresses. One step further into the 70s, 10 actors and 5 actresses have won. Unlike lead, the only over-80 performers to win were in Best Supporting Actor. Those were George Burns and Christopher Plummer.

Another factor that is interesting to look at and provides an equally compelling gauge is looking at the combined list of actors and how they compare. For example, combining lead and supporting actor and actress nominees only, of the 50 youngest actors, 13 are men, 37 are women. 11 are lead performances, 39 are supporting ones. On the combined winners side, of the 50 youngest winners in all acting categories, only 3 are men. The other 47 are women. That’s a huge discrepancy. 19 of those are supporting roles, the other 21 are lead. All 3 of the winning men were in support.

Is this all because women mature as actors earlier than men, is it inherent sexism, or is it a reflection of the industry as a whole? We already know that sexism is rampant in the entertainment industry and that’s confirmed by factors such as pay disparity and lack of women in positions of authority or power at film studios and in production, but it’s also less obvious in who studios look to in order to launch and sell movies. Young, sexy actresses are often given front-and-center placement while they are partnered with older, experienced men. This is how Hollywood has operated for decades. So, like the racial issue that led to the Academy shakeup two years ago, the Oscars are more a reflection of the problem than a cause.

Let’s take a look next at some of the most important actors in history. People like Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Robert De Niro, Cary Grant, and James Stewart didn’t do much of their best work (or at least weren’t actively engaging in it) until after the age of 30. Whereas actors like Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Brad Pitt, Eddie Murphy, Heath Ledger, Ryan Gosling, and Jake Gyllenhaal had a few appreciable performances prior to the age of 30, but didn’t rev up their output until after they became box office successes or familiar names.

The number of actresses who started young and continued working well into their 60s and 70s, some even securing nominations throughout that span, include Katharine Hepburn, Joan Fontaine, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie, Sophia Loren, Bette Davis, Joanne Woodward, Elizabeth Taylor, Julie Andrews, and Ingrid Bergman. A respectable bunch. So, while it is clear why the opportunities arrived, it’s no less disheartening to know that women who turn 50 somehow become underappreciated whereas their male counterparts continue demanding major parts and getting them well beyond that. They get parts as romantic leads while their female counterparts, get stuck in matronly roles. The Academy reflects the industry for whatever the reason. They have the power to do something about it and they may, but with only 25% of the last 20 Best Actress winners being over the age of 40, there’s still an issue that needs to be resolved. Perhaps the Academy should follow the same rules that seem to apply in Best Actor: until you mature as an actor, you shouldn’t be winning awards. Either that or they need to start recognizing younger male actors as well.

There are a few other numbers and data sets still to look at. So while the question of ageism at the Oscars seems pretty effectively answered (Yes, the Academy’s selections reflect a clear tilt towards ageism), there are some other numbers of interest to have a look at.

It’s fascinating at times to see how long records can stand. The longest runs are most fascinating, as are the overall numbers of actors and actresses that have held a record. In the Best Actor category, eight actors have held the record for oldest nominee. Emil Jannings started things off at the age of 44 when he won at the first Oscars. He was replaced after two years by George Arliss who, at 62 years of age, held the record for 28 years, the longest to hold that particular record. Richard Farnsworth is now in his 18th year as the oldest nominee after being nominated in 1999 at 79. Next year, he’ll surpass Henry Fonda with whom he’s tied at eighteen years, to become the second-longest holder of the record.

I’ll include the raw data later in this post.

In terms of youngest, that record has been held now for 86 years after Jackie Cooper was nominated at the age of 9. He took the record from 33-year-old Richard Barthlemess who only held the title for three years.

In terms of winners for Best Actor, Emil Jannings also held the record of oldest for two years, being supplanted as well by George Arliss. Arliss currently holds the record for longest tenure at the top, holding the record for 39 years. However, in four years, there will be a new duration record holder as Henry Fonda currently holds the record and has for 36 years, winning his award in 1981. That is unless someone can surpass Fonda.

For youngest winner in Best Actor, Adrien Brody, currently holds the record and has been at the top for 15 years now. His 29-year-old self topped 30-year-old (and 156 days) Richard Dreyfuss who held the record for the longest stretch: 25 years.

Best Actress saw Louise Dresser hold the Oldest Nominee title for three years before being taken down by Marie Dressler. Dressler was 62 compared to Dresser at 50. Dressler bested herself the following year at 63, but was toppled a year later by May Robson. Robson has held the record the longest at 34 years and doesn’t look to be surpassed for some time. The current record holder is Emmanuelle Riva who, at 85 years of age, has held the record for five years now.

The Academy’s first Best Actress winner, Janet Gaynor, was the youngest nominee for 37 years, the record in that metric. She was supplanted by Elizabeth Hartman in 1965. Hartman was a mere 59 days younger than Gaynor. The record passed to Isabelle Adjani who held it for 28 years. The current record holder is nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis who’s been at the apex for five years so far.

On the winning side, former Oldest Winner title holder Dressler captured this title with her 1931 win and held on for 50 years. Jessica Tandy is hanging strong after her win at 80 in 1989. However, 28 years is a long way from 50, so it’s likely she won’t be able to top Dressler any time soon, if ever.

Only two actresses have ever held the record for youngest Best Actress winner. The Academy’s first winner, Gaynor, held onto the record for 58 years. She was 22 while Marlee Matlin was 21 when she won the prize in 1986. She’s now been in the top spot for 31 years. Only 28 more to go to pass Gaynor.

A number of actors have held the record for oldest Best Supporting Actor nominee, the most recent (Robert Duvall at 84) claimed the record just 3 years ago. Albert Basserman held the record the longest starting in 1940. He was almost surpassed by Ralph Richardson (nominated posthumously), who won in 1984. Basserman held the record for 24 years while Richardson held it for only 23 before being supplanted.

By contrast, only four actors have held the record for youngest nominee. Current record-holder Justin Henry, nominated in 1979 at the age of 8, has held tight for 38 years so far. He took over from previous child actor nominee Brandon De Wile who, at 11 years of age, held the record for 26 years.

For the oldest Best Supporting Actor record list, a number of actors have held that distinction as well. Walter Brennan held the record twice for a combined three years at only 42 years of age (and 44 for his second win). Thomas Mitchell stopped Brennan’s third Oscar win at 46 from carrying on the record when Mitchell won the year before at 47. Christopher Plummer is the current record holder. He was 82 years old when he won 6 years ago and, in the process, toppled George Burns’ current-longest 36-year streak as the oldest winner in the category.

Several actors have passed the baton as youngest Best Supporting Actor winner, but current title holder Timothy Hutton has held strong for 37 years after winning at 20 in 1980. His predecessor, George Chakiris had held the record for 19 years. Chakiris was 7 years Hutton’s senior at the time of his win.

Rounding out this particular data set is Best Supporting Actress. The oldest nominee currently is Gloria Stuart, nominated at 87 in 1997, holding the record for 20 years now. Stuart’s record length is surpassed only by Dame May Whitty who held the record twice, the second time for 38 years. She first picked up the mantle in 1937 at the age of 72. She held that for five years before besting herself at the age of 77. That record held strong for 38 years before falling to Eva Le Gallienne in 1980 who was five years older than Whitty at the time of her nomination.

Bonita Granville was one of the first Best Supporting Actress nominees in 1936. She was 14 years old at the time. She held the record of youngest nominee for twenty years, topped by 11-year-old Patty McCormack. The title then passed to 10-year-old Mary Badham 6 years later. Tatum O’Neal surpassed all others in 1973, holding the record no for 44 years so far. She was also 10 years old, but was younger than Badham by a mere 35 days.

In two years’ time, the record longest time spent at the top of the list of oldest Supporting Actress winners will be surpassed as long as no one supplants Peggy Ashcroft, who won at age 77 in 1984. She’s been at the top for 33 years. 34 years is the current duration record holder, which was claimed by her predecessor Josephine Hull who won at the age of 74 in 1950.

Last, but certainly not least, the youngest Best Supporting Actress winners have come a long way since first record-holder Gale Sondergaard won the first Best Supporting Actress prize 1936 and held the record for youngest for 5 years. She was 38. 35-year-old Mary Astor surpassed her, but she was in turn passed by Teresa Wright. O’Neal currently maintains the lead in the category and has for 44 years, just like she holds the record for youngest nominee.

In a smilar vein, the fascinating element of the lists of ten youngest and ten oldest nominees and winners is how many times individual actors have appeared on these lists.

On the nominations side, 52 individuals have appeared twice on the same list (such as ten youngest or ten oldest). 19 of those ranked on the list three or more times (Fay Bainter, Marlon Brando, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn, Ronald Colman, Bette Davis, Judi Dench, Irene Dunne, Dame Edith Evans, Joan Fontaine, Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck, William Powell, Gloria Swanson, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright). Barrymore and Huston made 4 appearances apiece; Dench, Dunne, Tracy, and Olivier showed up 5 times; and the supreme record holder is Katharine Hepburn who claimed a spot on the lists a total of ten separate times.

Barrymore holds the distinction of being the only performer to hold all of her positions on the list at the same time for 24 years from 1949 when her fourth title made the list to 1961 when her first nomination fell off the list. Hepburn, however, did hold four of her ten positions on the list simultaneously from 1981 to 1988. Spencer Tracy also held four of his five spots on the list in a span together from 1967 to 1971.

On the winners side, only 13 winners have made multiple appearances on the same list. Of these, Ingrid Bergman appeared thrice for all three of her wins while Katharine Hepburn placed on the list for each of her wins, four in total. Hepburn’s first win in 1933 put her on the youngest winners list while her latter three wins placed her on the oldest winners list. For Bergman, a similar thing occurred with her first win making the youngest while her second two put her on the list of oldest.

Speaking of individuals making the list of youngest and oldest winners or nominees, the feat has been accomplished twelve times for nominees and seven times for winners. Aside from Hepburn and Bergman referenced previously, other winners to show up on both oldest and youngest lists are Walter Brennan, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, and Fredric March. The twelve nominees also include Walter Brennan, Ronald Colman, Bette Davis, Helen Hayes, Alfred Lunt, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, Paul Muni, Laurence Olivier, Norma Shearer, and Gloria Swanson.

Moving on to other interesting data points. In the history of the Oscars, only three individuals have been nominated in the acting categories on their birthday. Elizabeth Taylor secured her nomination for Butterfield 8 on her 29th birthday; Judith Anderson turned 44 the day she was nominated for Rebecca; and Jackie Gleason’s The Hustler nomination was secured on his 46th birthday. Several other actors have come close, including the likes of Greta Garbo, Arthur Kennedy, George Kennedy, Thelma Ritter, and many others. There will be a list towards the end of this post.

On the winner side, only one person has won an Oscar on their birthday. Jennifer Jones did it for The Song of Bernadette, which she won at the age of 25. Lupita Nyong’o, Holly Hunter, Peter Ustinov, Marie Dressler, Karl Malden, and Diane Keaton also got close.

There are countless other pieces of information out there and I could expand and explore myriad other avenues of data related to winner ages and I may do so at some point. However, for now, let’s end things here. There are a lot of charts and lists to follow in this post, but here’s where the commentary ends. Next time, we’ll riff off this list and look at the history of women at the Oscars. After all, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress have always been all-female, but most other categories, have not, and thus presents an interesting avenue of exploration examining how women are treated in the various disciplines within the Academy.

And one final note. In the future, once I have some time to get other things caught up, I will also be putting a lot of my data onto my website so you can review and interpret on your own. This includes data for all of my previous and future Oscar Statistics articles. I will also be putting up the lists of youngest and oldest actors by year so you can see the evolution of the lists over time.

Oldest & Youngest Nominees & Winners

Ten Youngest Best Actor Nominees

Jackie Cooper – Skippy Mickey Rooney – Babes in Arms Mickey Rooney – The Human Comedy John Travolta – Saturday Night Fever James Dean (Posthoumous) – Giant James Dean (Posthoumous) – East of Eden Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson Orson Welles – Citizen Kane Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network

9 years, 20 days 19 years, 141 days 23 years, 136 days 24 years, 3 days 24 years, 234 days 24 years, 234 days 26 years, 72 days 26 years, 276 days 26 years, 302 days 27 years, 112 days

Ten Youngest Best Actress Nominees

Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone Isabelle Adjani – The Story of Adele H. Keira Knightley – Pride & Prejudice Ellen Page – Juno Marlee Matlin – Children of a Lesser God Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn Elizabeth Hartman – A Patch of Blue Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven; Street Angel; Sunrise

9 years, 135 days 13 years, 309 days 20 years, 163 days 20 years, 235 days 20 years, 311 days 20 years, 335 days 21 years, 171 days 21 years, 277 days 22 years, 60 days 22 years, 119 days

Ten Youngest Best Supporting Actor Nominees

Justin Henry – Kramer vs. Kramer Haley Joel Osment – The Sixth Sense Brandon De Wilde – Shane Jack Wild – Oliver! Sal Mineo – Rebel without a Cause River Phoenix – Running on Empty Leonardo DiCaprio – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People Sal Mineo – Exodus

8 years, 275 days 11 years, 311 days 11 years, 312 days 16 years, 147 days 17 years, 39 days 18 years, 175 days 19 years, 90 days 20 years, 43 days 20 years, 185 days 22 years, 48 days

Ten Youngest Best Supporting Actress Nominees

Quinn Cummings – The Goodbye Girl Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon Mary Badham – To Kill a Mockingbird Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine Anna Paquin – The Piano Patty McCormack – Written on the Wind Saoirse Ronan – Atonement Bonita Granville – These Three Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit Jodie Foster – Taxi Driver

10 years, 182 days 10 years, 207 days 10 years, 247 days 10 years, 284 days 11 years, 109 days 11 years, 178 days 13 years, 78 days 14 years, 33 days 14 years, 155 days 14 years, 358 days

Ten Oldest Best Actor Nominees

Richard Farnsworth – The Straight Story Bruce Dern – Nebraska Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby Peter O’Toole – Venus Morgan Freeman – Invictus Laurence Olivier – The Boys from Brazil Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon Paul Newman – Nobody’s Fool Michael Caine – The Quiet American

79 years, 167 days 77 years, 226 days 76 years, 271 days 74 years, 239 days 74 years, 174 days 72 years, 246 days 71 years, 274 days 71 years, 21 days 70 years, 19 days 69 years, 334 days

Ten Oldest Best Actress Nominees

Emmanuelle Riva – Amour Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy Dame Edith Evans – The Whisperers Judi Dench – Philomena May Robson – Lady for a Day Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond Judi Dench – Notes on a Scandal Judi Dench – Mrs. Henderson Presents Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years Fernanda Montenegro – Central Station

85 years, 321 days 80 years, 252 days 80 years, 11 days 79 years, 38 days 75 years, 313 days 74 years, 275 days 72 years, 45 days 71 years, 53 days 69 years, 343 days 69 years, 116 days

Ten Oldest Best Supporting Actor Nominees

Robert Duvall – The Judge Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Christopher Plummer – Beginners Ralph Richardson (Posthoumous) – Greystoke Christopher Plummer – The Last Station George Burns – The Sunshine Boys Melvyn Douglas – Being There Alan Arkin – Argo Paul Newman – Road to Perdition

84 years, 10 days 82 years, 339 days 82 years, 290 days 82 years, 43 days 80 years, 295 days 80 years, 51 days 80 years, 28 days 78 years, 325 days 78 years, 290 days 78 years, 16 days

Ten Oldest Best Supporting Actress Nominees

Gloria Stuart – Titanic Ruby Dee – American Gangster June Squibb – Nebraska Jessica Tandy – Fried Green Tomatoes Eva Le Gallienne – Resurrection Ann Sothern – The Whales of August Dame May Whitty – Mrs. Miniver Dame Edith Evans – The Chalk Garden Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India Gladys Cooper – My Fair Lady

87 years, 303 days 85 years, 82 days 84 years, 297 days 82 years, 273 days 82 years, 164 days 79 years, 300 days 77 years, 138 days 77 years, 9 days 77 years, 1 days 76 years, 330 days

Ten Youngest Best Actor Winners

Adrien Brody – The Pianist Richard Dreyfuss – The Goodbye Girl Marlon Brando – On the Waterfront Maximilian Schell – Judgment at Nuremberg Charlton Heston – Ben-Hur Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story Daniel Day Lewis – My Left Foot Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything Clark Gable – It Happened One Night

29 years, 343 days 30 years, 156 days 30 years, 361 days 31 years, 122 days 31 years, 186 days 32 years, 78 days 32 years, 283 days 32 years, 331 days 33 years, 47 days 34 years, 26 days

Ten Youngest Best Actress Winners

Marlee Matlin – Children of a Lesser God Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven; Street Angel; Sunrise Joan Fontaine – Suspicion Audrey Hepburn – Roman Holiday Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette Grace Kelly – The Country Girl Hilary Swank – Boys Don’t Cry Julie Christie – Darling Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind

21 years, 218 days 22 years, 193 days 22 years, 222 days 24 years, 127 days 24 years, 325 days 25 years, 0 days 25 years, 138 days 25 years, 240 days 26 years, 4 days 26 years, 116 days

Ten Youngest Best Supporting Actor Winners

Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People George Chakiris – West Side Story Cuba Gooding, Jr. – Jerry Maguire Heath Ledger (Posthoumous) – The Dark Knight Jack Lemmon – Mister Roberts Robert De Niro – The Godfather Part II Harold Russell – The Best Years of Our Lives Benicio Del Toro – Traffic Van Heflin – Johnny Eager Denzel Washington – Glory

20 years, 227 days 27 years, 205 days 29 years, 81 days 29 years, 324 days 31 years, 42 days 31 years, 234 days 33 years, 58 days 34 years, 34 days 34 years, 81 days 35 years, 88 days

Ten Youngest Best Supporting Actress Winners

Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon Anna Paquin – The Piano Patty Duke – The Miracle Worker Anne Baxter – The Razor’s Edge Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver Goldie Hawn – Cactus Flower Angelina Jolie – Girl, Interrupted Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls Shirley Jones – Elmer Gantry Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl

10 years, 148 days 11 years, 240 days 16 years, 115 days 23 years, 310 days 24 years, 128 days 24 years, 137 days 24 years, 296 days 25 years, 166 days 27 years, 17 days 27 years, 148 days

Ten Oldest Best Actor Winners

Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond John Wayne – True Grit George Arliss – Disraeli Paul Newman – The Color of Money Jack Nicholson – As Good as It Gets Peter Finch (Posthoumous) – Network Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart Ronald Colman – A Double Life Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady Art Carney – Harry and Tonto

76 years, 317 days 62 years, 316 days 62 years, 209 days 62 years, 63 days 60 years, 335 days 60 years, 108 days 60 years, 93 days 57 years, 40 days 57 years, 31 days 56 years, 155 days

Ten Oldest Best Actress Winners

Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond Marie Dressler – Min and Bill Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady Katharine Hepburn – The Lion in Winter Helen Mirren – The Queen Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful Katharine Hepburn – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Shirley Booth – Come Back, Little Sheba Julianne Moore – Still Alice

80 years, 292 days 74 years, 321 days 63 years, 1 days 62 years, 249 days 61 years, 337 days 61 years, 214 days 61 years, 122 days 60 years, 334 days 54 years, 201 days 54 years, 81 days

Ten Oldest Best Supporting Actor Winners

Christopher Plummer – Beginners George Burns – The Sunshine Boys Melvyn Douglas – Being There John Gielgud – Arthur Don Ameche – Cocoon Jack Palance – City Slickers Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine John Houseman – The Paper Chase James Coburn – Affliction Edmund Gwenn – Miracle on 34th Street

82 years, 75 days 80 years, 69 days 79 years, 9 days 77 years, 349 days 77 years, 297 days 73 years, 41 days 72 years, 336 days 71 years, 192 days 70 years, 202 days 70 years, 176 days

Ten Oldest Best Supporting Actress Winners

Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India Josephine Hull – Harvey Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby Margaret Rutherford – The V.I.P.s Helen Hayes – Airport Ethel Barrymore – None but the Lonely Heart Judi Dench – Shakespeare in Love Beatrice Straight – Network Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath Ingrid Bergman – Murder on the Orient Express

77 years, 93 days 74 years, 85 days 72 years, 166 days 71 years, 338 days 70 years, 187 days 65 years, 212 days 64 years, 102 days 62 years, 238 days 61 years, 135 days 59 years, 222 days

Combined Lead and Supporting Actor Nominees: 20 Youngest

Justin Henry – Kramer vs. Kramer Jackie Cooper – Skippy Haley Joel Osment – The Sixth Sense Brandon De Wilde – Shane Jack Wild – Oliver! Sal Mineo – Rebel without a Cause River Phoenix – Running on Empty Leonardo DiCaprio – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape Mickey Rooney – Babes in Arms Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People Sal Mineo – Exodus Jeff Bridges – The Last Picture Show Russ Tamblyn – Peyton Place Mickey Rooney – The Human Comedy Randy Quaid – The Last Detail John Travolta – Saturday Night Fever Peter Firth – Equus Terence Stamp – Billy Budd James Dean (Posthumous) – Giant

8 years, 275 days 9 years, 20 days 11 years, 311 days 11 years, 312 days 16 years, 147 days 17 years, 39 days 18 years, 175 days 19 years, 90 days 19 years, 141 days 20 years, 43 days 20 years, 185 days 22 years, 48 days 22 years, 80 days 23 years, 47 days 23 years, 136 days 23 years, 141 days 24 years, 3 days 24 years, 117 days 24 years, 218 days 24 years, 234 days

Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Lead

Combined Lead and Supporting Actor Nominees: 20 Oldest

Robert Duvall – The Judge Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Christopher Plummer – Beginners Ralph Richardson (Posthumous) – Greystoke Christopher Plummer – The Last Station George Burns – The Sunshine Boys Richard Farnsworth – The Straight Story Melvyn Douglas – Being There Alan Arkin – Argo Paul Newman – Road to Perdition John Gielgud – Arthur Don Ameche – Cocoon Bruce Dern – Nebraska Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond Fred Astaire – The Towering Inferno Alec Guinness – Little Dorrit Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby Cecil Kellaway – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Peter O’Toole – Venus

84 years, 10 days 82 years, 339 days 82 years, 290 days 82 years, 43 days 80 years, 295 days 80 years, 51 days 80 years, 28 days 79 years, 167 days 78 years, 325 days 78 years, 290 days 78 years, 16 days 77 years, 303 days 77 years, 250 days 77 years, 226 days 76 years, 271 days 75 years, 290 days 74 years, 318 days 74 years, 239 days 74 years, 181 days 74 years, 174 days

Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Lead

Combined Lead and Supporting Actress Nominees: 20 Youngest

Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon Mary Badham – To Kill a Mockingbird Quinn Cummings – The Goodbye Girl Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine Patty McCormack – Written on the Wind Anna Paquin – The Piano Saoirse Ronan – Atonement Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider Bonita Granville – These Three Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit Jodie Foster – Taxi Driver Linda Blair – The Exorcist Patty Duke – The Miracle Worker Ann Blyth – Mildred Pierce Natalie Wood – Rebel without a Cause Mariel Hemingway – Manhattan Juliette Lewis – Cape Fear Angela Lansbury – Gaslight Anne Shirley – Stella Dallas

9 years, 135 days 10 years, 106 days 10 years, 141 days 10 years, 192 days 10 years, 284 days 11 years, 181 days 11 years, 200 days 13 years, 285 days 13 years, 309 days 14 years, 5 days 14 years, 45 days 14 years, 83 days 15 years, 28 days 16 years, 73 days 17 years, 195 days 17 years, 213 days 18 years, 94 days 18 years, 243 days 19 years, 110 days 19 years, 295 days

Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting

Combined Lead and Supporting Actress Nominees: 20 Oldest

Gloria Stuart – Titanic Emmanuelle Riva – Amour Ruby Dee – American Gangster June Squibb – Nebraska Jessica Tandy – Fried Green Tomatoes Eva Le Gallienne – Resurrection Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy Dame Edith Evans – The Whisperers Judi Dench – Philomena Ann Sothern – The Whales of August Dame May Whitty – Mrs. Miniver Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India Dame Edith Evans – The Chalk Garden Gladys Cooper – My Fair Lady Dame Edith Evans – Tom Jones May Robson – Lady for a Day Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond Josephine Hull – Harvey Peggy Wood – The Sound of Music Dame May Whitty – Night Must Fall

87 years, 221 days 85 years, 321 days 85 years, 87 days 84 years, 71 days 82 years, 257 days 82 years, 37 days 80 years, 252 days 80 years, 11 days 79 years, 38 days 79 years, 26 days 77 years, 234 days 77 years, 46 days 77 years, 15 days 76 years, 67 days 76 years, 16 days 75 years, 313 days 74 years, 275 days 74 years, 40 days 74 years, 12 days 72 years, 232 days

Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting

Combined Lead and Supporting Nominees: 20 Youngest

Justin Henry – Kramer vs. Kramer Jackie Cooper – Skippy Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon Mary Badham – To Kill a Mockingbird Quinn Cummings – The Goodbye Girl Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine Patty McCormack – Written on the Wind Anna Paquin – The Piano Haley Joel Osment – The Sixth Sense Brandon De Wilde – Shane Saoirse Ronan – Atonement Keisha Castle-Hughes – Whale Rider Bonita Granville – These Three Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit Jodie Foster – Taxi Driver Linda Blair – The Exorcist Patty Duke – The Miracle Worker Jack Wild – Oliver! Sal Mineo – Rebel without a Cause

8 years, 275 days 9 years, 20 days 9 years, 135 days 10 years, 106 days 10 years, 141 days 10 years, 192 days 10 years, 284 days 11 years, 181 days 11 years, 200 days 11 years, 311 days 11 years, 312 days 13 years, 285 days 13 years, 309 days 14 years, 5 days 14 years, 45 days 14 years, 83 days 15 years, 28 days 16 years, 73 days 16 years, 147 days 17 years, 39 days

Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting

Male Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Male Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Male Male

Combined Lead and Supporting Nominees: 20 Oldest

Gloria Stuart – Titanic Emmanuelle Riva – Amour Ruby Dee – American Gangster June Squibb – Nebraska Robert Duvall – The Judge Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Jessica Tandy – Fried Green Tomatoes Christopher Plummer – Beginners Eva Le Gallienne – Resurrection Ralph Richardson (Posthumous) – Greystoke Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy Christopher Plummer – The Last Station George Burns – The Sunshine Boys Dame Edith Evans – The Whisperers Richard Farnsworth – The Straight Story Judi Dench – Philomena Ann Sothern – The Whales of August Melvyn Douglas – Being There Alan Arkin – Argo

87 years, 221 days 85 years, 321 days 85 years, 87 days 84 years, 71 days 84 years, 10 days 82 years, 339 days 82 years, 290 days 82 years, 257 days 82 years, 43 days 82 years, 37 days 80 years, 295 days 80 years, 252 days 80 years, 51 days 80 years, 28 days 80 years, 11 days 79 years, 167 days 79 years, 38 days 79 years, 26 days 78 years, 325 days 78 years, 290 days

Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting

Female Female Female Female Male Male Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Male Female Male Female Female Male Male

Combined Lead and Supporting Actor Winners: 20 Youngest

Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People George Chakiris – West Side Story Cuba Gooding, Jr. – Jerry Maguire Heath Ledger (Posthumous) – The Dark Knight Adrien Brody – The Pianist Richard Dreyfuss – The Goodbye Girl Marlon Brando – On the Waterfront Jack Lemmon – Mister Roberts Maximilian Schell – Judgment at Nuremberg Charlton Heston – Ben-Hur Robert De Niro – The Godfather Part II Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas James Stewart – The Philadelphia Story Daniel Day Lewis – My Left Foot Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything Harold Russell – The Best Years of Our Lives Clark Gable – It Happened One Night Benicio Del Toro – Traffic Van Heflin – Johnny Eager Charles Laughton – The Private Life of Henry VIII

20 years, 227 days 27 years, 205 days 29 years, 81 days 29 years, 324 days 29 years, 343 days 30 years, 156 days 30 years, 361 days 31 years, 42 days 31 years, 122 days 31 years, 186 days 31 years, 234 days 32 years, 78 days 32 years, 283 days 32 years, 331 days 33 years, 47 days 33 years, 58 days 34 years, 26 days 34 years, 34 days 34 years, 81 days 34 years, 258 days

Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Lead Lead Lead Lead Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Lead

Combined Lead and Supporting Actor Winners: 20 Oldest

Christopher Plummer – Beginners George Burns – The Sunshine Boys Melvyn Douglas – Being There John Gielgud – Arthur Don Ameche – Cocoon Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond Jack Palance – City Slickers Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine John Houseman – The Paper Chase James Coburn – Affliction Edmund Gwenn – Miracle on 34th Street Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby Michael Caine – The Cider House Rules Martin Landau – Ed Wood Charles Coburn – The More the Merrier Walter Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Gene Hackman – Unforgiven John Mills – Ryan’s Daughter Melvyn Douglas – Hud John Wayne – True Grit

82 years, 75 days 80 years, 69 days 79 years, 9 days 77 years, 349 days 77 years, 297 days 76 years, 317 days 73 years, 41 days 72 years, 336 days 71 years, 192 days 70 years, 202 days 70 years, 176 days 67 years, 271 days 67 years, 12 days 66 years, 280 days 66 years, 257 days 65 years, 353 days 63 years, 58 days 63 years, 52 days 63 years, 8 days 62 years, 316 days

Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead

Combined Lead and Supporting Actress Winners: 20 Youngest

Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon Anna Paquin – The Piano Patty Duke – The Miracle Worker Marlee Matlin – Children of a Lesser God Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven; Street Angel; Sunrise Anne Baxter – The Razor’s Edge Joan Fontaine – Suspicion Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver Goldie Hawn – Cactus Flower Angelina Jolie – Girl, Interrupted Audrey Hepburn – Roman Holiday Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette Grace Kelly – The Country Girl Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls Hilary Swank – Boys Don’t Cry Julie Christie – Darling Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind Jodie Foster – The Accused Brie Larson – Room

10 years, 148 days 11 years, 240 days 16 years, 115 days 21 years, 218 days 22 years, 193 days 22 years, 222 days 23 years, 310 days 24 years, 127 days 24 years, 128 days 24 years, 137 days 24 years, 296 days 24 years, 325 days 25 years, 0 days 25 years, 138 days 25 years, 166 days 25 years, 240 days 26 years, 4 days 26 years, 116 days 26 years, 130 days 26 years, 150 days

Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Lead Lead Lead Lead Lead

Combined Lead and Supporting Actress Winners: 20 Oldest

Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond Josephine Hull – Harvey Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby Margaret Rutherford – The V.I.P.s Helen Hayes – Airport Ethel Barrymore – None but the Lonely Heart Judi Dench – Shakespeare in Love Marie Dressler – Min and Bill Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady Beatrice Straight – Network Katharine Hepburn – The Lion in Winter Helen Mirren – The Queen Jane Darwell – The Grapes of Wrath Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful Katharine Hepburn – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Ingrid Bergman – Murder on the Orient Express Olympia Dukakis – Moonstruck Maureen Stapleton – Reds

80 years, 292 days 77 years, 93 days 74 years, 321 days 74 years, 85 days 72 years, 166 days 71 years, 338 days 70 years, 187 days 65 years, 212 days 64 years, 102 days 63 years, 1 days 62 years, 249 days 62 years, 238 days 61 years, 337 days 61 years, 214 days 61 years, 135 days 61 years, 122 days 60 years, 334 days 59 years, 222 days 56 years, 296 days 56 years, 281 days

Lead Lead Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting

Combined Lead and Supporting Winners: 20 Youngest

Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon Anna Paquin – The Piano Patty Duke – The Miracle Worker Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People Marlee Matlin – Children of a Lesser God Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook Janet Gaynor – 7th Heaven; Street Angel; Sunrise Anne Baxter – The Razor’s Edge Joan Fontaine – Suspicion Teresa Wright – Mrs. Miniver Goldie Hawn – Cactus Flower Angelina Jolie – Girl, Interrupted Audrey Hepburn – Roman Holiday Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette Grace Kelly – The Country Girl Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls Hilary Swank – Boys Don’t Cry Julie Christie – Darling Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind Jodie Foster – The Accused

10 years, 148 days 11 years, 240 days 16 years, 115 days 20 years, 227 days 21 years, 218 days 22 years, 193 days 22 years, 222 days 23 years, 310 days 24 years, 127 days 24 years, 128 days 24 years, 137 days 24 years, 296 days 24 years, 325 days 25 years, 0 days 25 years, 138 days 25 years, 166 days 25 years, 240 days 26 years, 4 days 26 years, 116 days 26 years, 130 days

Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Lead Supporting Lead Lead Lead Lead

Female Female Female Male Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Female

Combined Lead and Supporting Winners: 20 Oldest

Christopher Plummer – Beginners Jessica Tandy – Driving Miss Daisy George Burns – The Sunshine Boys Melvyn Douglas – Being There John Gielgud – Arthur Don Ameche – Cocoon Peggy Ashcroft – A Passage to India Henry Fonda – On Golden Pond Katharine Hepburn – On Golden Pond Josephine Hull – Harvey Jack Palance – City Slickers Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine Ruth Gordon – Rosemary’s Baby Margaret Rutherford – The V.I.P.s John Houseman – The Paper Chase James Coburn – Affliction Helen Hayes – Airport Edmund Gwenn – Miracle on 34th Street Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby Michael Caine – The Cider House Rules

82 years, 75 days 80 years, 292 days 80 years, 69 days 79 years, 9 days 77 years, 349 days 77 years, 297 days 77 years, 93 days 76 years, 317 days 74 years, 321 days 74 years, 85 days 73 years, 41 days 72 years, 336 days 72 years, 166 days 71 years, 338 days 71 years, 192 days 70 years, 202 days 70 years, 187 days 70 years, 176 days 67 years, 271 days 67 years, 12 days

Supporting Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Lead Lead Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting Supporting

Male Female Male Male Male Male Female Male Female Female Male Male Female Female Male Male Female Male Male Male

Oldest & Youngest Nominees & Winners Record Holders

Youngest Best Actor Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1931	Richard Barthelmess Jackie Cooper	33 years, 269 days 9 years, 20 days	3 years 86 years
Youngest Best Actress Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1965 1975 2003 2012	Janet Gaynor Elizabeth Hartman Isabelle Adjani Keisha Castle-Hughes Quvenzhane Wallis	22 years, 119 days 22 years, 60 days 20 years, 235 days 13 years, 309 days 9 years, 135 days	37 years 10 years 28 years 9 years 5 years
Youngest Best Supporting Actor Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1938 1953 1979	Mischa Auer John Garfield Brandon De Wilde Justin Henry	31 years, 82 days 25 years, 338 days 11 years, 312 days 8 years, 275 days	2 years 15 years 26 years 38 years
Youngest Best Supporting Actress Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1956 1962 1973	Bonita Granville Patty McCormack Mary Badham Tatum O’Neal	14 years, 5 days 11 years, 181 days 10 years, 141 days 10 years, 106 days	20 years 6 years 11 years 44 years
Oldest Best Actor Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1930 1959 1967 1970 1978 1981 1999	Emil Jannings George Arliss Pau Muni Spencery Tracy (Posthumous) Melvyn Douglas Laurence Olivier Henry Fonda Richard Farnsworth	44 years, 215 days 62 years, 162 days 64 years, 153 days 67 years, 66 days 69 years, 324 days 71 years, 274 days 76 years, 271 days 79 years, 167 days	2 years 29 years 8 years 3 years 8 years 3 years 18 years 18 years
Oldest Best Actress Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1931 1932 1933 1967 1989 2012	Louise Dresser Marie Dressler Marie Dressler May Robson Dame Edith Evans Jessica Tandy Emmanuelle Riva	50 years, 120 days 62 years, 330 days 63 years, 338 days 75 years, 313 days 80 years, 11 days 80 years, 252 days 85 years, 321 days	3 years 1 year 1 year 34 years 22 years 23 years 5 years
Oldest Best Supporting Actor Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1937 1940 1964 1967 1974 1975 1984 2007 2014	Basil Rathbone H.B. Warner Albert Basserman Stanley Holloway Cecil Kellaway Fred Astaire George Burns Ralph Richardson (Posthumous) Hal Holbrook Robert Duvall	44 years, 239 days 62 years, 103 days 73 years, 156 days 74 years, 145 days 74 years, 181 days 75 years, 290 days 80 years, 28 days 80 years, 295 days 82 years, 339 days 84 years, 10 days	1 year 3 years 24 years 3 years 7 years 1 year 9 years 23 years 7 years 3 years
Oldest Best Supporting Actress Nominees
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1937 1942 1980 1991 1997	Maria Ouspenskaya Dame May Whitty Dame May Whitty Eva Le Gallienne Jessica Tandy Gloria Stuart	60 years, 193 days 72 years, 232 days 77 years, 234 days 82 years, 37 days 82 years, 257 days 87 years, 221 days	1 year 5 years 38 years 11 years 6 years 20 years
Youngest Best Actor Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1929 1932 1933 1934 1940 1954 1977 2002	Emil Jannings Warner Baxter Fredric March Charles Laughton Clark Gable James Stewart Marlon Brando Richard Dreyfuss Adrien Brody	44 years, 318 days 41 years, 5 days 35 years, 79 days 34 years, 258 days 34 years, 26 days 32 years, 283 days 30 years, 361 days 30 years, 156 days 29 years, 343 days	1 year 3 years 1 year 1 year 6 years 14 years 23 years 25 years 15 years
Youngest Best Actress Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1986	Janet Gaynor Marlee Matlin	22 years, 222 days 21 years, 218 days	58 years 31 years
Youngest Best Supporting Actor Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1937 1942 1946 1955 1961 1980	Walter Brennan Joseph Schildkraut Van Heflin Harold Russell Jack Lemmon George Chakiris Timothy Hutton	42 years, 222 days 41 years, 353 days 34 years, 81 days 33 years, 58 days 31 years, 42 days 27 years, 205 days 20 years, 227 days	1 year 5 years 4 years 9 years 6 years 19 years 37 years
Youngest Best Supporting Actress Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1941 1942 1946 1962 1973	Gale Sondergaard Mary Astor Teresa Wright Anne Baxter Patty Duke Tatum O’Neal	38 years, 17 days 35 years, 299 days 24 years, 128 days 23 years, 310 days 16 years, 115 days 10 years, 148 days	5 years 1 year 4 years 16 years 11 years 44 years
Oldest Best Actor Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1930 1969 1981	Emil Jannings George Arliss John Wayne Henry Fonda	44 years, 318 days 62 years, 209 days 62 years, 316 days 76 years, 317 days	2 years 39 years 12 years 36 years
Oldest Best Actress Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1928 1929 1931 1981 1989	Janet Gaynor Mary Pickford Marie Dressler Katharine Hepburn Jessica Tandy	22 years, 222 days 37 years, 360 days 63 years, 1 day 74 years, 321 days 80 years, 292 days	1 year 2 years 50 years 8 years 28 years
Oldest Best Supporting Actor Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1938 1939 1941 1943 1947 1971 1975 2011	Walter Brennan Walter Brennan Thomas Mitchell Donald Crisp Charles Coburn Edmund Gwenn John Houseman George Burns Christopher Plummer	42 years, 222 days 44 years, 213 days 47 years, 233 days 59 years, 214 days 66 years, 257 days 70 years, 176 days 71 years, 192 days 80 years, 69 days 82 years, 75 days	2 years 1 year 2 years 2 years 4 years 26 years 4 years 36 years 6 years
Oldest Best Supporting Actress Winners
Year Achieved	Nominee	Age	Length Held
1936 1937 1940 1944 1950 1984	Gale Sondergaard Alice Brady Jane Darwell Ethel Barrymore Josephine Hull Peggy Ashcroft	38 years, 17 days 45 years, 128 days 61 years, 135 days 65 years, 212 days 74 years, 85 days 77 years, 93 days	1 year 3 years 4 years 6 years 34 years 33 years

Birthday Data

Oscar Nominees Nominated On or Within 10 Days of Their Birthday

Individual and Film

Age

Elizabeth Taylor – Butterfield 8 Judith Anderson – Rebecca Jackie Gleason – The Hustler Greta Garbo – Anna Christie; Romance Arthur Kennedy – Trial George Kennedy – Cool Hand Luke Thelma Ritter – Pickup on South Street Nick Nolte – Affliction John Mills – Ryan’s Daughter Jack Palance – City Slickers Helen Hayes – The Sin of Madelon Claudet Brian Donlevy – Beau Geste Lee Marvin – Cat Ballou Pete Postlethwaite – In the Name of the Father John Travolta – Saturday Night Fever Sidney Poitier – The Defiant Ones Clark Gable – It Happened One Night Sidney Poitier – Lilies of the Field Ronald Colman – A Double Life Bonita Granville – These Three Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook David Strathairn – Good Night, and Good Luck. Clark Gable – Mutiny on the Bounty Arthur Kennedy – Some Came Running Barbara Hershey – The Portrait of a Lady Kim Stanley – Frances J.K. Simmons – Whiplash Oprah Winfrey – The Color Purple George Segal – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Alan Bates – The Fixer Lana Turner – Peyton Place Maurice Chevalier – The Big Pond; The Love Parade Vanessa Redgrave – The Bostonians Tom Wilkinson – In the Bedroom Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl Laura Linney – You Can Count on Me Joe Pesci – Raging Bull Thelma Ritter – Pillow Talk Laura Dern – Rambling Rose Mary Steenburgen – Melvin and Howard Mary Ure – Sons and Lovers Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything Jack Lemmon – Tribute Jack Lemmon – Missing Jean Simmons – Hamlet Minnie Driver – Good Will Hunting Jack Lemmon – Mister Roberts Clark Gable – Gone with the Wind Red Buttons – Sayonara Bradley Cooper – American Sniper Joe Pesci – Good Fellas Rip Torn – Cross Creek Robert Duvall – The Judge Burt Reynolds – Boogie Nights Ronald Colman – Random Harvest Alan Alda – The Aviator Thelma Ritter – All about Eve Arthur Kennedy – Peyton Place Joanne Woodward – Rachel, Rachel Thelma Ritter – The Mating Season Brenda Fricker – My Left Foot Jack Palance – Shane Jennifer Jones – Love Letters Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies Thelma Ritter – With a Song in My Heart Stockard Channing – Six Degrees of Separation Margaret Leighton – The Go-Between John Travolta – Pulp Fiction Kevin McCarthy – Death of a Salesman Tom Courtenay – Doctor Zhivago Elizabeth Taylor – Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Christian Bale – The Fighter Arthur Kennedy – Champion Benicio Del Toro – Traffic Elizabeth Taylor – Suddenly, Last Summer David Niven – Separate Tables Gale Sondergaard – Anna and the King of Siam Arthur Kennedy – Bright Victory Stuart Erwin – Pigskin Parade Julie Walters – Educating Rita Louis Calhern – The Magnificent Yankee Arthur Hunnicutt – The Big Sky Gale Sondergaard – Anthony Adverse Elizabeth Taylor – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Joanne Woodward – Mr. & Mrs. Bridge Julie Walters – Billy Elliot Brenda Blethyn – Secrets & Lies Joanne Woodward – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams Jack Palance – Sudden Fear Diane Varsi – Peyton Place Rex Harrison – Cleopatra Tom Courtenay – The Dresser Mercedes Ruehl – The Fisher King Edward James Olmos – Stand and Deliver Meg Tilly – Agnes of God Rex Harrison – My Fair Lady Laura Linney – Kinsey

29 years, 0 days 44 years, 0 days 46 years, 0 days 25 years, 1 days 42 years, 1 days 43 years, 1 days 52 years, 1 days 58 years, 1 days 63 years, 1 days 73 years, 1 days 32 years, 2 days 39 years, 2 days 42 years, 2 days 48 years, 2 days 24 years, 3 days 32 years, 3 days 34 years, 4 days 37 years, 4 days 57 years, 4 days 14 years, 5 days 38 years, 5 days 57 years, 5 days 35 years, 6 days 45 years, 6 days 49 years, 6 days 58 years, 6 days 60 years, 6 days 32 years, 7 days 33 years, 7 days 35 years, 7 days 37 years, 7 days 42 years, 7 days 48 years, 7 days 54 years, 7 days 34 years, 8 days 37 years, 8 days 38 years, 8 days 58 years, 8 days 25 years, 9 days 28 years, 9 days 28 years, 9 days 33 years, 9 days 56 years, 9 days 58 years, 9 days 20 years, 10 days 28 years, 10 days 31 years, 10 days 39 years, 10 days 39 years, 10 days 40 years, 10 days 48 years, 10 days 53 years, 10 days 84 years, 10 days 61 years, 364 days 51 years, 364 days 68 years, 363 days 48 years, 363 days 43 years, 363 days 38 years, 363 days 49 years, 362 days 44 years, 362 days 34 years, 362 days 26 years, 362 days 55 years, 361 days 50 years, 361 days 49 years, 361 days 49 years, 361 days 40 years, 361 days 37 years, 361 days 28 years, 361 days 26 years, 361 days 36 years, 360 days 35 years, 360 days 33 years, 360 days 27 years, 360 days 48 years, 359 days 47 years, 359 days 37 years, 359 days 33 years, 359 days 33 years, 359 days 55 years, 358 days 42 years, 358 days 37 years, 358 days 34 years, 358 days 60 years, 357 days 50 years, 357 days 50 years, 357 days 43 years, 357 days 33 years, 357 days 19 years, 357 days 55 years, 356 days 46 years, 356 days 43 years, 356 days 41 years, 356 days 25 years, 356 days 56 years, 355 days 40 years, 355 days

Oscar Winners Winning On or Within 10 Days of Their Birthday

Individual and Film

Age

Jennifer Jones – The Song of Bernadette Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave Holly Hunter – The Piano Peter Ustinov – Spartacus Marie Dressler – Min and Bill Dianne Wiest – Hannah and Her Sisters Haing S. Ngor – The Killing Fields Gregory Peck – To Kill a Mockingbird Julie Christie – Darling William Hurt – Kiss of the Spider Woman Warner Baxter – In Old Arizona Barry Fitzgerald – Going My Way Mercedes McCambridge – All the King’s Men Linda Hunt – The Year of Living Dangerously Melvyn Douglas – Hud Christopher Walken – The Deer Hunter Melvyn Douglas – Being There Simone Signoret – Room at the Top Mahershala Ali – Moonlight Dianne Wiest – Bullets over Broadway Karl Malden – A Streetcar Named Desire Eileen Heckart – Butterflies Are Free Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener Rod Steiger – In the Heat of the Night Marlon Brando – On the Waterfront Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men Mary Pickford – Coquette Marlon Brando – The Godfather Alec Guinness – The Bridge on the River Kwai Jessica Lange – Tootsie Barbra Streisand – Funny Girl

25 years, 0 days 31 years, 1 days 36 years, 1 days 40 years, 1 days 63 years, 1 days 39 years, 2 days 45 years, 3 days 47 years, 3 days 26 years, 4 days 36 years, 4 days 41 years, 5 days 57 years, 5 days 34 years, 7 days 39 years, 7 days 63 years, 8 days 36 years, 9 days 79 years, 9 days 39 years, 10 days 43 years, 10 days 46 years, 364 days 39 years, 364 days 53 years, 363 days 35 years, 363 days 42 years, 362 days 30 years, 361 days 38 years, 360 days 37 years, 360 days 48 years, 358 days 43 years, 358 days 33 years, 356 days 26 years, 355 days