Rounding out the supporting categories, today, we bring you the Best Supporting Actor race, some trivia about the category, and our picks for the best and worst the category has had to offer.

Trivia: Five Facts

• Walter Brennan was the first winner of this category, established alongside Best Supporting Actress in 1936.
• Brennan was also the first three-time acting winner in Oscar history, taking the Supporting Actor trophies in 1936, 1938 and 1940 respectively, beating Katharine Hepburn to the feat 29 years prior. He’s also one of 6 actors to win more than once in this category. The others are Michael Caine, Melvyn Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Jason Robards, and Peter Ustinov
• Also like the Best Supporting Actress category, there have been 73 winners in this category, but only 66 received Oscar statuettes.
• George Burns holds the record as the oldest winner in this category’s history winning at the young age of 80 for 1975’s The Sunshine Boys. Other septuagenarians to win this award: Don Ameche won at age 77, Alan Arkin won at 72, James Coburn won at 70, Melvyn Douglas won his second trophy at age 79, John Gielgud was 77 when he won, Edmund Gwenn won at 70, John Houseman at 71 and Jack Palance received the award at 73.
• Timothy Hutton still holds the record for youngest winner back in 1980 for Ordinary People. He was 20. George Chakiris won his award at 27, Cuba Gooding Jr. won at 29 and Heath Ledger won at age 29. Ledger is also the only posthumous winner in the category’s history.

Predictions

• Matt Damon – Invictus
• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger (Tripp, Wes)
• Christopher Plummer – The Last Station (Wesley, Peter)
• Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Wes)

KEY: (Winner Prediction) (Alternate Winner)

The Commentary

Wesley Lovell – Waltz has dominated the year-end precursors taking home more trophies than Up has as animated feature, so his victory here should be assured. But this would be a first for Tarantino, so perhaps we overestimate his chances. The other actors all have chances, but the alternate prediction really comes down to two. Woody Harrelson could win for having a great year and being a truly fun guy to be around or, as is my guess, Christopher Plummer could take the award as recognition of his long, distinguished career. His film hasn’t really taken off with audiences, so enough people may not have seen it to slip past the handful that are guaranteed to mark his name sight unseen.
Peter J. Patrick – Unless there’s a sentimental push for Plummer, which I’m not seeing, Waltz has this one in the bag.
Tripp Burton – This has been a two-man race for the last few months where one man is running laps around the other man. Matt Damon, Stanley Tucci and Christopher Plummer seem to have little support on their sides, in films with little love. Common sense would seem to put this in Woody Harrelson’s camp –former nominee, beloved personality, deeper and darker role than we have seen from him before — versus a foreign actor no one has heard of before. That is discounting the power of Christoph Waltz, though, and his performance may be the most talked about and most praised turn of the year. It is big, meaty, bold, funny, scary and gave a gravitas to a Best Picture nominee. This is his year.

Our Favorite Winners

KEY:
Appears on Two Lists
Appears on Three Lists
Appears on Four Lists
Appears on Opposing Lists

Wesley Lovell

1. Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People (What is most unfortunate about this category is how often such brilliant performances don’t result in a wonderful career for the actor. Case-in-point, Hutton is such a stellar actor in this film, creating, such a deep, heartfelt character that it’s surprising he’s not been more popular.)
2. Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (It’s the role of a lifetime and although I rank his performance in Brokeback Mountain well ahead of this one, there’s no denying the effort and style put into this role, which is why his death not long before the Oscars was so devastating. He could have been an even bigger legend than he already is.)
3. Robert De Niro – The Godfather, Part II (De Niro’s late-life career is quite disappointing considering just how good he is in Godfather II. He gave most of his greatest performances in the 1970’s, with this being one his absolute best.)
4. Joel Grey – Cabaret (When you think of the character of The Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret, this is the man whose performance you think of. His is the quintessential rendering with wit, charm and panache blended with a tremendous singing talent.)
5. Kevin Spacey – The Usual Suspects (Like so many actors before him, the Oscar went straight to his head, making Spacey one of the most egotistical and irritating actors working today. Yet, I still can’t help but love what he did with Verbal Kint. It’s a stylish performance that should have resulted in a more dignified career, but ego does astonishing things.)

Peter J. Patrick

1. Melvyn Douglas – Hud (His portrayal of the highly moralistic rancher at odds with his wastrel son is the highpoint of his distinguished career.)
2. Donald Crisp – How Green Was My Valley (His portrayal of the patriarch of the Welsh coal mining family set the bar for such portrayals.)
3. Edmund Gwenn – Miracle on 34th Street (Everybody’s favorite Santa, and with good reason. He’s just plain marvelous from start to finish.)
4. Martin Landau – Ed Wood (A classic portrayal of a film icon (Bela Lugosi) that just gets better with every viewing.)
5. Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby (A classic example of what a supporting actor is supposed to do, support the principals.)

Tripp Burton

1. George Sanders – All About Eve (A wonderfully smarmy performance that stands as a benchmark in film acting.)
2. Joel Grey – Cabaret (Up against the three guys from The Godfather, the Academy made the right choice with this bold, theatrical tour de force.)
3. Martin Landau – Ed Wood (The last truly great winner in this category is Landau’s deep, dark imitation that is pitch-perfect yet never seems like mimicry.)
4. Karl Malden – A Streetcar Named Desire (In a film filled with acting powerhouses, honor goes to this quiet, powerful actor in one of many wonderful performances.)
5. James Dunn – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (A too-often forgotten performance that brings more heart to his film than any other winner in this category.)

Wes Huizar

1. Walter Huston – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
2. Jack Lemmon – Mister Roberts
3. Karl Malden – A Streetcar Named Desire
4. Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
5. John Gielgud – Arthur

Our Least Favorite Winners

KEY:
Appears on Two Lists
Appears on Three Lists
Appears on Four Lists
Appears on Opposing Lists

Wesley Lovell

1. Jack Palance – City Slickers (When the Academy gives out career Oscars, it’s seldom for the actor’s greatest work. This is the perfect example. Nothing about Palance’s work in City Slickers is worth mentioning, creating a fairly typical villain that he could have done in his sleep. It isn’t his fault that he won, so I don’t begrudge him the award, especially after delivering a fairly memorable acceptance speech.)
2. Harold Russell – The Best Years of Our Lives (It is not unusual for non-actors to find success in roles based around their lives. Russell had already been given an honorary award for representing the wounded soldier returning home from World War II, but the Academy decided to go ahead and give him the competitive award despite giving a barely passable performance.)
3. Hugh Griffith – Ben-Hur (Imitated frequently on the big screen, Griffith’s performance is nothing exceedingly special in a film that isn’t that great either. It’s perfunctory work at best and it’s not hard to see this as a strong film carrying its nominees to victory, competition be damned.)
4. Robin Williams – Good Will Hunting (Williams has given so many better performnces, some of which weren’t even nominated, but when career accolades go out, they aren’t generally the best {see Jack Palance}, so while Williams is decent in Good Will Hunting, he’s not even better than the lesser entry in this category, Anthony Hopkins. This should have gone to either Burt Reynolds or Robert Forster, both of whom had terrific careers up to that time.)
5. Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men (There is no depth to Bardem’s performance. It’s a wooden visage of an embodiment of evil that doesn’t really excite or entertain. Yes, he does the role justice, but perhaps it’s just the character that bothers me.)

Peter J. Patrick

1. Martin Balsam – A Thousand Clowns (In a film about non-conformity the Oscar goes to the dutifully conforming older brother of the protagonist. What was the message here? Irritating over-rated film that distinguishes none of the actors including Balsam who was better that same year in The Bedford Incident.)
2. Kevin Kline – A Fish Called Wanda (Making fun of people with disabilities is a reason to give someone an Oscar? Alternately funny and grotesque film, with Kline decidedly on the grotesque side.)
3. Hugh Griffith – Ben-Hur (He won because he was a distinguished actor playing an undistinguished character, no reason to give him an Oscar.)
4. Peter Ustinov – Spartacus (See above.)
5. Jack Palance – City Slickers (Forgettable film, forgettable performance.)

Tripp Burton

1. George Clooney – Syriana
2. George Chakiris – West Side Story
3. Cuba Gooding Jr. – Jerry Maguire
4. Edmond O’Brien – The Barefoot Contessa
5. Robin Williams – Good Will Hunting

All of these films fall in the same category: they are competent, somewhat engaging, but not award worthy. They bring little to their film and lack a depth that the Oscar should award.

Wes Huizar

1. Don Ameche – Cocoon
2. Tommy Lee Jones – The Fugitive
3. Cuba Gooding Jr. – Jerry Maguire
4. George Chakiris – West Side Story
5. George Burns – The Sunshine Boys