The Oscars has handed out a lot of awards to talented actors over the years. Though many of the recipients are up and coming young performers, others have worked long and hard to gain their crowning achievement. We’re here now to look at the oldest actors to win an Oscar.
We will be considering performers in the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress categories. It’s also worth noting that we’ll be looking at the age an actor was when they received an Academy Award instead of the age they were when appearing in the nominated picture.
It’s time for Hollywood’s brightest to prove that age is just a number!. Here are the 10 oldest actors to win an Oscar so far.
10 Josephine Hull (74)
Though Josephine Hull was best known for her successful stage career, that didn’t stop her from also picking up an Oscar in 1951. At age 74, she appeared in her fifth film, Harvey. She earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for portraying a character whom she originally played on Broadway.
Harvey is a comedy-drama about a middle-aged man who is friends with a large, imaginary rabbit. It also focuses on his family members, who are worried about his mental health. Hull plays the man’s sister, Veta.
9 Katharine Hepburn (74)
While Katharine Hepburn holds the record as the actor with the most Oscar wins, she also remains one of the oldest recipients of an Academy Award. Hepburn’s first Oscar came in 1933 for Morning Glory followed by Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in 1967 and The Lion in Winter in 1968. In 1981, she nabbed her final award at the age of 74 for On Golden Pond.
The drama film focuses on a retiree and his wife, Ethel, who deal with their strained relationship with their daughter after she arrives at their New England vacation home with her fiancée and his teen son. Hepburn portrays Ethel. As it turns out, her co-star also broke a record for his performance.
8 Henry Fonda (76)
The oldest Best Actor recipient of all time is Henry Fonda. He scored this title for his performance alongside Hepburn in On Golden Pond in 1981. This came a year after he was given an honorary award for his five-decades worth of film contributions. Fonda had previously received a Best Actor nomination forty years earlier, for his leading performance in the drama The Grapes of Wrath. The hard work eventually paid off.
7 Peggy Ashcroft (77)
Though Peggy Ashcroft’s professional film career began in the early 30s, she didn’t receive an Academy Award nomination until 1984. This is when she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress thanks to her performance as Mrs. Moore in A Passage to India.
This epic historical drama, based on the play of the same name by Santha Rama Rau, tells of a group of people who deal with a man who has been accused of raping a woman named Adela. Moore plays a woman from England who visits the fictional location with Adela.
6 Don Ameche (77)
Though Dom Ameche began professionally acting in the mid-30s, it wasn't until 1985 that he received his first and only Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This came just a couple of years after his film revival in 1983, following a 12-year hiatus.
Ameche's winning role was in sci-fi comedy-drama known as Cocoon. It tells of a group of Florida residents who find a fountain of youth that has been given a revitalizing property by alien creatures.
5 John Gielgud (77)
English actor John Gielgud spent most of his life performing on stage and in films. Though he received a nomination for his performance as King Louis VII of France in the drama Becket in 1964, he didn't receive an Oscar until he performed as Hobson in the British-American comedy Arthur in 1981.
The film tells of the titular character who plans on marrying an heiress, only to soon fall for a young woman who isn't so wealthy from Queens. While Dudley Moore played Arthur, Gielgud played his valet.
4 Melvyn Douglas (79)
Melvyn Douglas first received an Academy Award win in 1963 for his performance in Hud. After scoring a nomination for his role in I Never Sang For My Father in 1970, he scored a second Oscar at the age of 70, in 1979, for his performance in Being There.
This comedy-drama focuses on a Washington, D.C. gardener who is forced into upper-class society after a businessman makes a mistake about his identity. This businessman is played by Melvyn Douglas.
3 George Burns (80)
George Burns first appeared in the 1932 musical comedy The Big Broadcast. He continued to star in films through the mid-50s and then took a break—that is until The Sunshine Boys came around.
This 1975 film helped revive Burns' career, and at the time of its release, he was the oldest actor to have ever won an Oscar. The Sunshine Boys tells of two elderly comics who decide to revive their act. Burns starred alongside Walter Matthau, though he was the only one who took home an Academy Award for his performance.
2 Jessica Tandy (80)
Stage and film performer Jessica Tandy received two Oscar noms late in her career. While she didn’t walk away with Best Supporting Actress for Fried Green Tomatoes in 1991, she did take home Best Actress for Driving Miss Daisy a couple of years before in 1989. This makes her the oldest actor to receive an Academy Award for a leading role.
Driving Miss Daisy tells of an elderly woman in Atlanta who is forced to sacrifice her independence and recruit a driver after a car crash. Though her relationship with her new chauffeur, Hoke (Morgan Freeman), seems like a bump in the road, she soon begins to see the value in his friendship. Driving Miss Daisy additionally walked away with the coveted Best Picture title the year following its release.
1 Christopher Plummer (82)
The oldest actor to ever receive an Oscar is none other than longtime Hollywood icon Christopher Plummer. He’s still acting at the age of 90, recently appearing in the 2020 Best Original Screenplay nominee Knives Out.
Though Plummer’s career has spanned over six decades, he’s received only three Academy Award nominations and one win. His first nom came in 2010 for The Last Station, and his third came in 2018 for All the Money in the World. His Best Supporting Actor award arrived in 2012 for his performance in the romantic comedy-drama, Beginners. He definitely deserved it.
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