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Information about Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the award has commonly been referred to as the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. While actors are nominated for this award by Academy members who are actors and actresses themselves, winners are selected by the Academy membership as a whole. Under the system currently in place, an actor is nominated for a specific performance in a single film, and such nominations are limited to five per year. Throughout the past 71 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, AMPAS has presented a total of 71 Best Supporting Actor awards to 64 different actors. Winners of this Academy Award of Merit receive the familiar Oscar statuette, depicting a gold-plated knight holding a crusader's sword and standing on a reel of film. Prior to the 16th Academy Awards ceremony (1943), however, they received a plaque. The first recipient was Walter Brennan, who was honored at the 9th Academy Awards ceremony (1936) for his performance in Come and Get It. The most recent recipient was Alan Arkin, who was honored at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony (2006) for his performance in Little Miss Sunshine.

Until the 8th Academy Awards ceremony (1935), nominations for the Best Actor award were intended to include all actors, whether the performance was in either a leading or supporting role. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony (1936), however, the Best Supporting Actor category was specifically introduced as a distinct award following complaints that the single Best Actor category necessarily favored leading performers with the most screen time. Nonetheless, Lionel Barrymore had received a Best Actor award (A Free Soul, 1931) and Franchot Tone a Best Actor nomination (Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935) for their performances in clear supporting roles. Currently, Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role constitute the four Academy Awards of Merit for acting annually presented by AMPAS.

Walter Brennan, the winner of the inaugural award in 1936, is the only actor to win the award three times (from four nominations). Five actors have won the award twice: Anthony Quinn, Melvyn Douglas, Michael Caine, Peter Ustinov and Jason Robards. Robards was the only person to win consecutive Best Supporting Actor awards, for All the President's Men (1976) and Julia (1977).

Claude Rains and Arthur Kennedy share the greatest number of unsuccessful nominations, four each. The only other actors with four nominations were Walter Brennan (won three times) and Jack Nicholson (won once). Charles Bickford, Jeff Bridges, Charles Durning, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris and Al Pacino have all had three unsuccessful nominations (no wins).

Thanks to a quirk of voting, in 1944 Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way became the only actor nominated in both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor categories for the same performance, winning the latter. (Today, studios designate which category they want a performer to compete for.) Robert De Niro's 1974 win as the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II is unique as the only Supporting Oscar won for playing a part previously played by a Best Actor winner (Marlon Brando in The Godfather). De Niro and Benicio del Toro (who won for Traffic) are the only winners for a foreign-language performance in this category.

Superlatives

Category Name Superlative Year Notes
Most AwardsWalter Brennan3 awards1940Awards resulted from 4 nominations.
Most NominationsWalter Brennan4 nominations (tie)1941Nominations resulted in 3 awards.
Most NominationsClaude Rains4 nominations (tie)1946Nominations resulted in 0 awards.
Most NominationsArthur Kennedy4 nominations (tie)1958Nominations resulted in 0 awards.
Most NominationsJack Nicholson4 nominations (tie)1992Nominations resulted in 1 award.
Oldest WinnerGeorge Burns80 years old1975The Sunshine Boys
Oldest NomineeRalph Richardson82 years old1984
Youngest WinnerTimothy Hutton20 years old1980Ordinary People
Youngest NomineeJustin Henry8 years old1979Kramer vs. Kramer

Winners and nominees

Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by year of their Los Angeles qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) the film's year of release. For example, the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor of 1999 was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000. Winners are listed first in bold, followed by the other nominees. For a list sorted by actor names, please see List of Best Supporting Actor nominees. For a list sorted by film titles, please see List of Best Supporting Actor nominees (films).

1930s

1940s

From 1943 winners received statuettes like everybody else.

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

See also

External links

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Academy Awards
Academy Award of Merit:
Current Awards		 Best Picture • Best Leading Actor • Best Leading Actress • Best Supporting Actor • Best Supporting Actress • Best Animated Feature • Best Art Direction • Best Cinematography • Best Costume Design • Best Director • Best Documentary Feature • Best Documentary Short Subject • Best Film Editing • Best Foreign Language Film • Best Makeup • Best Original Score • Best Original Song • Best Animated Short Film • Best Live Action Short Film • Best Sound Mixing • Best Sound Editing • Best Visual Effects • Best Adapted Screenplay • Best Original Screenplay
Academy Award of Merit:
Retired Awards		Best Assistant Director • Best Dance Direction • Best Director of a Comedy Picture • Best Short Film - Live Action - 2 Reels • Best Short Film - Novelty • Best Original Story • Best Title Writing • Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production
Special Awards:
Current Awards		Academy Honorary Award • Academy Special Achievement Award • Academy Award, Scientific or Technical • The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award • The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award • Gordon E. Sawyer Award
Special Awards:
Retired Awards		Academy Juvenile Award
Ceremonies1927/28 • 1928/29 • 1929/30 • 1930/31 • 1931/32 • 1932/33 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007
(Note: The years are listed as per Academy convention, usually the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the next year.)
Academy Award

Awarded for Excellence in cinematic achievements
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Country United States
First awarded May 16, 1929 to honor achievements of 1927/1928
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AMPAS
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Founded May 11,1927
Members 6,000
Country United States
Key people Sid Ganis, president
Office location Los Angeles,Beverly Hills, California

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actor, actress, or player (see terminology) is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity.
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The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and
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16th Academy Awards

Date March 2, 1944
Site Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood, California, USA

Host Jack Benny

The 16th Academy Awards was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
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-1943- 1944 1945 1946  1947 .  1948 .  1949 .  1950  . 1951  . 1952  . 1953 

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Walter Brennan

Publicity photo
Birth name Walter Andrew Brennan
Born July 25 1894(1894--)
Swampscott, Massachusetts, U.S.
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Academy Awards

Date March 4, 1937
Site Biltmore Hotel

Host George Jessel

The 9th Academy Awards were held on March 4, 1937 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by George Jessel.
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-1936- 1937 1938 1939  1940 .  1941 .  1942 .  1943  . 1944  . 1945  . 1946 

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Come and Get It is a 1936 film directed by Howard Hawks and William Wyler. It starred Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea, Frances Farmer, Walter Brennan, Mady Christians, Mary Nash, Andrea Leeds, Frank Shields, Edwin Maxwell and Cecil Cunningham, and was based on the 1935 novel of
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Alan Arkin

Yossarian, as portrayed by Alan Arkin
Birth name Alan Wolf Arkin
Born March 26 1934 (1934--) (age 73)
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
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79th Academy Awards

Date Sunday, February 25 2007
Site Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California
Preshow Chris Connelly
Lisa Ling
Shaun Robinson
Allyson Waterman
Host Ellen DeGeneres
Producer Laura Ziskin
Director Louis J.
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-2006- 2007 2008 2009  2010 .  2011 .  2012 .  2013  . 2014  . 2015  . 2016 
In home video: 2003 2004 2005 -2006- 2007 2008 2009     
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Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Little Miss Sunshine is a dramatic comedy film about a family's road trip to a children's beauty pageant.
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Academy Awards

Date March 5, 1936
Site Biltmore Hotel

Host Frank Capra

The 8th Academy Awards were held on March 5, 1936 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Frank Capra.
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-1935- 1936 1937 1938  1939 .  1940 .  1941 .  1942  . 1943  . 1944  . 1945 

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Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
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Academy Awards

Date March 4, 1937
Site Biltmore Hotel

Host George Jessel

The 9th Academy Awards were held on March 4, 1937 at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by George Jessel.
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-1936- 1937 1938 1939  1940 .  1941 .  1942 .  1943  . 1944  . 1945  . 1946 

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Lionel Barrymore

Birth name Lionel Herbert Blythe
Born March 28 1878(1878--)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died November 15 1954 (aged 76)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
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IMDb profile

A Free Soul is a 1931 Pre-Code film which tells the story of an alcoholic defense attorney who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with; a mobster whom her father had
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-1931- 1932 1933 1934  1935 .  1936 .  1937 .  1938  . 1939  . 1940  . 1941 

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Franchot Tone

Franchot Tone
Birth name Stanislas Pascal Franchot Tone
Born January 27 1905(1905--)
Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.
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All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the "Bounty".
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-1935- 1936 1937 1938  1939 .  1940 .  1941 .  1942  . 1943  . 1944  . 1945 

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Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
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Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
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Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry.
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Walter Brennan

Publicity photo
Birth name Walter Andrew Brennan
Born July 25 1894(1894--)
Swampscott, Massachusetts, U.S.
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For other people named Anthony Quinn see Anthony Quinn (disambiguation)


Anthony Quinn

Anthony Quinn
Birth name Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn
Born March 21 1915(
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