Superlatives
| Superlative | Best Actor | Best Supporting Actor | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actor with most awards | Spencer Tracy Fredric March Gary Cooper Marlon Brando Dustin Hoffman Tom Hanks Jack Nicholson Daniel Day-Lewis Sean Penn |
2 | Walter Brennan | 3 | Walter Brennan Jack Nicholson |
3 |
| Actor with most nominations | Spencer Tracy Laurence Olivier |
9 | Walter Brennan Claude Rains Arthur Kennedy Jack Nicholson |
4 | Jack Nicholson | 12 |
| Actor with most nominations (without ever winning) |
Peter O'Toole | 8 | Claude Rains Arthur Kennedy |
4 | Peter O'Toole | 8 |
| Film with most nominations | Mutiny on the Bounty | 3 | On the Waterfront The Godfather The Godfather Part II |
3 | On the Waterfront The Godfather The Godfather Part II |
4 |
| Oldest winner | Henry Fonda | 76 | Christopher Plummer | 82 | Christopher Plummer | 82 |
| Oldest nominee | Richard Farnsworth | 79 | Hal Holbrook | 82 | Hal Holbrook | 82 |
| Youngest winner | Adrien Brody | 29 | Timothy Hutton | 20 | Timothy Hutton | 20 |
| Youngest nominee | Jackie Cooper | 9 | Justin Henry | 8 | Justin Henry | 8 |
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, Robert Duvall, Ed Harris, and Al Pacino have each had three unsuccessful nominations.
Heath Ledger is the only person to posthumously win an acting Oscar in a supporting role. He won the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, 2008.
Read more about this topic: Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor