Luise Rainer and Luise Rainer
01 Luise Rainer (1/12/10)
Recently name-checked not so flatteringly in Hitchcock, she was once known as the "Viennese Teardrop" and sits in the record books as the first back-to-back Oscar winning actor for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937). She's been very vocal about what she thought of Hollywood and "The Oscar Curse" which she doesn't believe in. Her career ended for more complicated reasons. Other key works: Not really. Not films she liked at any rate. Her career was over almost as soon as it began.
02 Douglas Slocombe (2/10/13)
The 99 year old cinematographer's most famous work is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Imagine lighting that boulder rolling opening sequence or the snake pit with torches! He was also nominated for Best Picture nominee Julia(1977) and Travels With My Aunt (1972). Other key works: The Lion in Winter (1968), The Great Gatsby (1974) and Rollerball (1975)
03 Elmo Williams (4/30/13)
He won his golden statue for editing High Noon (1952) one of the earliest movies (though not the earliest) to be told in "real time." He was later nominated for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). He's just a little over one Oscar ceremony away from the big 100.
Oswald Morris (far left) filming Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum
04 Oswald Morris (11/22/15)
This three time nominated Cinematographer recently turned 97. He received all of his nominations for musicals (The Wiz, Oliver!, Fiddler on the Roof) but he also worked frequently with legendary director John Huston Other Key Works: Lolita, Equus, The Taming of the Shrew. Puppet classic The Dark Crystal (1982) was his last movie assignment.
05 Eli Wallach (12/7/1915)
This beloved character actor and Honorary Oscar recipient, newly 97 years young, played "Mr Freeze" on the Batman TV series. He's most famous for frequent television apperances and for his role as "Tuco" in The Good The Bad and The Ugly (1966). Other Key Works: He was busiest from the late 50s through early 60s stretching from Baby Doll (1956 - Golden Globe Nomination) to The Magnificent Seven (1960) and on through The Misfits(1961) and Moon Spinners (1964). He popped up in Oscar favorite Mystic River (2003), too.
06 Olivia de Havilland (7/1/1916)
The oldest enduring movie star on this list had won Best Actress twice by the time she was 33 for To Each His Own (1946) and The Heiress (1949), the latter of which is currently revived on Broadway starring new Best Actress nominee Jessica Chastain. Olivia's legend was cemented years earlier than either of her Oscar wins, though, with her first nomination as the kind-hearted "Melanie" in the immortal Gone With the Wind (1939). She is the one of the only two remaining living links to that historic film. The Snake Pit(1948) and Hold Back the Dawn (1941) also won her Oscar attention.
Other Key Works: Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), My Cousin Rachel (1952), and Light in the Piazza (1962) which became a quite awesome stage musical a few years ago. If they ever made a film version of the musical and cast the right actress, you're talking instant Oscar nomination. More on Olivia.
07 Kirk Douglas (12/9/1916)
Spartacus himself and father to two time Oscar winner Michael Douglas. This three time Best Actor nominee (he was nominated for Champion, Lust For Life and The Bad and the Beautiful) won an Honorary Oscar and his irascibly energetic public appearances including Oscar shenanigans with Melissa Leo (discussed here) even after debilitating strokes have kept his name in lights for younger audiences, too.
08 John B Mansbridge (3/20/1917)
This 95 year old Disney Art Director was nominated for Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and The Island at the Top of the World (1974). Other Key Works: Tron (1982), Tim Burton's original Frankenweenie (1984) and the television series "Beauty and the Beast."
09 Joan Fontaine (10/22/1917)
The 95 year old starred in Rebecca (1940), which netted her her first Best Actress nomination and remains her most iconic film role. She followed her older sister Olivia de Havilland into showbiz but beat her to a Best Actress win when she was all of 24 for Suspicion (1941). Her career didn't prove quite as enduring as that of her long-estranged sister but one more Oscar nomination followed for The Constant Nymph (1943). Other Key Works: The Women (1939), Letter from a Unknown Woman (1948)
10 Michael Anderson (1/30/1920)
The 92 year old's claim to fame and sole Oscar success was directing the Best Picture winner Around the World in 80 Days (1956). Other Key Works: All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960) with Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood and the sci-fi favorite Logans Run (1976) which has been on the remake track forever now.
Why isn't "Harryhauseny" an adjective?
11 Ray Harryhausen (6/29/20)
This 92 year old visual effects stop motion pioneer was a Gordon Sawyer Award recipient at the 1992 ceremony. But his films were too "genre" to compete for Oscars during his career. Things are much different today of course when visual effects rule over all of the major studios. Harryhausen's most famous work can be seen inThe 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years BC (1966), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), and the original Clash of the Titans (1981) -- I loved his Medusa!
12 Mickey Rooney (9/23/20)
One of Hollywood's all time most successful teen stars, this workhorse actor churned out a ton of films in his youth. His first competitive nomination was for Babes in Arms (1939), and another Best Actor nomination followed for The Human Comedy (1943) making him the youngest actor to reach two Best Actor nominations (he was only 23!... to give you a hint at how impossible that is to do only James Dean at 26 and Brando at 28 came anywhere close). Rooney's final two nominations were in supporting for The Bold and the Brave (1956) and The Black Stallion (1979). In addition to his four nominations he was honored with a Juvenile Oscar (shared with Deanna Durbin who is also on this list) in the 30s and an Honorary Oscar in the 80s. Other Key Works: the entire Andy Hardy series... and that terribly racist supporting role in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961).
13 Carol Channing (1/31/21)
This Broadway legend was essentially too large for movie screens but she did manage one Oscar nomination for her hilariously out-there work as "Muzzy" in the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967). You have to see this performance to believe it. My favorite part of the movie is her "Jazz Baby" solo. Another must-see for Carol fans is the newish documentary Carol Channing: Larger Than Life which I had the pleasure of seeing at the Tribeca Film Festival with a very frail Carol in attendance. She spoke briefly to the crowd afterwards, sharing with us stories she'd just shared in the movie. I considered it a happy Double Feature. "Razzzzzbbberrries!" Other Key Works: a lifetime of Hello Dolly! on stage and originating the Marilyn Monroe part inGentlemen Prefer Blondes.
14 Ken Adam (2/5/21)
This soon to be 92 year old James Bond Art Director (Dr. No, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever) has had a titanic and long career. He's a two time winner for Art Direction (Barry Lyndonand The Madness of King George) and his nominations stretch across 4 decades of cinema. We recently celebrated his diverse and funny nominated work on Addams Family Values right here.
15 Saul Zaentz (2/28/21)
This producer won the industry's top prize "Best Picture" for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Amadeus(1984) and The English Patient (1996) - that's 3 of the only 9 pictures he's produced which means he's got a pretty amazing 33% record for wins for films produced. Other Key Works: The Unbearable Lightness of Being(1988)
16 Bill Butler (4/7/21)
The cinematographer's only nomination was for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which he shared with Haskell Wexler but '75 also featured a gig as Director of Photography on a tiny picture called Jaws (1975)... maybe you've heard of it? Other Key Works: He later swerved into less prestigious fare like the wildly popular Grease (1978) and multiple Rocky sequels.
17 Gil Parrondo (6/17/21)
This Spanish production designer won back to back Art Direction Oscars forPatton (1970) and Nicholas and Alexandra (1971). A third consecutive nomination followed for Travels With My Aunt (1972) but it broke his winning streak. The 91 year-old is actually back at work (!) on the Pablo Picasso "Guernica" focused biopic 33 días (2013) with Antonio Banderas playing the temperamental genius.
Parrondo with his two Oscars
18 Deanna Durbin (12/4/21)
This 91 year old was a teen sensation in the 1930s, becoming for a time the highest paid actress in Hollywood. She was only 18 when she won her Juvenile Oscar (shared with Mickey Rooney) after a series of huge hits including Three Smart Girls, That Certain Age and Mad About Music. She retired from the screen just nine years later and, like Olivia de Havilland, now lives in France.
the cool beauty of Eleanor Parker
19 Eleanor Parker (6/26/22)
Not everyone is remembered most for their Oscar hits. This fine fine actress is best remembered today as the (not totally) wicked would be stepmother in The Sound of Music -- a role for which she wasn't nominated despite the movie's Oscar Champ status -- but that doesn't paint the whole picture at all. Due to the Baroness I believe most people think of her as a supporting player but her three Oscar nominations were all for Best Leading Actress: Caged (1950), Detective Story (1951) and Interuppted Melody (1956). Isn't it time for renewed interest in her career? Perhaps we owe her a mini blog festival.
20 Norman Lear (7/27/22)
This writer was Oscar nominated for Divorce, American Style. But he'll be in the history books forever due to the development, creation and writing of several classic envelope-pushing television sitcoms like All in the Family, Maude, Sanford & Son and The Jefferson to name just a few.
21 Juanita Moore (10/19/22)
She hasn't worked in over a decade but that Supporting Actress nomination for Imitation of Life (*see it*) sure was a beauty.
22 Valentina Cortese (1/1/23)
This Italian Day for Night (1973) actress holds the extremely rare honor of a supporting acting nomination from a foreign language film. Those are about as infrequent as it gets. Other Key Works: Les Misérables (1948) in which she played both Fantine AND Cosette -- take that Anne Hathaway!, and The House on Telegraph Hill(1951)
Franco Zeffirelli directing his actors in Romeo and Juliet (1968), a big hit in its day
23 Franco Zeffirelli (2/12/23)
The famed Italian director who'll turn 90 just before the Oscars was nominated twice, the first time for helmingRomeo & Juliet (1968) which remains his most famous work and the first major screen production of Shakespeare's doomed teen romance to realize that the actors should be young. His second nomination came for art-directing his own gorgeous opera film, La Traviata (1982). Other key works Mainstream hits The Champand Endless Love and the Mel Gibson/Glenn Close version of Hamlet (1990).
24 Richard Attenborough (8/29/23)
Today's under 30s probably think of him solely as the visionary scientist/showman of "Jurassic Park" withinJurassic Park but he was once right in AMPAS wheelhouse as a director favoring topics dripping with prestige and bait. He won two Oscars with his only two nominations, both for Gandhi (1982). Other key works: the much maligned A Chorus Line: The Musical (1985) and the biopics Chaplin (1992) and Shadowlands (1993) which both won Oscar favor for in acting categories.
25 Glynis Johns (10/5/23)
Her only nomination came for a a terrific turn as the lusty bar owner "Mrs Firth" in The Sundowners (1960). Other Key Works: Two early roles as mermaids in Miranda (1948) and Mad About Men (1954) have a devoted following. Awesome performances for modern audiences include The Ref(1994) - so memorable as the irritable stingy matriach - and While You Were Sleeping (1995) though she is now, sadly, retired.
26 Arthur Hiller (11/22/23)
He won a Hersholt Huminatarian Award but when it comes to his feature films he's mostly remembered for directing the smash hit romantic drama Love Story (1970) which won him his only Oscar nomination.
Other Key Works: They're all comedies: The Out of Towners, Silver Streak and Outrageous Fortune
27 Ron Moody (1/8/24)
Actor nominee "Fagin" from Oliver! turned 89 this week.
28 Doris Day (4/3/24)
The movie musical / romantic comedy legend received only one Best Actress nomination (for Pillow Talk, 1959) but her fans are still dedicated. Everyone grouses that she doesn't have an Honorary Oscar and many argue that it's only because she's totally withdrawn herself from Hollywood and probably wouldn't show to receive it. Other Key Works: Calamity Jane, The Pajama Game, The Man Who Knew Too Much, That Touch of Mink and many other hits.
29 Stanley Donen (4/13/24)
He's an underappreciate Hall of Famer but at least he has an Honorary Oscar! He was one of the best musicals director of all time, most famous for that thrilling barn sequence in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and the entirety of Singin' in the Rain but somehow people always forget to mention him when discussing the giants of movie musicals. Other Key Works: On the Town, Royal Wedding
30 Theodore Bikel (5/2/24)
is best remembered for key supporting actor roles from the 1950s including The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952) and, finally, The Defiant Ones (1958) for which he Oscar nominated. Back then supporting actors didn't have to be shoved aside so that one of the two co-leads could pretend to be supporting. Both Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier were nominated in Best Actor. Even though they're chained together throughout the picture if it were released today one of them would claim to be "supporting" the other for the sake of an Oscar.
31 Eva Marie Saint (7/4/24),
who is 88, won Best Supporting Actress for On the Waterfront (1954). Her last film role was as Superman's mom in Superman Returns (2006) but she's back in front of cameras now for a new movie with Russell Crowe. Other Key Works: Exodus and Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest.
32 Martha Hyer (8/10/24)
was Oscar nominated for Supporting Actress for Some Came Running (1958).
Bacall's Honorary
33 Lauren Bacall (9/16/24)
this 1940s screen siren, paired with Humphrey Bogart onscreen and off, recently received an honorary Oscar and was nominated for her whole career under the guise of The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996). Now 88 this tough actress is still working. Her best recent roles were both in icy fantastic Nicole Kidman pictures (Dogville and Birth). Other Key Works: Key Largo, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Murder on the Orient Express and How to Marry a Millionaire (recently discussed).
34 Ruby Dee (10/27/24)
is the third old actress ever to receive an Oscar nomination -- for slapping Denzel Washington in American Gangster (2007) at 83 -- but her history with show biz goes way back and she has several lifetime achievement prizes to show for it. Other Key Works: The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) and Do The Right Thing (1989).
35 Dorothy Malone (1/30/25)
the very colorful Supporting Actress winner from Written on the Wind turns 88 this month. Other Key Works: Took over the Lana Turner role for the television version of Peyton Place. She stayed retired after her fun cameo in Basic Instinct (1992).
36 Hal Holbrook (2/17/25)
is the oldest man to ever receive an acting nominaton. That was a Supporting Actor bid at 83 for his tremendously moving brief role in Into the Wild (2007). He followed it up with a moving but underseen lead role in That Evening Sun (2009). Other Key Works: "Deep Throat" in All The Presidents Men(1976), Abraham Lincoln in the TV miniseries Lincoln (1974) and he's currently onscreen as part of the vivid ensemble cast of Lincoln, currently nominated for 12 Oscars, though he doesn't get to play the President this time.
37 George Kennedy (2/18/25)
won Best Supporting Actor for Cool Hand Luke (1967). He was the oldest male acting winner until Christopher Plummer last year and he's just one day younger than the oldest male acting nominee ever (living or otherwise) which would be Hal Holbrook. Other Key Works: Hurry Sundown, The Dirty Dozen, and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and more recently the Naked Gun series.
38 Colette Marchand (4/29/25)
was nominated for Moulin Rouge (1952), her first onscreen role. She was rarely seen again onscreen.
39 Martin Bregman (5/18/25)
this personal manager turned producer helped bring the perfect Dog Day Afternoon (1975). Other Key Works: Lots of key Pacino movies including Sea of Love, Scarface, and Serpico
40 John Briley (6/25/25)
this 87 year old won Best Original Screenplay for Gandhi (1982).
41 Cara Williams (6/29/25) was a Supporting Actress nominee for The Defiant Ones.
Governor's Ball Dec 2012: George Stevens Jr (80), D.A. Pennebaker (87), Hal Needham (81) and Jeffrey Katzenberg (62)
42 D.A. Pennebaker (7/15/25)
this famous documentarian was nominated for The War Room. He just picked up his Honorary Oscar in December at the Governor's Ball.
43 Alan Bergman (9/11/25)
won 3 Oscars in the music categories along with a slew of other nominations. Amazing song contributions include "Papa Can Your Hear Me?", "The Way We Were", "The Windmills of Your Mind" and "It Might Be You"
44 Herbert Kretzmer (10/5/25)
this composer is nominated THIS YEAR for "Suddenly" from Les Misérables
45 Angela Lansbury (10/16/25)
This 87 year old legend was thrice nominated for Supporting Actress (Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Manchurian Candidate) and she's still a big name to multiple generations. Most people know her as a TV and stage star (she's won 5 Tony Awards) but she had quite an early ascendance on the big screen. Lansbury still holds the record of fastest actor of either gender to receive two competitive Oscar nominations. She was only 20 when she picked up her second Supporting Actress nod.
46 Johnny Mandel (11/23/25) won his Oscar for the song "The Shadow of Your Smile" from The Sandpiper (65)
47 Julie Harris (12/2/25) Speaking of Tony winners. Here's a huge stage star and one time Oscar nominee (Member of the Wedding). Other Key Works: James Dean's girl in East of Eden and primetime soap TV stardom on "Knots Landing".
48 George Martin (1/3/26) Celebrated his 87th birthday just a week ago. He achieved fame by producing The Beatles and became an Oscar nominee on A Hard Day's Night (1964).
49 Haskell Wexler (2/6/26) Wexler is one of the most important cinematographers who ever lived. And though he hits 87 in a month he's still working. He won two Oscars for shooting Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) and Bound For Glory (1976). Other Key Works: In the Heat of the Night, The Thomas Crown Affair, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
50 Andrzej Wazda (3/6/26) This 86 year old legendary Polish director of Man of Iron fame has four Foreign Language Film nominees to his credit including the recent Katyn (2007). He's also an Honorary winner.
51 Jerry Lewis (3/16/26) This comedy legend was never nominated for a competitive Oscar but he received the Jean Hersholt Huminatarian Award. Key Works: The Nutty Professor (1963), King of Comedy (1983) and a longtime prolific comic partnership with Dean Martin.
52 Roger Corman (4/5/26) this Honorary Oscar winner is an iconic director and producer of B Movies and the subject of the new documentary Corman's World. Like many celebrities (and me!) he is from Detroit Michigan.Key Works: Little Shop of Horrors, The Wild Angels, Bloody Mama, A Bucket of Blood, The Wasp Woman and much more...
53 Joan Lorring (4/17/26) was a Supporting Actress nominee opposite Bette Davis for The Corn is Green.Other Key Works: The Verdict, Three Strangers and The Midnight Man.
54 Cloris Leachman (4/30/26) The Last Picture Show (1971) Supporting Actress winner and enduring comic star of Young Frankenstein (1974). Other Key Works: many Emmy-winning television sitcom appearances.
55 Peter Shaffer (5/15/26) Screenplay nominee for Equus (1977) and winner for Amadeus (1984)
56 Mel Brooks (6/28/26) Iconic comedy director -- too many hits to mention -- won Best Screenplay for The Producers (1968)
57 Norman Jewison (7/21/26) was nominated for 7 Oscars but never won. Key works: Moonstruck, Fiddler on the Roof, In the Heat of the Night, Jesus Christ Superstar
58 Frank Finlay (8/6/26) Best Supporting Actor nominee for Othello (1965)
59 Lina Wertmüller (8/14/26) the first woman ever nominated for Best Director for Seven Beauties (1975) for which she also received a screenplay nomination.
60 Samuel Goldwyn Jr (9/7/26) Producer.
61 Richard H Kline (11/15/26) Cinematographer
62 Murray Schisgal (11/25/26) Screenwriter
63 Albert Maysles (11/26/26) Documentarian
64 Lawrence Turman (11/28/26) Producer
65 Walter Lassally (12/18/26) Cinematographer
66 Sidney Poitier (2/20/27) Icon
67 Emmanuelle Riva (2/24/27) Nominated for Best Actress in "AMOUR"
68 Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (5/7/27) Screenwriter
69 Neil Simon (7/4/27) Writer
70 Rosemary Harris (9/19/27) Actress
71 Lee Grant (10/31/27) Actress
72 Estelle Parsons (11/20/27) Actress. She recently toured the country leading the August: Osage County cast.
73 William Peter Blatty (1/7/28) Screenwriter
74 Stuart Whitman (2/1/28) Actor
75 Gerald Fried (2/13/28) Composer
76 James Garner (4/7/28) Actor
77 Paul Sylbert (4/16/28) Production Design
78 Shirley Temple (4/23/28) Biggest Child Star of All Time
79 Burt Bacharach (5/12/28) Composer
80 Edouard Molinaro (5/31/28) Director
81 James Ivory (6/7/28) Director
82 Richard M Sherman (6/12/28) Composer
83 Martin Landau (6/20/28) Actor
84 Nancy Olson (7/14/28) Actress
85 Stanley Mann (8/8/28) Screenwriter
86 Ann Blyth (8/16/28) Actress
87 Serge Bourguignon (9/3/28) Writer/Director
88 Jerome Hellman (9/4/28) Producer
89 Zev Braun (10/19/28) Producer
90 Ennio Moricone (11/10/28) Iconic Composer
91 Peter Howitt (birthdate unknown, 1928) Art Director
92 André Previn (4/6/29) Composer
93 Max Von Sydow (4/10/29) Bergman Muse.
94 Richard Rush (4/15/29)
95 Paul Mazurky (4/25/30) Writer/Director
96 Fernanda Montenegro (10/16/29)
97 Joan Plowright (10/28/29) British Dame / Actress
98 Christopher Plummer (12/13/29) Best Supporting Actor winner just last year.
99 Gene Hackman (1/30/30) Actor.
100 Joanne Woodward (2/27/30) Widow of Paul Newman
