John Mills - Biography - IMDb John Mills Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trivia (44) | Personal Quotes (8) Overview (5) John Lewis Ernest Watts Mills Nickname 5' 8" (1.73 m) Mini Bio (1) Sir John Mills, one of the most popular and beloved English actors, was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills on February 22, 1908, at the Watts Naval Training College in North Elmham, Norfolk, England. The young Mills grew up in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father was a mathematics teacher and his mother was a theater box-office manager. The Oscar-winner appeared in more than 120 films and TV movies in a career stretching over eight decades, from his debut in 1932 in Midshipmaid Gob (1932) through Bright Young Things (2003) and The Snow Prince (2009). After graduating from the Norwich Grammar School for Boys, Mills rejected his father's academic career for the performing arts.

After brief employment as a clerk in a grain merchant's office, he moved to London and enrolled at Zelia Raye's Dancing School. Convinced from the age of six that performing was his destiny, Mills said, "I never considered anything else." After training as a dancer, he started his professional career in the music hall, appearing as a chorus boy at the princely sum of four pounds sterling a week in "The Five O'Clock Revue" at the London Hippodrome, in 1929. The short, wiry song-and-dance man was scouted by Noël Coward and began to appear regularly on the London stage in revues, musicals and legitimate plays throughout the 1930s. He appeared in a score of films before the war, "quota quickies" made under a system regulating the import of American films designed to boost local production. He was a juvenile lead in The Ghost Camera (1933), appeared in the musical Car of Dreams (1935), and then played lead roles in Born for Glory (1935), Nine Days a Queen (1936) and The Green Cockatoo (1937).

His Hollywood debut was in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) with Robert Donat , but he refused the American studios' entreaties to sign a contract and returned to England. Mills relished acting in films, finding it a challenge rather than the necessary economic evil that many English actors at the time, such as Laurence Olivier , felt it was, and it was the cinema that would make him an internationally renowned star. He anchored his film career in military roles, such as those in his early pictures Born for Glory (1935) (a.k.a. "Forever England") and Raoul Walsh 's You're in the Army Now (1937). He appeared in the classic In Which We Serve (1942), where he worked with his mentor Coward and with Coward's co-director David Lean , who would go on to direct Mills in some of his most memorable performances. Throughout his film career Mills played a wide variety of military characters, portraying the quintessential English hero. He later tackled more complex characterizations, such as the emotionally troubled commander in Tunes of Glory (1960). He also played Field Marshal Haig in the satire Oh!

What a Lovely War (1969) that mocked the entire genre. However, it was in his World War II films, which included We Dive at Dawn (1943), Waterloo Road (1945) and Johnny in the Clouds (1945), that Mills established himself as an innovative English film star. With his ordinary appearance and everyman manner, Mills seemed "the boy-next-door," but the Mills hero was decent, loyal and brave, as well as tough and reliable under stress. In his military roles, he managed throughout his career to include enough subtle variations on the Mills heroic type to avoid appearing typed. He could play such straight heroes as Scott of the Antarctic (1948) as well as deconstruct the type in Ice Cold in Alex (1958) and "Tunes of Glory." The latter film features one of his finest film roles, that of the brittle Col. Basil Barrow, the new commander of a Scots battalion. Mills superbly played an emotionally troubled martinet in a role originally slated for Alec Guinness , his Great Expectations (1946) co-star, who decided to take the flashier role of the colonel's tormentor.

It was one of Mills' favorite characters. No male star of English cinema enjoyed such a long and rewarding career as a star while appearing predominantly in English films. As an actor, Mills chose his roles on the basis of the quality of the script rather than its propriety as a "star" turn. Because of this, he played roles that were more akin to character parts, such as shoemaker Willy Mossop in Hobson's Choice (1954). As he aged, his proclivity for well-written roles enabled him to make a seamless transition from a lead to character lead to character actor from the 1950s to the 1960s. Almost 40 years after his film debut, Mills won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for playing the mute village idiot in Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970), an uncharacteristic part. In addition to "In Which We Serve" and "Ryan's Daughter," Lean had also directed Mills in memorable performances in This Happy Breed (1944) and "Hobson's Choice". He gave one of his finest turns as Pip in Lean's masterpiece "Great Expectations", in which Mills' performance was central to the success of the picture.

(1932 - 1940) (divorced) Trivia (44) Although his eyesight failed almost completely in 1990, he continued to act, playing both blind and seeing characters. Ranked #88 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Grandfather of Crispian Mills , lead singer of Kula Shaker and Melissa Caulfield . Supported the Labour Party during the 2001 General Election campaign. At age 92, he and wife Mary, age 89, renewed their marriage vows at St. Mary's Church, next to their home, Hills House, in Denham, England. When they had wed 60 years earlier, he was denied a church service because he was serving in the Army during World War II. [January 2001] He was voted ninth in the 2001 Orange Film Survey of greatest British actors.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1960 Queen's New Year Honours List and became a Knight Bachelor in the 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours for his services to drama. A council member of RADA, he was also a life patron of the Variety Club. When he won the 1971 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, Mills was the only winner present at the ceremony to accept his acting award. The other three winners of Academy Awards for acting that year, George C. Scott , Glenda Jackson , and Helen Hayes , didn't attend the awards. ceremony. Younger brother of Annette Mills . His first wife, Aileen Raymond , survived him by five days and she was the mother of the actor Ian Ogilvy . He was educated at Norwich Grammar School for Boys. Was nominated for Broadway's 1962 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for "Ross." Hospitalised with a severe chest infection in August 2002. Suffered a bad fall at his Buckinghamshire home, breaking two ribs, and was kept overnight in hospital as a precaution.

(November 2001) More than 400 stars of stage and screen took part in an event organized by the Lord's Taverners charity, of which he was the founding president in 1950, at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, south east London to honor his illustrious career and recent Diamond wedding anniversary. (21 February 2001) He always maintained his favorite movie was Tunes of Glory (1960), in which he co-starred with Alec Guinness . Prior to his death he had planned on attending The 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (2005) where his daughter Juliet Mills was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for playing Tabitha Lennox in Passions (1999). Despite being two of Britain's most distinguished actors of their generation, he appeared in only two films with Alec Guinness : Great Expectations (1946) and Tunes of Glory (1960). Enlisted in the Royal Engineers in 1940 but received a medical discharge after a year and a half due to a duodenal ulcer.

Died seven days after his In Which We Serve (1942), The October Man (1947), This Happy Breed (1944) and Tunes of Glory (1960) co-star, Kay Walsh . Of the Oscar-winning father-daughter couples, he and his daughter Hayley Mills are one of two couples (the other is Jane Fonda / Henry Fonda ) where the daughter won an Academy award before the father did. He was a close friend of the English actor/director Richard Attenborough , who read the eulogy at his funeral. His wife of 64 years, Mary Hayley Bell , suffered from Alzheimer's disease for many years. Due to the advanced stage of her illness, she was unable to attend his funeral on April 27, 2005. He was a close friend of Stephen Fry . He is credited with playing more military roles than any other star. In 31 of his movies, almost a third of his whole cinematic output, he portrayed soldiers, usually officers. He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

There is 16mm footage of Mills in the 1932 stage show "Words and Music" alongside Doris Hare . The show was written by Noël Coward . In 1967, he appeared in "The Great Escape" themed episode of The Golden Shot (1967), hosted by Bob Monkhouse . Father-in-law of Maxwell Caulfield . He and his first wife Aileen Raymond both died in April 2005, approximately 78 years after they were married. Mills was rejected by the army during World War II because of a duodenal ulcer. According to Mills, the only reason he saw his quota quickie "The Lash" is because it was on a double bill with something that Spencer Tracy was acting in. Mills' first professional appearance was as a chorus boy in a Hippodrome show "The Five O'Clock Revue" with Ernest Truex in 1927. Mills' greatest American stage success was as T. E. Lawrence in "Ross." Mills had met the real Lawrence in 1931 through good friend Noel Coward when he was appearing in "Cavalcade.".

Acording to Mills in the 'Films in Review' career article on him in August 1971, he was offered the Burgess Meredith role in "Of Mice and Men" and the Humphrey Bogart role in "The African Queen.". He was considered for the roles of Dr. Hans Fallada, Dr. Armstrong and Sir Percy Heseltine in Lifeforce (1985). He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) and Gandhi (1982). John Gielgud and Trevor Howard also appeared in both films. Laurence Olivier offered Mills the role of one of the murderers in Richard III (1955) but he turned it down, believing that it could be seen as stunt casting. He played the uncle of his real life daughter Juliet Mills in Nanny and the Professor: The Human Fly (1971). In the encyclopedic compendium "OSCAR A to Z" by Charles Matthews, it is falsely stated that Mills died in 1982.

John Mills - IMDb IMDb Actor | Soundtrack | Producer Sir John Mills, one of the most popular and beloved English actors, was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills on February 22, 1908, at the Watts Naval Training College in North Elmham, Norfolk, England. The young Mills grew up in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father was a mathematics teacher and his mother was a theater box-office manager. The ... See full bio » Born: a list of 26 people created 20 Aug 2012 a list of 29 people created 23 Oct 2012 a list of 28 images created 20 Apr 2015 a list of 25 people created 11 Oct 2015 a list of 31 people created 16 Oct 2015 Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of John Mills's work have you seen? User Polls Won 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 5 nominations.

See more awards » Known For 2001 The Gentleman Thief (TV Movie) Arthur Rosehip 1998 Great Performances (TV Series) Gus the Theatre Cat 1993 Harnessing Peacocks (TV Movie) Bernard Quigley 1993 The Big Freeze (TV Movie) Dapper Man 1992 Perfect Scoundrels (TV Series) Praeger 1989 Ending Up (TV Movie) Bernard 1986 Hold the Dream (TV Movie) Henry Rossiter - Galloping Foxley (1980) ... William Perkins 1979 Quatermass (TV Mini-Series) 1979 The Love Boat (TV Series) Bertram MacDonald 1998 Great Performances (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Cats (1998) ...

(performer: "Gus: The Theatre Cat") 1960 Swiss Family Robinson (performer: "O Christmas Tree" - uncredited) 1956 The Baby and the Battleship (performer: "Way Back in Tennessee", "That Old Tattooed Lady" - uncredited) 1935 Car of Dreams (performer: "Car of Dreams") Hide 2005 The 100 Greatest War Films (TV Movie documentary) Himself (as Sir John Mills) 2004 The Ultimate Film (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2004 Bob Monkhouse: A BAFTA Tribute (TV Special documentary) Himself (as Sir John Mills) 2003 Arena (TV Series documentary) Himself 2003 Living Famously (TV Series documentary) Himself 2002 Forever Ealing (TV Movie documentary) Himself - Interviewee 2002 Breakfast with Frost (TV Series) Himself 1962-2002 This Is Your Life (TV Series documentary) Himself 2002 Heroes of Comedy (TV Series documentary) Himself 2002 Judi Dench: A BAFTA Tribute (TV Movie documentary)

 Himself (Guest in audience) 2002 Hollywood History (TV Series documentary) Himself 2001 Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration (TV Special documentary) Himself (as Sir John Mills) 1999 Best of British (TV Series) Himself - Co-Star Cottage to Let / Co-Star Morning Departure - George Cole (1999) ...

Himself - Co-Star Cottage to Let / Co-Star Morning Departure (as Sir John Mills) 1999 An Audience with Cliff Richard (TV Movie documentary) Himself 1999 Biography (TV Series documentary) Himself 1992-1997 The South Bank Show (TV Series documentary) Himself / Himself - Presenter, Cinema Award 1994 An Audience with Bob Monkhouse (TV Special documentary) Himself - Audience Member (uncredited) 1987-1994 Best of British (TV Series documentary) Narrator 1992 The Late Show (TV Series documentary) Himself 1990 The British Comedy Awards 1990 (TV Special documentary) Himself - Presenter 1987 Aspel & Company (TV Series) Himself 1987 The Best of British Cinema (Video short documentary) Narrator (voice, as Sir John Mills) 1986 Favourite Things (TV Series documentary) Himself - Interviewee 1985 The Golden Gong (TV Movie documentary) Himself 1980 Secombe with Music (TV Series) Himself 1980 The British Greats (TV Series) Himself -

 Interviewee 1979 Late Night Story (TV Series short) Himself - Reader 1979 Peter Couchman Tonight (TV Series) Himself 1978 Filmharmonic '78 (TV Movie) Himself - Introduced by 1977-1978 Stars on Sunday (TV Series) Himself 1976 The Elstree Story (TV Movie documentary) Himself 1971 Cinema (TV Series documentary) Himself 1970 Film Night (TV Series) Himself 1966 Film Preview (TV Series) Himself 1961 Film Profile (TV Series) Himself 1960 This Is Your Life (TV Series documentary) Himself 1960 Here's Hollywood (TV Series) Himself 1956 Film Fanfare (TV Series) Himself 1939 Happy Families (Documentary short) Fred 2013 Talking Pictures (TV Series documentary) Himself 2007 Bean: Scenes Unseen (Video documentary short) Chairman 2005 Tribute to John Mills (TV Movie documentary) Himself 2001 The Sketch Show Story (TV Series documentary) 2000 Legends (TV Series documentary)

 Himself 1997 The Story of Bean (TV Special documentary) Chairman (uncredited) 1979 Clapper Board (TV Series) Various - Escape to Paradise/Water Birds (1960) ...

Father (edited from: Swiss Family Robinson) Related Videos Personal Details Other Works: Stage: Appeared in the Old Vic Theatre Season at the Old Vic Theatre in London, England, with Andrew Cruickshank , Alec Guinness , Anthony Quayle , Edward Chapman , Ursula Jeans , Roger Livesey , Pamela Brown , Hermione Hannen and Nora Nicholson in the cast. Tyrone Guthrie was the director. See more » Publicity Listings: 2 Biographical Movies | 4 Print Biographies | 6 Interviews | 59 Articles | 11 Pictorials | 25 Magazine Cover Photos | See more » Alternate Names: Johnny Mills | Sir John Mills Height: Did You Know? Personal Quote: Ryan's Daughter (1970) is not my best film, but it is the best thing that happened to me, professionally. It brought me the Academy Award, and that meant I could finally be known again as somebody other than Hayley Mills ' father. See more » Trivia: He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) and Gandhi (1982). John Gielgud and Trevor Howard also appeared in both films.

See more » Nickname: Academy Awards Best Actor The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) ); two were consecutive nominations (from 1930/31-1931/32) Tom Hanks (5) - with two wins (Philadelphia (1993), Forrest Gump (1994)); two were consecutive nominations (from 1993-1994) Sean Penn (5) - with two wins (Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008)); nominations were from 1995-2008 The Most Best Actor Nominations: Actors with the highest number of Best Actor acting nominations (in parentheses) include: Spencer Tracy (9) - with two wins Laurence Olivier (9) - with one win (Hamlet (1948)); two were consecutive nominations (from 1939-1940) Jack Nicholson (8) - with two wins Paul Newman (8) - with one win (The Color of Money (1986)); two were consecutive nominations (from 1981-1982) Peter O'Toole (8) - with

 no wins; two were consecutive nominations (from 1968-1969); nominations from 1962-2006 Marlon Brando (7) - with two wins Dustin Hoffman (7) - with two wins Jack Lemmon (7) - with one win (Save the Tiger (1973)); two were consecutive nominations (from 1959-1960, and from 1979-1980) Paul Muni (6) - with one win (The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)); three were consecutive nominations (from 1935-1937) Richard Burton (6) - with no wins; three were consecutive nominations (from 1964-1966) Gary Cooper (5) - with two wins Tom Hanks (5) - with two wins Fredric March (5) - with two wins Sean Penn (5) - with two wins Daniel Day-Lewis (5) - with three wins James Stewart (5) - with one win ( Anthony Hopkins (3) - with one win ( The Silence of the Lambs (1991) ); nominations from 19

91-1995 Russell Crowe (3) - with one win (Gladiator (2000)); three were consecutive nominations (from 1999-2001) Jeff Bridges (3) - with one win (Crazy Heart (2009)); nominations from 1984-2010 George Clooney (3) - with no wins; nominations from 2007-2011 Consecutive Best Actor-Winning Performers: There are only two actresses (Luise Rainer and Katharine Hepburn) who have received two consecutive Best Actress awards, as there are only two actors who have received two consecutive Best Actor statuette wins: Spencer Tracy (Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938)) Tom Hanks (Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994)) [Note: Jason Robards won two consecutive Best Supporting Actor Oscars in 1976 and 1977.] Winners of Both a Lead and Supporting Actor Oscar: In 1997, Jack Nicholson tied Walter Brennan for the most wins (3) for a male performer (Brennan has

 three Best Supporting Actor trophies, Nicholson has two for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor).

The only stars to win both a Best Actor and a Best Supporting Actor (BSA) Oscar are the following: Jack Nicholson (BA for Gene Hackman (BA for The French Connection (1971) , BSA for Unforgiven (1992) ) Kevin Spacey (BA for American Beauty (1999), BSA for The Usual Suspects (1995)) Denzel Washington (BA for Training Day (2001), BSA for Glory (1989)) The Only Best Actor Tie: In the Best Actor category, an unusual tie (the only occurrence among male acting performances) occurred in 1931/32 between Wallace Beery and Fredric March, for their respective performances in The Champ (1931/32) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931/32). The Most Best Actor Oscar Nominations - Without Winning: Peter O'Toole is the only star with eight Best Actor Oscar nominations without a single win. His record extends 44 years, from 1962 to 2006.

Richard Burton was nominated seven times (and never won), although his first nomination was as Best Supporting Actor for My Cousin Rachel (1952) -- his last six nominations were as Best Actor. Oscar-Winning Actor Roles and Trends: Biographies of remarkable, real-life individuals (military figures or soldiers, law-and-order enforcers, historical figures) and portrayals of the mentally ill are heavily represented among male Oscar winners, particularly in the acting awards. It helps an actor's chances of winning an Oscar if the character dies a tragic death during the movie, or is slightly eccentric (or genius). Physical and Mental Disabilities or Diseases An overwhelming number of actors have won (or been nominated for) the top acting (and supporting) awards for portraying characters with physical or mental disabilities (personality disorders, amnesia) or diseases (with handicaps, such as blindness or muteness, tics, etc.): Fredric March won the Best Actor Oscar for his dual, split personality role as a respected doctor and as a fiendish mad-man in Dr. Jekyll and Mr.

Hyde (1931/32) Ronald Colman was nominated as Best Actor for his role as shell-shocked amnesiac Charles Rainier in Random Harvest (1942) Harold Russell (real-life amputee) won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as courageous and resourceful returning sailor Homer Parrish in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) [Note: Russell is the only performer to win two Oscars for the same performance.

In 1946, he won Best Supporting Actor and was voted an Honorary Oscar that same year for his performance.] Arthur Kennedy was nominated as Best Actor for his role as veteran Larry Nevins made blind in WWII combat in Bright Victory (1951) Cliff Robertson won the Best Actor Oscar for his title role as Charly Gordon - a mentally-retarded, thirty year-old bakery worker temporarily made a genius through surgery in Charly (1968) Alan Arkin was nominated as Best Actor for his role as deaf-mute Singer in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968) Sir John Mills won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as mute, gentle, mis-shaped village idiot Michael in Ryan's Daughter (1970) - he became the sole male actor to win an Oscar for a non-speaking role Jack Nicholson won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as life-affirming, ill-fated, free-spirited, anarchic misfit patient Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Jon Voight won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as handicapped Luke Martin - a bitter but sensitive paraplegic veteran paralyzed during the Vietnam

 War in Coming Home (1978) Timothy Hutton won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as guilt-ridden, depressed teenaged Conrad Jarrett in Ordinary People (1980) John Malkovich was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as blind boarder Mr.

Will in Places in the Heart (1984) Dustin Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as institutionalized, ultimately loveable, autistic idiot savant Raymond ('Ray(n)' 'Man(d)') Babbitt in Rain Man (1988) Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Irish-born artist and author Christy Brown - a self-reliant, spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy victim who could only write and draw with his foot in My Left Foot (1989) Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as cannibalistic, menacing, psychopathic serial psychiatrist/killer Dr. Hannibal "Cannibal" Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Al Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as foul-mouthed, suicidal, blind (as a result of a boozing-related accident), retired Lt. Col.

Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman (1992) Tom Hanks won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as AIDS-infected corporate attorney and victim Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia (1993) - Hanks' 1994 acceptance speech for his Best Actor Oscar win for Philadelphia (1993) directly inspired the homosexuality-themed film In & Out (1997), about an outed English literature teacher (Kevin Kline) in an Indiana town when one of his former students (Matt Dillon) thanked him at the Academy Awards and mentioned he was gay Tom Hanks won the Best Actor Oscar again for his title role as Forrest Gump, a good-hearted, naive, eccentric, dim-witted protagonist (an idiot-savant) in Forrest Gump (1994) Geoffrey Rush won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as talented but agonizingly-troubled, mentally-disabled Australian concert pianist David Helfgott who suffered a crippling nervous breakdown in Shine (1996) Jack Nicholson won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as rich, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive romance novelist Melvin Udall living in New York in As Good As It Gets (1997) Geoffrey

 Rush was also nominated as Best Actor for his role as sexually-crazed French novelist Marquis de Sade in Quills (2000) Jamie Foxx won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as legendary blues singer and blind pianist Ray Charles in Ray (2004) Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as brutal, infamous, genocidal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland (2006) Colin Firth won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as stuttering monarch George VI in The King's Speech (2010) Eddie Redmayne won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as ALS-diagnosed physicist Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014) Alcoholics And a number of other actors have won Oscar awards (or been nominated) for portraying alcoholic characters: Lionel Barrymore won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as dissolute and drunken lawyer Stephen Ashe (co-star Norma Shearer's father) in A Free Soul (1930/31) Van Heflin won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Shakespeare-quoting, alcoholic confidant Jeff Hartnett who befriended gangster co-star Robert

 Taylor in Johnny Eager (1942) Ray Milland won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as whiskey-soaked, boozing, writer's blocked Don Birnam in The Lost Weekend (1945) Fredric March won Best Actor for his role as anguished, middle-aged, alcoholic banking executive - and returning war veteran and ex-sergeant Al Stephenson in A Star Is Born (1954) Jack Lemmon was nominated as Best Actor for his role as alcoholic advertising man Joe Clay in Days of Wine and Roses (1962) Lee Marvin won the Best Actor Oscar for his dual role as cold-eyed, ruthlessly evil desperado Tim Strawn (with an artificial silver nose) and Strawn's aging, once-famous, drunken and whiskey-soaked twin gunman Kid Shelleen in Cat Ballou (1965) Dudley Moore was nominated as Best Actor for his role as drunk, spoiled, amiable and millionaire-rich playboy - title character Arthur Bach in Arthur (1981) Paul Newman was nominated as Best Actor for his role as alcoholic, ambulance-chasing, Boston trial lawyer Frank P.

Galvin in The Verdict (1982) Robert Duvall won Best Actor for his role as ex-drinking, ex-country/western music star Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies (1983) Note: in 1983, all five Best Actor nominees played drunks of one sort or another (two were nominated for the film The Dresser (1983), Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay) Albert Finney was nominated as Best Actor for his role as self-destructive alcoholic Geoffrey Firmin drinking himself to death in the shadow of a Mexican volcano in Under the Volcano (1984) Nicolas Cage won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as failed, Hollywood scriptwriter and fatally-destructive, genial, but suicidal alcoholic Ben Sanderson in Leaving Las Vegas (1995) Robert Duvall was nominated as Best Actor for his role as Texas Pentecostal preacher Eulis ("Sonny") Dewey who became 'The Apostle' of God in Louisiana to escape his past in The Apostle (1997) James Coburn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Nick Nolte's tyrannical, abusive and alcoholic father Glen "Pop" White

house in Affliction (1998) Jeff Bridges won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as broken-down, aging, boozy country-music singer Bad Blake in Crazy Heart (2009) Denzel Washington was nominated as Best Actor for his role as tragic, heroic, and addicted boozy airline pilot Whip Whitaker in Flight (2012) Homosexual Roles Some straight actors have been nominated (and often won) for homosexual roles: Peter Finch received his first Best Actor nomination (without winning) for his role as middle-aged, homosexual Jewish Dr.

Daniel Hirsh involved in a three-sided love story in Sunday, Bloody Sunday (1971) William Hurt won Best Actor for his role as imprisoned, flamboyant gay South American Luis Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) Tom Hanks won Best Actor for his role as dying AIDS patient Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia (1993) Sean Penn won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as openly pioneering San Francisco gay camera store owner Harvey Milk who successfully was serving in public office as mayoral aide when he was assassinated, in Milk (2008) Mediocre or Compensatory Oscar Wins: Oscar victories for Best Actor haven't always been for the stars' best work either, but have often been an effort to right past injustices, or retroactively for an entire body of work: 56 year-old Ronald Colman's late win as Best Actor for A Double Life (1947) - a tribute to his entire silent and sound film career 62 year-old John Wayne's belated win as Best Actor for True Grit (1969), when he should have been honored years earlier for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) or The Ox-Bow Incident

 (1943) Also, elderly nominees seem to fare better, such as 54 year-old Art Carney winning the Best Actor Oscar for Harry and Tonto (1974), 60 year-old Peter Finch's posthumous Best Actor award for Network (1976) , 80 year-old George Burns winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for The Sunshine Boys (1975), Melvyn Douglas winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Being There (1979), Don Ameche winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Cocoon (1985), and 72 year-old Alan Arkin winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

Many other elderly actors have been nominated for supporting roles, including Eric von Stroheim for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) , John Mills for Ryan's Daughter (1970), Lee Strasberg for The Godfather, Part II (1974) , Burgess Meredith for Rocky (1976) , Robert Preston for Victor/Victoria (1982), Denholm Elliott for A Room With a View (1986), and Armin Mueller-Stahl for Shine (1996). Post-Humous Acting Nominations and Award(s): There are only been seven post-humous performance nominees in Academy history.

Only two posthumous nominees have won the Oscar: the first by Peter Finch and and the second by Heath Ledger - see below: Jeanne Eagels - unofficially nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for The Letter (1928/29) posthumously (Academy records indicated that she was "under consideration" for an award) James Dean - the only actor who was twice nominated (in two consecutive years) for a Best Actor Oscar after his death and lost, for East of Eden (1955) , and Giant (1956) Spencer Tracy - nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) posthumously Peter Finch - nominated and winning the Best Actor Oscar for Network (1976) posthumously - Finch was the first performer to have won the Oscar after his death Ralph Richardson - nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) posthumously Italian actor Massimo Troisi - nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for The Postman (Il Postino) (1995) posthumously Heath Ledger - nominated and winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for

 The Dark Knight (2008) posthumously - the second performer to win posthumously The Most Best Actor Nominations for a Single Film: The film with the most Best Actor nominations (3) was Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) , for Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, and Charles Laughton.

It was the first film to have three acting nominations, and the first film to have three co-performers competing against each other in the same category - as Best Actor. African-American (or Black) Notables: There have only been twenty African-American (or black) nominations for Best Actor, divided amongst thirteen different performers. Four actors (Poitier, Freeman, Washington and Smith) have been nominated twice (or more) for the top award. Some regard Denzel Washington as the first African-American performer to win Best Actor -- because previous Oscar-winner Sidney Poitier was of Bahamas descent: # Chiwetel Ejiofor 12 Years a Slave (2013) In total, there have only been 23 different African-American (or black) performers nominated for the top award (either Best Actor or Best Actress). Only fourteen awards have been won by African-Americans (or blacks) in both lead and supporting categories (four Best Actor, one Best Actress, four Best Supporting Actor, and five Best Supporting Actress). Only five black performers have won the Oscar in the lead category (four Best Actor, one Best Actress).

Only four African-American actors have won the Best Actor Oscar: Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (1963) Denzel Washington for Training Day (2001) Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004) Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006) Five of the 20 acting nominations in 2004 and 2006 were African-American nominees. This bested the record of three nominated blacks that occurred in three different years (2001, 1985, and 1972): 2006 2001: Halle Berry for Monster's Ball, Denzel Washington for Training Day, and Will Smith for Ali 1985: Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey for The Color Purple 1972: Diana Ross for Lady Sings the Blues, and Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield for Sounder Jamie Foxx also set a record for being the first black to debut as a nominee in two categories in the same year, lead and supporting, for Ray (2004) and Collateral (2004).

Denzel Washington is the only black actor nominated six times for Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor. With his nomination for Flight (2012), he became the most nominated African-American actor in Academy history. He is the only black actor to have won two competitive Oscars (as Best Supporting Actor for Glory (1989) and as Best Actor for Training Day (2001)). Two African-American actors have been nominated for Best Actor in the same year, numerous times: Year Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda (2004), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004) 2001 Will Smith for Ali (2001), Denzel Washington for Training Day (2001) Morgan Freeman's Best Supporting Actor win for Million Dollar Baby (2004), paired with Jamie Foxx's Best Actor win for Ray (2004), was the first time that African-American actors won in their respective categories in the same year.

In three instances, African-Americans have won two of the four acting prizes: 2006: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland, Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls 2004: Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby, Jamie Foxx for Ray 2001: Halle Berry for Monster's Ball, Denzel Washington for Training Day Latino, Asian and Other Ethnic-Minority (Non-English) Performers: There have been only a few Best Actor Oscar wins by ethnic/other minority (or non-English) performers: French actor Jean Dujardin won Best Actor for The Artist (2011) - he was the first French actor to win the Best Actor Oscar Italian actor Roberto Benigni won the Best Actor Oscar for Life is Beautiful (1998) - he was the first male actor to win an Oscar for a foreign-language film (his Best Actor Oscar win was only the second time a nominee won an acting Oscar for a foreign language film role - the earlier winner was Sophia Loren) Ben Kingsley, with half-Indian (birth name Krishna Bhanji) and half-English descent, won the Best Actor Oscar for Gandhi (1982) - he became the first South Asian

 performer to achieve such a feat Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) Notable ethnic/minority performance nominations for Best Actor include: Australian actor Hugh Jackman was nominated as Best Actor for Les Miserables (2012) Mexican-born actor Demián Bichir was nominated as Best Actor for A Better Life (2011) Ben Kingsley was nominated as Best Actor for House of Sand and Fog (2003) Spanish/Latino actor Javier Bardem was nominated as Best Actor for Before Night Falls (2000) and for Biutiful (2010) - he was the first Best Actor nominee for a fully Spanish-language role Australian actor Geoffrey Rush was nominated as Best Actor for Shine (1996) (win) and Quills (2000) - Geoffrey Rush became the first Australian actor to win Best Actor (for the role of the mad pianist in Shine (1996)) since Peter Finch won posthumously for Network (1976) Italian actor Massimo Troisi was nominated as Best Actor for The Postman (Il Postino) (1995

) French actor Gerard Depardieu was nominated as Best Actor for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Swedish actor Max Von Sydow was nominated as Best Actor for Pelle the Conqueror (1988) Mexican-American Edward James Olmos was nominated as Best Actor for Stand and Deliver (1988) Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni was nominated as Best Actor for Dark Eyes (1987) Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni was nominated as Best Actor for A Special Day (1977) Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini was nominated as Best Actor for Seven Beauties (1976) Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni was nominated as Best Actor for Divorce - Italian Style (1962) Mexican-born Anthony Quinn was nominated twice as Best Actor for Wild Is the Wind (1957) and Zorba the Greek (1964) Puerto Rican-born Jose Ferrer was nominated as Best Actor for Moulin Rouge (1952) Note: In 1985, all ten of the Best Actor/Actress nominees were American-born - the first time in Oscar history.

Also, in 1964 and in 2007, all four winners of the performance/acting Oscars were non-Americans. Multiple Nominations for the Same Character -- The Most Oscar-Friendly Role: The character of Henry VIII has the most acting nominations (three) and is the most Oscar-friendly role: Charles Laughton as Henry VIII in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) - the only winner of the three - a Best Actor Oscar Robert Shaw as Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons (1966) - nominated as Best Supporting Actor Richard Burton as Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) - nominated as Best Actor Other historical or fictional characters with two acting nominations include: Norman Maine, Mr. Arthur Chipping ("Mr. Chips"), Abraham Lincoln, Father Chuck O'Malley, King Henry V, Professor Henry Higgins, Cyrano de Bergerac, Joe Pendleton, President Richard Nixon, Vito Corleone. (See below).

Only two nominees in Oscar history have been nominated for playing the role of a real-life Oscar nominee: Cate Blanchett as Best Supporting Actress (win) for playing the role of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004), and Robert Downey, Jr. nominated as Best Actor for the title role of Oscar nominee Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992). Multiple Nominations for the Same Character: Five actors have been nominated twice for playing the same character in two different films (wins are marked with an *): Bing Crosby as Father Charles "Chuck" O'Malley in Going My Way (1944)* and The Bells of St.

Mary's (1945) Paul Newman as 'Fast' Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986)* Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968) Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in Rocky (1976) and Creed (2015) (*Crosby won Best Actor for his first role, and Newman won Best Actor for his second role.) Only one actress has ever received two nominations for playing the same character in two different films: Cate Blanchett became the fifth performer to draw mentions for the same role (Queen Elizabeth I) in two different films: Best Actress for Elizabeth (1998) and Best Actress for Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) Performers who were nominated as Best Actor for the same character in different films in different years include: Fredric March and James Mason as Norman Maine in A Star is Born (1937) and A Star is Born (1954) Robert Donat and Peter O'Toole as Mr.

Arthur Chipping ("Mr. Chips") in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh as King Henry V in Henry V (1944) and Henry V (1989) - both were directed by their stars Charles Laughton and Richard Burton as King Henry VIII in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933) and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) Leslie Howard and Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins in Pygmalion (1938) and My Fair Lady (1964) Jose Ferrer and Gerard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Robert Montgomery and Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton in Here Comes Mr.

Jordan (1941) and Heaven Can Wait (1978) Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella as President Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995) and Frost/Nixon (2008) John Wayne and Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969) and True Grit (2010) Raymond Massey and Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) and Lincoln (2012) Robert De Niro won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather, Part II (1974) , the role for which Marlon Brando had previously won Best Actor in The Godfather (1972). Multiple Nominations: After 1929/30, an actor could not receive more than one nomination per category. In 1944, the rules permitted Barry Fitzgerald to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor (which he won) for the same performance - Father Fitzgibbon in Going My Way (1944).

Subsequently, new rules have prevented this from re-occurring, although an actor may still be nominated in both categories for two different roles. (See the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress pages for further information on double nominees.) Barry Fitzgerald is the only actor to be nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for the same character (or performance) in the same year.

Since then, two other male performers have been double-nominated in a single year (wins are marked with *) - Pacino was the first actor to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in two different roles; the second actor in Oscar history to do so was Jamie Foxx in 2004: Barry Fitzgerald (Best Actor for Going My Way (1944)* and Best Supporting Actor for Going My Way (1944)) Al Pacino (Best Actor for Scent of a Woman (1992)* and Best Supporting Actor for Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)) Jamie Foxx (Best Actor for Ray (2004)* and Best Supporting Actor for Collateral (2004)) One Nomination for Multiple Roles: Peter Sellers is the only actor to be nominated (as Best Actor) for playing three entirely-different roles in the same film, Three films have had the entire speaking casts nominated for awards: Sleuth (1972), with Best Actor nominations for Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier Give 'Em Hell, Harry! (1975), with a Best Actor nomination for James Whitmore Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

(1966) , with various nominations for all four cast members, Elizabeth Taylor (Best Actress win), Richard Burton (Best Actor loss), George Segal (Best Supporting Actor loss), and Sandy Dennis (Best Supporting Actress win) Actors Who Won An Oscar for a Dual Role: Fredric March, Best Actor winner for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931/32): Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Laurence Olivier, Best Actor winner for Hamlet (1948, UK): Hamlet and the Voice of the Ghost (uncredited) Lee Marvin, Best Actor winner for Cat Ballou (1965): Tim Strawn and Kid Shelleen The Best Actor Award for Two Films in the Same Year: Emil Jannings was the only performer to win the Best Actor award for his performances in two films in the same year: The Last Command (1927/28) and The Way of All Flesh (1927/28) - he was the very first actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor; the Switzerland-born actor was the first non-American to win the award, which was presented to him a month before the ceremony.

Winning Co-Stars: Best Actor and Best Actress in the Same Film: Seven films have won in both the leading actor and leading actress categories: Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in Gene Hackman, Best Actor ( The French Connection (1971) ), Best Supporting Actor ( Unforgiven (1992) ) Kevin Spacey, Best Supporting Actor (The Usual Suspects (1995)), Best Actor (American Beauty (1999)) Denzel Washington, Best Supporting Actor (Glory (1989)), Best Actor (Training Day (2001)) Films With the Most Oscars for Acting: (see also here ) The Only Films in Which Three Stars Won Performance Oscars A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - 12 nominations total, 4 acting nominations, 3 acting wins: Vivien Leigh (Best Actress), Karl Malden (Best Supporting Actor), Kim Hunter (Best Supporting Actress) Network (1976) - 10 nominations total, 5 acting nominations, 3 acting wins: Peter Finch (Best Actor), Faye Dunaway (Best Actress), Beatrice Straight (Best Supporting Actress) Film Debut Nominees/Winners for

 Best Actor Oscars: Not a single actor has ever won the Best Actor Oscar for a feature film debut.

A few of those below had very small debuting roles before a substantial film appearance. Others have received nominations for Best Actor for their debut role (a sampling): Paul Muni in The Valiant (1928/29) (nomination) Lawrence Tibbett in The Rogue Song (1929-30) (nomination) Orson Welles in The Graduate (1967) (nomination) Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982) (win) (he had a bit role in his feature film debut, Fear is the Key (1972)) Geoffrey Rush in Shine (1997) (win) (he had a bit role in a few earlier films, including Hoodwink (1981)) Reprising an Acclaimed Stage Role: Six Best Actor winners won the Oscar for an acclaimed stage role that they reprised on the screen.

Those with an asterisk (*) won both a Best Actor Oscar and a Tony Award for musical roles they had created on stage: George Arliss for Disraeli (1929/30) Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine (1943) Jose Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) Paul Scofield in A Man For All Seasons (1966) Oscar-Winning Roles First on TV: The only two Best Actor winners who first played their Oscar-winning roles on TV were: Maximilian Schell for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) [Note: Schell is the lowest-billed performer to win a Best Actor Academy Award. He received fifth billing - behind Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, and Marlene Dietrich.] Cliff Robertson for Charly (1968) Best Actors Refusing Their Oscar Trophy: George C.

Scott refused his Best Actor Oscar for Patton (1970) Marlon Brando refused his Best Actor Oscar for Note: Much earlier in 1935, Dudley Nichols (the Best Writing Oscar winner for The Informer (1935)) also boycotted the Oscars, thereby refusing his Academy Award Actors/Actresses With the Most Consecutive Acting Nominations (in both Leading and Supporting categories) (wins marked with *): Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Chicago (2002), Cold Mountain (2003)* Longest Time Period Between First and Last Nomination/Win: 48 years - Katharine Hepburn was first nominated and won Best Actress for Morning Glory (1932/33) and then 48 years later was nominated and won Best Actress for On Golden Pond (1981) - her fourth (and last) Oscar win! 46 years - Alan Arkin was nominated as Best Actor for The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming! (1966) and then two years later as Best Actor for The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968).

Then, there was a long gap - 38 years later, after which he won Best Supporting Actor for Little Miss Sunshine (2006). He topped that with another six year wait for another Best Supporting Actor nomination for Argo (2012). 41 years - Henry Fonda was first nominated in 1940 as Best Actor for The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) , and wasn't nominated again until 41 years later - when he won his sole Oscar (Best Actor) for On Golden Pond (1981) 40 years - Mickey Rooney was first nominated as Best Actor for Babes in Arms (1939), then as Best Actor for The Human Comedy (1943), then as Best Supporting Actor for The Bold and the Brave (1956), and then as Best Supporting Actor for The Black Stallion (1979), 40 years later, but he didn't ever win!

39 years - Sylvester Stallone was first nominated as Best Actor for Rocky (1976) , then again as Best Supporting Actor for Creed (2015) 39 years - Jack Palance was nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Sudden Fear (1952) and then as Best Supporting Actor for Shane (1953) - it was a time span of 39 years from his first nomination to his eventual victory as Best Supporting Actor for City Slickers (1991)!

38 years - Helen Hayes had to wait 38 years between her only Oscar nominations (both wins), Best Actress for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931/32), and Best Supporting Actress for Airport (1970) 37 years - Albert Finney was first nominated as Best Actor for Tom Jones (1963) and then received three more nominations for Best Actor: for Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Dresser (1983), and Under the Volcano (1984) -- 37 years after his first nomination, he received his fifth and final Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Erin Brockovich (2000) - he never won!

Longest Gap Between First Nomination and First Winning Film: 41 years - Henry Fonda was first nominated in 1940 as Best Actor for The Grapes Of Wrath (1940) , and didn't win an acting award (Best Actor) until 41 years later for On Golden Pond (1981), and these were his only two career acting nominations (Note: Fonda did receive a producing Best Picture nomination for 12 Angry Men (1957) ) 32 years - Geraldine Page was first nominated in 1953 as Best Supporting Actress for Hondo (1953), and won Best Actress for A Trip to Bountiful (1985), 32 years later; she was the only actress with seven unsuccessful nominations (in both categories) before finally winning Best Actress with nomination # 8 28 years - Paul Newman was first nominated in 1958 as Best Actor for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) , and won Best Actor for The Color of Money (1986), 28 years later; he was the only actor with six unsuccessful Best Actor nominations before finally winning Best Actor with nomination #

 7 - and he later added another nomination as Best Actor for Nobody's Fool (1994), and his first Best Supporting Actor nomination also came later for Road to Perdition (2002) 25 years - Shirley MacLaine was first nominated in 1958 as Best Actress for Some Came Running (1958), and won Best Actress for Terms of Endearment (1983) , 25 years later 20 years - Al Pacino was first nominated in 1972 as Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather (1972) , and won Best Actor for Scent of a Woman (1992), 20 years later 20 years - John Wayne was first nominated in 1949 as Best Actor for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), and won Best Actor for True Grit (1969), 20 years later 18 years - Ronald Colman was first nominated in 1929/30 as Best Actor for Bulldog Drummond (1929/30), and won Best Actor for A Double Life (1947), 18 years later

 17 years - Gregory Peck was first nominated in 1945 as Best Actor for The Keys of the Kingdom (1945), and won Best Actor for 12 years - Leonardo DiCaprio was first nominated in 1993 as Best Supporting Actor for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and won Best Actor for The Revenant (2015), 12 years later Shortest Best Actor Performance: Anthony Hopkins had the shortest screen time for his Best Actor Oscar win - as Hannibal "Cannibal" Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (1991) - supposedly 16 minutes of screen time Only Non-Human Best Actor-Nominated Performance: Jeff Bridges as the alien 'Starman' in Starman (1984) Directors Directing Themselves to a Best Actor Oscar or Nomination: There are only two actors/performers that have directed themselves to an Oscar-winning Best Actor Oscar: British actor Laurence Olivier as the title character in Hamlet (1948, UK) - Olivier became the first individual to win both an acting Oscar and Best Picture Oscar (as producer) - this time for the same film Italian actor Roberto Ben

igni as Guido in Life is Beautiful (1998, It.) Many actors have directed themselves to Best Actor Oscar nominations, most prominently: Charles Chaplin for The Great Dictator (1940) Woody Allen for Annie Hall (1977) Warren Beatty for Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Reds (1981) Kenneth Branagh for Henry V (1989) Billy Bob Thornton for Sling Blade (1996) Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful (1998) Ed Harris for Pollock (2000) Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby (2004) Michael Douglas became the second individual to win both an acting Oscar and Best Picture Oscar, this time for different films: Best Picture ( One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) ) and Best Actor (Wall Street (1987)).

Winning Performances Portraying Royalty: Yul Brynner, Best Actor as King Mongkut of Siam in The King and I (1956) Ingrid Bergman, Best Actress as Anastasia (possibly daughter of murdered Russian czar Nicholas II) in Anastasia (1956) Katharine Hepburn, Best Actress as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1968) Helen Mirren, Best Actress as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006) Colin Firth, Best Actor as King George VI in The King's Speech (2010) Married (or Attached) Oscar-Winners: Only three times have married couples (husband-wife) won acting Oscars: Laurence Olivier, Best Actor for Hamlet (1948), and Vivien Leigh, Best Actress for Gone With the Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) [Note: They were not yet married when Leigh won her first Oscar in 1939.] Paul Newman, Best Actor for The Color of Money (1986), and Joanne Woodward, Best Actress for The Three Faces of Eve (1957

).

[Note: They were married in 1958, prior to Woodward receiving 1957's Best Actress Award.] Newman also directed Woodward to her second Best Actress nomination for his Best Picture-nominated film Rachel, Rachel (1968).

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Best Supporting Actress for Chicago (2002), and husband Michael Douglas, Best Actor for Wall Street (1987) [Note: The couple were not married until the year 2000.] There are others (girlfriend/boyfriend, or unmarried companions) who are close to (or have achieved) the same milestone: Spencer Tracy, Best Actor and Katharine Hepburn, Best Actress for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) Diane Keaton, Best Actress winner for Best Director-winning Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977) - although they were romantically linked, they never married Amy Madigan, Best Supporting Actress for Twice in a Lifetime (1985), and Ed Harris, nominated four times (1995, 1998, 2000, 2002) [Note: Harris directed himself to a Best Actor nomination for Pollock (2000).] Susan Sarandon, Best Actress for Dead Man Walking (1995) (directed by her Best Director-nominated husband (unofficial live-in) Tim Robbins); Robbins won Best Supporting Actor for Mystic River (2003);

 earlier, Sarandon was married to Chris Sarandon, nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Others: Jack Nicholson-Anjelica Huston, Al Pacino-Diane Keaton, and William Hurt-Marlee Matlin Married (or Attached) Oscar-Nominees: Five married couples have earned acting nominations in the same year (three times, a husband-and-wife team have been nominated for the same picture): Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Best Actor and Best Actress nominations for The Guardsman (1932) - both lost Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress nominations for Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - both lost Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (win), Best Actor and Best Actress nominations for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

(1966) Frank Sinatra, Best Supporting Actor nomination (and win) for From Here to Eternity (1953) , and Ava Gardner, Best Actress nomination for Mogambo (1953) Rex Harrison, Best Actor nomination for Cleopatra (1963), and Rachel Roberts, Best Actress nomination for This Sporting Life (1963) The only divorced couple to co-star in a film with each receiving an Oscar nomination: William Powell and Carole Lombard, Best Actor and Best Actress nominations for My Man Godfrey (1936) Brother-Sister Oscar Winners/Nominees: The only brother and sister to win acting Oscars are: Lionel Barrymore, Best Actor for A Free Soul (1930/31) Ethel Barrymore, Best Supporting Actress for None But the Lonely Heart (1944) The only sisters to win acting Oscars are: Joan Fontaine, Best Actress for Suspicion (1941) Olivia de Havilland, Best Actress for To Each His Own (1946), and The Heiress (1949) The only brothers nominated for acting Oscars are: River Phoenix, nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Running

 on Empty (1988) Joaquin Phoenix, nominated as Best Supporting Actor for Gladiator (2000), Best Actor for Walk the Line (2005), and Best Actor for The Master (2012) Youngest and Oldest Best Actors: Nominees and Winners Note: The calculated time is from date of birth to the date of either (1) the nominations announcement, or (2) the date of the awards ceremony.

Youngest Best Actor Nominee Sir John Mills | 'Cats' Musical Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Mills was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills at the Watts Naval School in North Elmham, Norfolk, and grew up in the Norfolk village of Belton, where his father was the headmaster of the village school and in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where he lived in a modest house in Ham's Road. His older sister was Annette Mills, remembered as presenter of BBC Television's Muffin the Mule (1946–55). He was educated at Balham Grammar School in London, Sir John Leman High School in Beccles, Suffolk and Norwich High School for Boys, where it is said that his initials can still be seen carved into the brickwork on the side of the building in Upper St. Giles Street. Upon leaving school he worked as a clerk at a corn merchants in Ipswich before finding employment in London as a commercial traveller for the Sanitas Disinfectant Company. In September 1939, at the start of World War II, Mills enlisted in the Royal Engineers.

He was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, but in 1942 he received a medical discharge because of a stomach ulcer. Career Edit Mills took an early interest in acting, making his professional début at the London Hippodrome in The Five O'Clock Girl in 1929. He also starred in the Noël Coward revue Words and Music. He made his film début in The Midshipmaid (1932), and appeared as Colley in the 1939 film version of Goodbye, Mr Chips, opposite Robert Donat. In 1942, he starred in Noël Coward's In Which We Serve. Mills took the lead in Great Expectations in 1946, and subsequently made his career playing traditionally British heroes such as Captain Scott in Scott of the Antarctic (1948). Over the next decade he became particularly associated with war dramas, such as The Colditz Story (1954), Above Us the Waves (1955) and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). From 1959 through the mid-1960s, Mills starred in several films alongside his daughter Hayley.

Their first film together was the 1959 crime drama Tiger Bay, in which John plays a police detective investigating a murder that Hayley's character witnessed. Following Hayley's rise to fame in Pollyanna (1960) and the 1961 family comedy The Parent Trap, John and Hayley again starred together, in the 1965 teen sailing adventure The Truth About Spring, the 1964 drama The Chalk Garden (with Deborah Kerr in the lead role), and the 1966 comedy-drama The Family Way, in which John plays an insecure, overbearing father and Hayley plays his son's newlywed wife. As Colonel Barrow in Tunes of Glory, Mills won the best Actor Award at the 1960 Venice Film Festival. For his role as the village idiot in Ryan's Daughter (1970) — a complete departure from his usual style – Mills won an Best Supporting Actor Oscar. His most famous television role was probably as the title character in Quatermass for ITV in 1979.

Also on the small screen, in 1974 he starred as Captain Tommy "The Elephant" Devon in the six-part television drama series The Zoo Gang, about a group of former underground freedom fighters from World War II, with Brian Keith, Lilli Palmer and Barry Morse. Mills also starred as Gus: The Theatre Cat in the filmed version of the musical Cats in 1998. In 2000, Mills released his extensive home cine-film footage in a documentary film entitled Sir John Mills' Moving Memories, with interviews with Mills, his children Hayley, Juliet and Jonathan and Richard Attenborough. The film was produced and written by Jonathan Mills, directed and edited by Marcus Dillistone, and features behind the scenes footage and stories from films such as Ice Cold in Alex and Dunkirk. In addition the film also includes home footage of many of Mills's friends and fellow cast members including Laurence Olivier, Harry Andrews, Walt Disney, David Niven, Dirk Bogarde, Rex Harrison and Tyrone Power. Mills's last cinema appearance was playing a tramp in Lights 2 (directed by Marcus Dillistone); the cinematographer was Jack Cardiff.

They had last worked together on Scott of the Antarctic in 1948. Their combined age was 186 years, a cinema record. Edit His first wife was the actress Aileen Raymond, who died only five days after he did. They were married in 1927 and divorced in 1941. Raymond later became the mother of actor Ian Ogilvy. His second wife was the dramatist Mary Hayley Bell. Their marriage, on 16 January 1941, lasted for 64 years, until his death in 2005. They were married in a rushed civil ceremony, because of the war; and it was not until 60 years later that they had their union blessed in a church. They lived in The Wick, London, for many years. They sold the house to musician Ronnie Wood in 1975 and moved to Hills House, Denham. Mills and Bell had two daughters, Juliet, star of television's Nanny and the Professor and Hayley, a Disney child star who appeared in Pollyanna, The Parent Trap and Whistle Down the Wind, and one son, Jonathan Mills.

In 1947, Mills appeared with his daughters in the film So Well Remembered. Mills's grandson by Hayley, Crispian Mills, is a musician, best known for his work with the alternative rock group Kula Shaker. Despite having always voted Conservative, Mills publicly supported Tony Blair's Labour Party in the 2001 General Election. Death Edit In the years leading up to his death, he appeared on television only on special occasions, his sight having failed almost completely in 1992. After that, his film roles were brief yet notable cameos. He died aged 97 on 23 April 2005 in Denham, Buckinghamshire, following a chest infection. Lady Mills died on 1 December 2005. Sir John and Lady Mills are buried in Denham Churchyard. Honours Edit Mills was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1960. In 1976 he was knighted by the Queen. In 2002, he received a Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), their highest award, and was named a Disney Legend by the Walt Disney Company.

Selected filmography

Question: For which film did John Mills receive an Oscar?
Answer: Ryan's Daughter