Academy Awards (Best Director)

1. Milos Forman

Director | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in ...

1975, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Nominees:

Robert Altman – Nashville Federico Fellini – Amarcord Stanley Kubrick – Barry Lyndon Sidney Lumet – Dog Day Afternoon

2. John G. Avildsen

Director | Rocky

John G. Avildsen was born on December 21, 1935 in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. He was a director and editor, known for Rocky (1976), The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and Rocky V (1990). He was married to Tracy Brooks Swope and Marie Olga Maturevich. He died on June 16, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, ...

1976, Rocky

Nominees :

Ingmar Bergman – Face to Face Sidney Lumet – Network Alan J. Pakula – All the President's Men Lina Wertmüller – Seven Beauties

3. Woody Allen

Writer | Annie Hall

Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.

Allen ...

1977, Annie Hall

Nominees :

George Lucas – Star Wars Herbert Ross – The Turning Point Steven Spielberg – Close Encounters of the Third Kind Fred Zinnemann – Julia

4. Michael Cimino

Director | The Deer Hunter

Michael Cimino studied architecture and dramatic arts; later he filmed advertisements and documentaries and also wrote scripts until the actor, producer and director Clint Eastwood gave him the opportunity to direct the thriller Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). But his biggest success was The Deer...

1978, The Deer Hunter

Nominees:

Woody Allen – Interiors Hal Ashby – Coming Home Warren Beatty & Buck Henry – Heaven Can Wait Alan Parker – Midnight Express

5. Robert Benton

Writer | Kramer vs. Kramer

Robert Douglas Benton is an American screenwriter and filmmaker from Waxahachie, Texas who is known for screenwriting Bonnie & Clyde, Kramer vs. Kramer and Superman. He won two Academy Awards for writing and directing Kramer vs. Kramer. He directed other feature films including Twilight, Bad ...

1979, Kramer vs. Kramer

Nominees :

Francis Ford Coppola – Apocalypse Now Bob Fosse – All That Jazz Édouard Molinaro – La Cage aux Folles Peter Yates – Breaking Away

6. Robert Redford

Actor | The Natural

Born on August 18, 1936, in Santa Monica, California, to Charles Robert Redford, an accountant for Standard Oil, and Martha Redford, Charles Robert Redford, Jr. was a scrappy kid who stole hubcaps in high school and lost his college baseball scholarship at the University of Colorado because of ...

1980, Ordinary People

Nominees :

David Lynch – The Elephant Man Roman Polanski – Tess Richard Rush – The Stunt Man Martin Scorsese – Raging Bull

7. Warren Beatty

Actor | Heaven Can Wait

Since starring in his first film, Splendor in the Grass (1961), Warren Beatty has been said to have demonstrated a greater longevity in movies than any actor of his generation. Few people have taken so many responsibilities for all phases of the production of films as producer, director, writer, ...

1981, Reds

Nominees :

Hugh Hudson – Chariots of Fire Louis Malle – Atlantic City Mark Rydell – On Golden Pond Steven Spielberg – Raiders of the Lost Ark

8. Richard Attenborough

Actor | Jurassic Park

Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a ...

1982, Gandhi

Nominees :

Sidney Lumet – The Verdict Wolfgang Petersen – Das Boot Sydney Pollack – Tootsie Steven Spielberg – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

9. James L. Brooks

Writer | Broadcast News

James L. Brooks was born on May 9, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Broadcast News (1987), As Good as It Gets (1997) and Terms of Endearment (1983). He was previously married to Holly Holmberg Brooks and Marianne Catherine Morrissey.

1983, Terms of Endearment

Nominees :

Bruce Beresford – Tender Mercies Ingmar Bergman – Fanny and Alexander Mike Nichols – Silkwood Peter Yates – The Dresser

10. Milos Forman

Director | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in ...

1984, Amadeus

Nominees :

Woody Allen – Broadway Danny Rose Robert Benton – Places in the Heart Roland Joffé – The Killing Fields David Lean – A Passage to India

11. Sydney Pollack

Director | Tootsie

Sydney Pollack was an Academy Award-winning director, producer, actor, writer and public figure, who directed and produced over 40 films.

Sydney Irwin Pollack was born July 1, 1934 in Lafayette, Indiana, USA, to Rebecca (Miller), a homemaker, and David Pollack, a professional boxer turned pharmacist...

1985, Out of Africa

Nominees :

Héctor Babenco – Kiss of the Spider Woman John Huston – Prizzi's Honor Akira Kurosawa – Ran Peter Weir – Witness

12. Oliver Stone

Director | JFK

Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.

William Oliver Stone was ...

1986, Platoon

Nominees:

Woody Allen – Hannah and Her Sisters James Ivory – A Room with a View Roland Joffé – The Mission David Lynch – Blue Velvet

13. Bernardo Bertolucci

Writer | Il conformista

Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian director whose films were known for their colorful visual style, was born in Parma, Italy. He attended Rome University and became famous as a poet. He served as assistant director for Pier Paolo Pasolini in the film Accattone (1961) and directed The Grim Reaper (...

1987, The Last Emperor

Nominees :

John Boorman – Hope and Glory Lasse Hallström – My Life as a Dog Norman Jewison – Moonstruck Adrian Lyne – Fatal Attraction

14. Barry Levinson

Director | Rain Man

Barry Lee Levinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Violet (Krichinsky) and Irvin Levinson, who worked in furniture and appliance. He is of Russian Jewish descent. Levinson graduated from high school in 1960, attended college at American University in Washington, DC. He did well, but decided he ...

1988, Rain Man

Nominees :

Charles Crichton – A Fish Called Wanda Mike Nichols – Working Girl Alan Parker – Mississippi Burning Martin Scorsese – The Last Temptation of Christ

15. Oliver Stone

Director | JFK

Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.

William Oliver Stone was ...

1989, Born on the Fourth of July

Nominees :

Woody Allen – Crimes and Misdemeanors Kenneth Branagh – Henry V Jim Sheridan – My Left Foot Peter Weir – Dead Poets Society

16. Kevin Costner

Actor | The Postman

Kevin Michael Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California, the third child of Bill Costner, a ditch digger and ultimately an electric line servicer for Southern California Edison, and Sharon Costner (née Tedrick), a welfare worker. His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950. A middle ...

1990, Dances With Wolves

Nominees :

Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather Part III Stephen Frears – The Grifters Barbet Schroeder – Reversal of Fortune Martin Scorsese – Goodfellas

17. Jonathan Demme

Director | The Silence of the Lambs

Jonathan Demme was born on February 22, 1944 in Baldwin, Long Island, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Rachel Getting Married (2008) and Philadelphia (1993). He was married to Joanne Howard and Evelyn Purcell. He died on April 26, 2017 in ...

1991, The Silence of the Lambs

Nominees :

Barry Levinson – Bugsy Ridley Scott – Thelma & Louise John Singleton – Boyz n the Hood Oliver Stone – JFK

18. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...

1992, Unforgiven

Nominees:

Robert Altman – The Player Martin Brest – Scent of a Woman James Ivory – Howards End Neil Jordan – The Crying Game

19. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

1993, Schindler's List

Nominees :

Robert Altman – Short Cuts Jane Campion – The Piano James Ivory – The Remains of the Day Jim Sheridan – In the Name of the Father

20. Robert Zemeckis

Writer | Back to the Future

A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...

1994, Forrest Gump

Nominees :

Woody Allen – Bullets Over Broadway Krzysztof Kieślowski – Three Colors: Red Robert Redford – Quiz Show Quentin Tarantino – Pulp Fiction

21. Mel Gibson

Actor | Braveheart

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...

1995, Braveheart

Nominees:

Mike Figgis – Leaving Las Vegas Chris Noonan – Babe Michael Radford – Il Postino Tim Robbins – Dead Man Walking

22. Anthony Minghella

Writer | The Talented Mr. Ripley

Anthony Minghella was the son of immigrants from Italy, who own an ice-cream factory on the Isle of Wight, where Anthony was born on January 6, 1954. He and his two siblings, Edana Minghella and Dominic Minghella, grew up there, a popular British holiday spot. After graduating from the University of...

1996, The English Patient

Nominees:

Joel Coen – Fargo Miloš Forman – The People vs. Larry Flynt Scott Hicks – Shine Mike Leigh – Secrets & Lies

23. James Cameron

Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water

James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...

1997, Titanic

Nominees:

Peter Cattaneo – The Full Monty Atom Egoyan – The Sweet Hereafter Curtis Hanson – L.A. Confidential Gus Van Sant – Good Will Hunting

24. Steven Spielberg

Producer | Schindler's List

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...

1998, Saving Private Ryan

Nominees:

Roberto Benigni – Life Is Beautiful John Madden – Shakespeare in Love Terrence Malick – The Thin Red Line Peter Weir – The Truman Show

25. Sam Mendes

Producer | 1917

Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...

1999, American Beauty

Nominees :

Lasse Hallström – The Cider House Rules Spike Jonze – Being John Malkovich Michael Mann – The Insider M. Night Shyamalan – The Sixth Sense

26. Steven Soderbergh

Director | Sex, Lies, and Videotape

Steven Andrew Soderbergh was born on January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the second of six children of Mary Ann (Bernard) and Peter Soderbergh. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother was of Italian ancestry. While he was still at a very young age, his family moved to ...

2000, Traffic

Nominees:

Stephen Daldry – Billy Elliot Ang Lee – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Ridley Scott – Gladiator Steven Soderbergh – Erin Brockovich

27. Ron Howard

Producer | Arrested Development

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.

Howard ...

2001, A Beautiful Mind

Nominees:

Robert Altman – Gosford Park Peter Jackson – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring David Lynch – Mulholland Drive Ridley Scott – Black Hawk Down

28. Roman Polanski

Director | Chinatown

Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.

His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years ...

2002, The Pianist

Nominees:

Pedro Almodóvar – Talk to Her Stephen Daldry – The Hours Rob Marshall – Chicago Martin Scorsese – Gangs of New York

29. Peter Jackson

Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...

2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Nominees:

Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation Clint Eastwood – Mystic River Fernando Meirelles – City of God Peter Weir – Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

30. Clint Eastwood

Actor | Million Dollar Baby

Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...

2004, Million Dollar Baby

Nominees:

Taylor Hackford – Ray Mike Leigh – Vera Drake Alexander Payne – Sideways Martin Scorsese – The Aviator

31. Ang Lee

Director | Xi yan

Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...

2005, Brokeback Mountain

Nominees:

George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck. Paul Haggis – Crash Bennett Miller – Capote Steven Spielberg – Munich

32. Martin Scorsese

Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...

2006, The Departed

Nominees:

Clint Eastwood – Letters from Iwo Jima Stephen Frears – The Queen Alejandro González Iñárritu – Babel Paul Greengrass – United 93

33. Joel Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...

2007, No Country For Old Men

Nominees:

Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton Jason Reitman – Juno Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

34. Ethan Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...

2007, No Country For Old Men

Nominees:

Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton Jason Reitman – Juno Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

35. Danny Boyle

Director | 127 Hours

Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...

2008, Slumdog Millionaire

Nominees:

Stephen Daldry – The Reader David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon Gus Van Sant – Milk

36. Kathryn Bigelow

Director | The Hurt Locker

A very talented painter, Kathryn spent two years at the San Francisco Art Institute. At 20, she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program. She was given a studio in a former Offtrack Betting building, literally in an old bank vault, where she made art and waited to be ...

2009, The Hurt Locker

Nominees:

James Cameron – Avatar Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Jason Reitman – Up in the Air Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

37. Tom Hooper

Director | Cats

Tom Hooper was educated at one of England's most prestigious schools, Westminster. His first film, Runaway Dog, was made when he was 13 years old and shot on a Clockwork 16mm Bolex camera, using 100 feet of film. At age 18, he wrote, directed and produced the short film Painted Faces (1992), which ...

2010, The King's Speech

Nominees:

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan Ethan & Joel Coen – True Grit David Fincher – The Social Network David O. Russell – The Fighter

38. Michel Hazanavicius

Writer | The Artist

Michel Hazanavicius was born and raised in Paris, France. His grandparents were originally from Lithuania, but relocated to France in the 1920s. Hazanavicius attended art school, and moved on to work as a director for commercials and television projects. In 1999, he wrote and directed his first ...

2011, The Artist

Nominees:

Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life Alexander Payne – The Descendants Martin Scorsese – Hugo

39. Ang Lee