Who Should've Won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor
by Raff_Stardust | created - 01 Oct 2015 | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicMy personal choices for who should've won the Oscar in the category, the other nominees are ranked in order of preference, an * denotes the actual winners.
Haven't seen every single nominated performance, it will be updated from time to time, just like my other lists.
My ranking is based on what the performance itself, not the Oscar favourite of a certain year, or the overdue, any kind of agenda or anything else, just the one I felt was better.
See how much we match !
1. Jack Oakie
Actor | The Great Dictator
"America's Joyboy," beefy, plump-faced comedian Jack Oakie, was one of the funniest top and second banana jokesters of stage, radio and especially film's "Golden Age." He would accomplish so much despite the fact that he was "functionally deaf" throughout his career and performed primarily with the...
1940.
01. JACK OAKIE, THE GREAT DICTATOR
02. ALBERT BASSERMANN, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT
03. JAMES STEPHENSON, THE LETTER
2. Claude Rains
Actor | Casablanca
William Claude Rains, born in the Clapham area of London, was the son of the British stage actor Frederick Rains. The younger Rains followed, making his stage debut at the age of eleven in "Nell of Old Drury." Growing up in the world of theater, he saw not only acting up close but the down-to-earth...
1943.
01. CLAUDE RAINS, CASABLANCA
02. AKIM TAMIROFF, FROM WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
03. CHARLES BICKFORD, THE SONG OF BERNADETTE
3. Harold Russell
Actor | The Best Years of Our Lives
Harold John Russell was born in Nova Scotia in 1914. His family moved to Cambridge Massachusetts when his father died in 1919. He was training paratroopers at Camp MacKall NC on June 6, 1944 when some TNT he was using exploded in his hands. He lost both hands. After receiving hooks, and training on...
1946.
01. HAROLD RUSSELL, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. CLAUDE RAINS, NOTORIOUS
03. CLIFTON WEBB, THE RAZOR'S EDGE
4. George Sanders
Actor | All About Eve
George Sanders was born of English parents in St. Petersburg, Russia. He worked in a Birmingham textile mill, in the tobacco business and as a writer in advertising. He entered show business in London as a chorus boy, going from there to cabaret, radio and theatrical understudy. His film debut, in ...
1950.
01. GEORGE SANDERS, ALL ABOUT EVE (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. SAM JAFFE, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE
03. ERICH VON STROHEIM, SUNSET BLVD.
5. Eddie Albert
Actor | Roman Holiday
A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Eddie Albert was a circus trapeze flier before becoming a stage and radio actor. He made his film debut in 1938 and has worked steadily since, often cast as the friendly, good-natured buddy of the hero but occasionally being cast as a villain; one of his ...
1953.
01. EDDIE ALBERT, ROMAN HOLIDAY
02. JACK PALANCE, SHANE
03. FRANK SINATRA, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (OSCAR WINNER) ***
04. BRANDON DEWILDE, SHANE
6. Karl Malden
Actor | A Streetcar Named Desire
Born to a Czech mother and a Serbian father in Chicago as Mladen Sekulovich, on March 22, 1912, Karl Malden did not speak English until he was in kindergarten. After graduating from high school in the nearby steel town of Gary, Indiana, Malden worked in the industry for three years until 1934, when...
1954.
01. KARL MALDEN, ON THE WATERFRONT
02. ROD STEIGER, ON THE WATERFRONT
03. EDMOND O'BRIEN, THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA (OSCAR WINNER) ***
03. LEE J. COBB, ON THE WATERFRONT
7. Sal Mineo
Actor | Exodus
Salvatore (Sal) Mineo Jr. was born to Josephine and Sal Sr. (a casket maker), who emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily. His siblings were Michael, Victor and Sarina. Sal was thrown out of parochial school and, by age eight, was a member of a street gang in a tough Bronx neighborhood. His mother ...
1955.
01. SAL MINEO, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE
02. ARTHUR O'CONNELL, PICNIC
03. JOE MANTELL, MARTY
8. Sessue Hayakawa
Actor | The Bridge on the River Kwai
Sessue Hayakawa was born in Chiba, Japan. His father was the provincial governor and his mother a member of an aristocratic family of the "samurai" class. The young Hayakawa wanted to follow in his father's footsteps and become a career officer in the Japanese navy, but he was turned down due to ...
1957.
01. SESSUE HAYAKAWA, BRIDGE ON RIVER KWAI
02. RUSS TAMBLYN, PEYTON PLACE
03. ARTHUR KENNEDY, PEYTON PLACE
9. Burl Ives
Actor | The Big Country
Burl Ives was one of six children born to a farming family in Hunt City, Jasper, Illinois, the son of Cordellia "Dellie" (White) and Levi Franklin Ives. He first sang in public for a soldiers' reunion when he was age 4. In high school, he learned the banjo and played fullback, intending to become a...
1958.
01. BURT IVES, THE BIG COUNTRY (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. ARTHUR KENNEDY, SOME CAME RUNNING
03. THEODORE BIKEL, THE DEFIANT ONES
10. Arthur O'Connell
Actor | Anatomy of a Murder
Though stage, screen and TV veteran Arthur O'Connell was born in New York City (on March 29, 1908), he looked as countrified as the American Gothic painting or Mom's home-made apple pie. Looking much more comfy in overalls than he ever could in a tuxedo, he would find an equally comfortable niche ...
1959.
01. ARTHUR O'CONNELL, ANATOMY OF A MURDER
02. GEORGE C. SCOTT, ANATOMY OF A MURDER
03. ED WYNN, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK
04. HUGH GRIFFITH, BEN-HUR (OSCAR WINNER) ***
11. Omar Sharif
Actor | Lawrence of Arabia
Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor best known for playing Sherif Ali in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and the title role in Doctor Zhivago (1965), was born Michel Demitri Shalhoub on April 10, 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt to Joseph Shalhoub, a lumber merchant, and his wife, Claire (Saada). Of Lebanese and ...
1962.
01. OMAR SHARIF, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
02. VICTOR BUONO, WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?
03. TERRY SAVALAS, BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ
04. ED BEGLEY, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH (OSCAR WINNER) ***
12. George Segal
Actor | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
George Segal was born on February 13, 1934 in New York City, New York, to Fannie Blanche (Bodkin) and George Segal Sr., a malt and hop agent. All of his grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. After a stint in the military, he made his bones as a stage actor before being cast in his first ...
1966.
01. GEORGE SEGAL, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
02. JAMES MASON, GEORGY GIRL
03. ROBERT SHAW, A MAN FOR ALL SEASOS
13. John Cassavetes
Actor | Rosemary's Baby
John Cassavetes was a Greek-American actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is considered a pioneer of American independent film, as he often financed his own films.
Cassavetes was born in New York City in 1929 to Nicholas John Cassavetes (1893-1979) and his wife, Katherine Demetre (1906-1983). ...
1967.
01. JOHN CASSAVETES, THE DIRTY DOZEN
02. GENE HACKMAN, BONNIE AND CLYDE
03. MICHAEL J. POLLARD, BONNIE AND CLYDE
04. CECIL KELLAWAY, GUES WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
14. Jack Nicholson
Actor | Chinatown
Jack Nicholson, an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, is a three-time Academy Award winner and twelve-time nominee. Nicholson is also notable for being one of two actors - the other being Michael Caine - who have received an Oscar nomination in every decade from the '60s through ...
1969.
01. JACK NICHOLSON, EASY RIDER
02. ELLIOT GOULD, BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE
03. GIG YOUNG, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY? (OSCAR WINNER) ***
15. Jeff Bridges
Actor | The Big Lebowski
Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, the son of well-known film and TV star Lloyd Bridges and his long-time wife Dorothy Dean Bridges (née Simpson). He grew up amid the happening Hollywood scene with big brother Beau Bridges. Both boys popped up, without ...
1971.
01. JEFF BRIDGES, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
02. BEN JOHNSON, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (OSCAR WINNER) ***
03. ROY SCHEIDER, THE FRENCH CONNECTION
16. Joel Grey
Actor | Cabaret
Joel Grey's father, Mickey Katz, created "Borscht Capades" in the early 1950s. Mickey Katz was a musician -- a clarinetist and a saxophone player -- in bands around the east. Mickey was performing, playing in a band in Cleveland, Ohio, which is where Joel Grey was born. Musician and bandleader ...
1972.
01. JOEL GREY, CABARET (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. AL PACINO, THE GODFATHER
03. JAMES CAAN, THE GODFATHER
04. ROBERT DUVALL, THE GODFATHER
05. EDDIE ALBERT, THE HEARTBREAK KID
17. Robert De Niro
Actor | Cape Fear
One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained ...
1974.
01. ROBERT DE NIRO, THE GODFATHER PART II (OSCAR WINNER) **
02. LEE STRASBERG, THE GODFATHER PART II
03. MICHAEL V. GAZZO, THE GODFATHER PART II
18. Brad Dourif
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Gaunt character actor Brad Dourif was born Bradford Claude Dourif on March 18, 1950 in Huntington, West Virginia. He is the son of Joan Mavis Felton (Bradford) and Jean Henri Dourif, a French-born art collector who owned and operated a dye factory. His father died when Dourif was three years old, ...
1975.
01. BRAD DOURIF, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
02. CHRIS SARANDON, DOG DAY AFTERNOON
03. JACK WARDEN, SHAMPOO
19. Jason Robards
Actor | All the President's Men
Powerful and highly respected American actor Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Hope Maxine (Glanville) and stage and film star Jason Robards Sr. He had Swedish, English, Welsh, German, and Irish ancestry. Robards was raised mostly in Los Angeles. A star athlete at ...
1976.
01. JASON ROBARDS, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (OSCAR WINNER)
02. BURGESS MEREDITH, ROCKY
03. NED BEATTY, NETWORK
04. BURT YOUNG, ROCKY
20. Maximilian Schell
Actor | Judgment at Nuremberg
Maximilian Schell was the most successful German-speaking actor in English-language films since Emil Jannings, the winner of the first Best Actor Academy Award. Like Jannings, Schell won the Oscar, but unlike him, he was a dedicated anti-Nazi. Indeed, with the exception of Maurice Chevalier and ...
1977.
01. MAXIMILIAN SCHELL, JULIA
02. ALEC GUINNESS, STAR WARS
03. JASON ROBARDS, JULIA (OSCAR WINNER) ***
21. Christopher Walken
Actor | The Deer Hunter
Nervous-looking lead and supporting actor of the American stage and films, with sandy colored hair, pale complexion and a somewhat nervous disposition. He won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Deer Hunter (1978), and has been seen in mostly character roles, often ...
1978.
01. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, THE DEER HUNTER (OSCAR WINNER)***
02. BRUCE DERN, COMING HOME
03. JACK WARDEN, HEAVEN CAN WAIT
04. JOHN HURT, MIDNIGHT EXPRESS
22. Robert Duvall
Actor | The Apostle
Veteran actor and director Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, CA, to Mildred Virginia (Hart), an amateur actress, and William Howard Duvall, a career military officer who later became an admiral. Duvall majored in drama at Principia College (Elsah, IL), then served a ...
1979.
01. ROBERT DUVALL, APOCALYPSE NOW
02. FREDERIC FORREST, THE ROSE
03. MICKEY ROONEY, THE BLACK STALLION
04. MELVYN DOUGLAS, BEING THERE (OSCAR WINNER) ***
05. JUSTIN HENRY, KRAMER V KRAMER
23. Joe Pesci
Actor | Goodfellas
Compact Italian-American actor Joe Pesci was born February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey, to Mary (Mesce), a part-time barber, and Angelo Pesci, a bartender and forklift driver. Pesci first broke into entertainment as a child actor, and by the mid-1950s, was starring on the series "Star Time Kids"....
1980.
01. JOE PESCI, RAGING BULL
02. TIMOTHY HUTTON, ORDINARY PEOPLE (OSCAR WINNER) ***
03. JASON ROBARDS, MELVIN AND HOWARD
04. JUDD HIRSCH, ORDINARY PEOPLE
24. Robert Preston
Actor | The Music Man
American leading man of vast charisma, Robert Preston was the son of a garment worker and a record store clerk and grew up in Los Angeles. He was a trained musician, playing several instruments, and in high school became interested in theatre. He joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse, taking ...
1982.
01. ROBERT PRESTON, VICTOR VICTORIA
02. JOHN LITHGOW, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP
03. JAMES MASON, THE VERDICT
04. LOUIS GOSSETT JR., AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (OSCAR WINNER) ***
25. Haing S. Ngor
Actor | The Killing Fields
Haing S. Ngor was a native of Cambodia. Before the war, he was a physician & medical officer in the Cambodian army. He became a captive of the Khmer Rouge. He was imprisoned & tortured. In order to escape execution, he denied being a doctor or having an education. He moved to the U.S. as a refugee ...
1984.
01. HAING S. NGOR, THE KILLING FIELDS (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. JOHN MALKOVICH, PLACES IN THE HEART
03. ADOLPH CAESAR, A SOLDIER'S STORY
26. Eric Roberts
Actor | Runaway Train
Roberts is an Academy Award nominee for his role in Runaway Train, and a three-time Golden Globe nominee for Runaway Train, Star 80, and King of the Gypsies.
In addition, Roberts received acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival for his role in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and It's My Party. He ...
1985.
01. ERIC ROBERTS, RUNAWAY TRAIN
02. WILLIAM HICKEY, PRIZZI'S HONOR
03. KLAUS MARIA BRANDAUER, OUT OF AFRICA
27. Michael Caine
Actor | Youth
Michael Caine was born as Maurice Joseph Micklewhite in London, to Ellen (née Burchell), a cook, and Maurice Micklewhite Sr., a fish-market porter. He had a younger brother, Stanley Caine, and an older maternal half-brother named David Burchell. He left school at age 15 and took a series of ...
1986.
01. MICHAEL CAINE, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. WILLEM DAFOE, PLATOON
03. TOM BERENGER, PLATOON
04. DENHOLM ELLIOT, A ROOM WITH A VIEW
28. River Phoenix
Actor | My Own Private Idaho
River Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom in Madras, Oregon. His mother, Arlyn (Dunetz), a Bronx-born secretary, and his father, John Bottom, a carpenter, met in California in 1968. They worked as itinerant fruit pickers, and later joined the Children of God religious group (John was originally ...
1988.
01. RIVER PHOENIX, RUNNING ON EMPTY
02. KEVIN KLINE, A FISH CALLED WANDA (OSCAR WINNER) ***
03. DEAN STOCKWELL, MARRIED TO THE MOB
29. Martin Landau
Actor | Ed Wood
Oscar-winning character actor Martin Landau was born on June 20, 1928, in Brooklyn, New York. At age 17, he was hired by the New York Daily News to work in the promotions department before he became a staff cartoonist and illustrator. In his five years on the paper, he served as the illustrator for ...
1989.
01. MARTIN LANDAU, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
02. MARLON BRANDO, A DRY WHITE SEASON
03. DANNY AIELLO, DO THE RIGHT THING
04. DAN AYKROYD, DRIVING MISS DAISY
30. Graham Greene
Actor | The Green Mile
Graham Greene was born on June 22, 1952 in Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for The Green Mile (1999), Wind River (2017) and Dances with Wolves (1990). He has been married to Hilary Blackmore since December 20, 1990. They have two children.
1990.
01. GRAHAM GREENE, DANCES WITH WOLVES
02. AL PACINO, DICK TRACY
03. JOE PESCI, GOODFELLAS (OSCAR WINNER) ***
31. Michael Lerner
Actor | Barton Fink
Michael Lerner was an American actor from New York City, the older brother of actor Ken Lerner. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the domineering studio head Jack Lipnick in "Barton Fink" (1991). Other well-known roles include crime boss Arnold ...
1991.
01. MICHAEL LERNER, BARTON FINK
02. TOMMY LEE JONES, JFK
03. HARVEY KEITEL, BUGSY
04. BEN KIGSLEY, BUGSY
32. Gene Hackman
Actor | The French Connection
Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, the son of Anna Lyda Elizabeth (Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman, who operated a newspaper printing press. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch (German), English, and Scottish ancestry, partly by way of Canada, where his mother was born. After ...
1992.
01. GENE HACKMAN, UNFORGIVEN (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. JAYE DAVIDSON, THE CRYING GAME
03. JACK NICHOLSON, A FEW GOOD MEN
04. AL PACINO, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSE
33. Pete Postlethwaite
Actor | The Usual Suspects
An oddly fascinating bloke with prominent bony cheeks and rawboned figure, Peter William (Pete) Postlethwaite was born on February 16, 1946 and was a distinguished character actor on stage, TV and film. Growing up the youngest of four siblings in a Catholic family in Warrington, Lancashire (near ...
1993.
01. PETE POSTLETHWAITE, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
02. LEONARDO DICAPRIO, WHAT'S EATING
GILBERT GRAPE
03. RALPH FIENNES, SCHINDLER'S LIST
34. Samuel L. Jackson
Actor | Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson is an American producer and highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Unbreakable (2000), Shaft (2000), Formula 51 (2001), Black Snake Moan (2006), Snakes on a Plane (2006), and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), ...
1994.
01. SAMUEL L. JACKSON, PULP FICTION
02. MARTIN LANDAU, ED WOOD (OSCAR WINNER) ***
03. CHAZZ PALMINTERI, BULLETS OVER BROADWAY
04. GARY SINISE, FORREST GUMP
05. PAUL SCOFIELD, QUIZ SHOW
35. James Cromwell
Actor | L.A. Confidential
Born in Los Angeles but raised in Manhattan and educated at Middlebury College and Carnegie-Mellon University, James Cromwell is the son of film director John Cromwell and actress Kay Johnson. He studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon, and went into the theatre (like his parents) doing everything from ...
1995.
01. JAMES CROMWELL, BABE
02. BRAD PITT, TWELVE MONKEYS
03. KEVIN SPACEY, THE USUAL SUSPECTS (OSCAR WINNER) ***
04. ED HARRIS, APOLLO 13
36. Armin Mueller-Stahl
Actor | Eastern Promises
Armin Mueller-Stahl is a German actor with a relatively long film career. He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as an abusive father in the biographical drama "Shine" (1996).
In 1930, Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. The town developed ...
1996.
01. ARMIN MUELLER-STAHL, SHINE
02. WILLIAM H. MACY, FARGO
03. CUBA GOODING JR., JERRY MAGUIRE (OSCAR WINNER) ***
37. Robert Forster
Actor | Jackie Brown
Robert Forster was born Robert Wallace Foster, Jr. in Rochester, New York, to Grace Dorothy (Montanarella) and Robert Wallace Foster, Sr., who worked as an elephant trainer and baking supply company executive. He was of English, Irish, and Italian descent. Forster first became interested in acting ...
1997.
01. ROBERT FOSTER, JACKIE BROWN
02. BURT REYNOLDS, BOOGIE NIGHTS
03. ROBIN WILLIAMS, GOOD WILL HUNTING (OSCAR WINNER) ***
04. GREG KINNEAR, AS GOOD AS IT GETS
38. Billy Bob Thornton
Actor | Sling Blade
Billy Bob Thornton was born on August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Virginia Roberta (Faulkner), a psychic, and William Raymond (Billy Ray) Thornton, an educator, high school history teacher, and basketball coach (now deceased). He is the older brother of James Donald (Jimmy Don) (born in ...
1998.
01. BILLY BOB THORNTON, A SIMPLE PLAN
02. GEOFFREY RUSH, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
03. ED HARRIS, THE TRUMAN SHOW
04. JAMES COBURN, AFFLICTION (OSCAR WINNER) ***
39. Jude Law
Actor | The Talented Mr. Ripley
Jude Law is an English actor. Law has been nominated for two Academy Awards and continues to build a prolific body of work that spans from early successes such as Gattaca (1997) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) to more recent turns as Dr. John Watson in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes:...
1999.
01. JUDE LAW, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
02. TOM CRUISE, MAGNOLIA
03. MICHAEL CLARKE DUNCAN, THE GREEN MILE
04. HALEY JOEL OSMENT, THE SIXTH SENSE
05. MICHAEL CAINE, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (OSCAR WINNER) ***
40. Benicio Del Toro
Actor | Sicario
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).
...
2000.
01. BENICIO DEL TORO, TRAFFIC (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. ALBERT FINNEY, ERIN BROKOVICH
03. WILLEM DAFOE, SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE
04. JEFF BRIDGES, THE CONTENDER
05. JOAQUIN PHOENIX, GLADIATOR
41. Chris Cooper
Actor | Adaptation.
Christopher Walton Cooper was born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Mary Ann (Walton), a homemaker, and Charles Sherwood Cooper, a cattleman and internist who served as a doctor in the US Air Force. His parents were from Texas, where Cooper was raised.
Educated at the University of Missouri school of ...
2002.
01. CHRIS COOPER, ADAPTATION (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. PAUL NEWMAN, ROAD TO PERDITION
03. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
04. JOHN C. REILLY, CHICAGO
05. ED HARRIS, THE HOURS
42. Benicio Del Toro
Actor | Sicario
Benicio Del Toro emerged in the mid-1990s as one of the most watchable and charismatic character actors to come along in years. A favorite of film buffs, Del Toro gained mainstream public attention as the conflicted but basically honest Mexican policeman in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (2000).
...
2003.
01. BENICIO DEL TORO, 21 GRAMS
02. DJIMON HOUNSOU, IN AMERICA
03. ALEC BALDWIN, THE COOLER
04. TIM ROBBINS, MYSTIC RIVER (OSCAR WINNER) ***
43. Thomas Haden Church
Actor | Sideways
Thomas Haden Church was born Thomas Richard McMillen in Yolo, California, to Maxine (Sanders) and Carlos Richard McMillen, who was a U.S. marine and surveyor. He was raised in Texas. His mother remarried George Quesada, a widowed WWII veteran who served in Guam, in 1969. He adopted this surname ...
2004.
01. THOMAS HADEN CHURCH, SIDEWAYS
02. JAMIE FOXX, COLLATERAL
03. CLIVE OWEN, CLOSER
04. ALAN ALDA, THE AVIATOR
05. MORGAN FREEMAN, MILLION DOLLAR BABY (OSCAR WINNER) ***
44. George Clooney
Actor | The Ides of March
George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney ...
2005.
01. GEORGE CLOONEY, SYRIANA (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. WILLIAM HURT, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
03. MATT DILLON, CRASH
04. JAKE GYLLENHAAL, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
45. Mark Wahlberg
Producer | The Fighter
American actor Mark Wahlberg is one of a handful of respected entertainers who successfully made the transition from teen pop idol to acclaimed actor. A Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee for The Departed (2006) who went on to receive positive critical reviews for his performance in The Fighter (...
2006.
01. MARK WAHLBERG, THE DEPARTED
02. EDDIE MURPHY, DREAMGIRLS
03. ALAN ARKIN, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (OSCAR WINNER) ***
04. JACKIE EARLE HALEY, LITTLE CHILDREN
05. DJIMON HOUNSOU, BLOOD DIAMOND
46. Casey Affleck
Actor | Manchester by the Sea
An accomplished and striking performer, Academy Award® winner Casey Affleck has established himself as a powerful leading man with performances in multiple projects.
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts. His mother, Chris Anne (née Boldt), is a school teacher, and ...
2007.
01. CASEY AFFLECK, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
02. JAVIER BARDEM, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (OSCAR WINNER) ***
03. HAL HOOLBROK, INTO THE WILD
04. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
05. TOM WILKINSON, MICHAEL CLAYTON
47. Heath Ledger
Actor | Brokeback Mountain
When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...
2008.
01. HEATH LEDGER, THE DAR KNIGHT (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. JOSH BROLIN, MILK
03. ROBERT DOWNEY JR., TROPIC THUNDER
04. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, DOUBT
05. MICHAEL SHANNON, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
48. Christoph Waltz
Actor | Django Unchained
Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is known for his work with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, receiving acclaim for portraying SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012). For each performance, he won...
2009.
01. CHRISTOPH WALTZ, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, THE LAST STATION
03. MATT DAMON, INVICTUS
04. STANLEY TUCCI, THE LOVELY BONES
looks like voters were trying to pick stuff from the ground...
49. Mark Ruffalo
Actor | Spotlight
Award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo was born on November 22, 1967, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, of humble means to father Frank Lawrence Ruffalo, a construction painter and Marie Rose (Hebert), a stylist and hairdresser; his father's ancestry is Italian and his mother is of half French-Canadian and half ...
2010.
01. MARK RUFFALO, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
02. JOHN HAWKES, WINTE'S BONE
03. GEOFFREY RUSH, THE KING'S SPEECH
04. CHRISTIAN BALE, THE FIGHTER (OSCAR WINNER) ***
05. JEREMY RENNER, THE TOWN
another astonishing lineup, everyone doing beutiful things in front of the screen.
50. Jonah Hill
Actor | 21 Jump Street
Jonah Hill was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of Sharon Feldstein (née Chalkin), a fashion designer and costume stylist, and Richard Feldstein, a tour accountant for Guns N' Roses. He is the brother of music manager Jordan Feldstein and actress Beanie Feldstein. He graduated from ...
2011.
01. JONAH HILL, MONEYBALL
02. NICK NOLTE, WARRIOR
03. MAX VON SYDOW, EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE
04. KENNETH BRANAGH, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN
05. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, BEGINNERS (OSCAR WINNER) ***
51. Tommy Lee Jones
Actor | The Fugitive
Tommy Lee Jones was born in San Saba, Texas, the son of Lucille Marie (Scott), a police officer and beauty shop owner, and Clyde C. Jones, who worked on oil fields. Tommy himself worked in underwater construction and on an oil rig. He attended St. Mark's School of Texas, a prestigious prep school ...
2012.
01. TOMMY LEE JONES, LINCOLN
02. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, THE MASTER
03. CHRISTOPH WALTZ, DJANGO UNCHAINED (OSCAR WINNER) ***
04. ALAN ARKIN, ARGO
05. ROBERT DE NIRO, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
52. Barkhad Abdi
Actor | Captain Phillips
Barkhad Abdi was born on April 10, 1985 in Mogadishu, Somalia. He is an actor, known for Captain Phillips (2013), Eye in the Sky (2015) and Good Time (2017).
2013.
01. BARKHAD ABDI, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
A lot was said about Hanks's performance, but he only gets great near the end, what Abdi does is the kind of antagonist work that steals a film, a non-professional actor before this, still the craft is evident
02. JONAH HILL, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Comedic, gross, unabashedly offensive and delicious for that same reason
03. MICHAEL FASSBENDER, 12 YEARS A SLAVE
He has a cliché character, but thanks to McQueen's infatuation with Fassy's face, he captures all the contradictions within his character.
04. JARED LETO, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (OSCAR WINNER) ***
Meh, a very straight take on trans. Never sells the friendship
05. BRADLEY COOPER, AMERICAN HUSTLE
One of the worst performances I've ever seen
53. Edward Norton
Actor | Fight Club
American actor, filmmaker and activist Edward Harrison Norton was born on August 18, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Columbia, Maryland.
His mother, Lydia Robinson "Robin" (Rouse), was a foundation executive and teacher of English, and a daughter of famed real estate developer ...
2014.
01. EDWARD NORTON, BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)
02. MARK RUFFALO, FOXCATCHER
03. ETHAN HAWKE, BOYHOOD
04. J.K. SIMMONS, WHIPLASH (OSCAR WINNER) ***
05. ROBERT DUVALL, THE JUDGE
Beautiful lineup, all worthy of their nomination
54. Mark Rylance
Actor | Bridge of Spies
Mark Rylance was born in Ashford, Kent, the son of Anne (née Skinner) and David Waters, both English teachers. His grandmother was Irish. His parents moved to Connecticut in 1962 and Wisconsin in 1969, where his father taught English at the University School of Milwaukee. Rylance attended this ...
2015.
01. MARK RYLANCE, BRIDGE OF SPIES (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. TOM HARDY, THE REVENANT
03. SYLVESTER STALLONE, CREED
04. CHRISTIAN BALE, THE BIG SHORT
05. MARK RUFFALO, SPOTLIGHT - top contender for worst performance to ever get an oscar nomination
55. Jeff Bridges
Actor | The Big Lebowski
Jeffrey Leon Bridges was born on December 4, 1949 in Los Angeles, California, the son of well-known film and TV star Lloyd Bridges and his long-time wife Dorothy Dean Bridges (née Simpson). He grew up amid the happening Hollywood scene with big brother Beau Bridges. Both boys popped up, without ...
2016.
01. JEFF BRIDGES, HELL OR HIGH WATER
02. DEV PATEL, LION
03. MICHAEL SHANNON, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS
04. MAHERSHALA ALI, MOONLIGHT (OSCAR WINNER) ***
05. LUCAS HEDGES, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
If not for a great Bridges perfrmance, this would be one of the lazzzziest set of nominees ever.
56. Sam Rockwell
Actor | Moon
Sam Rockwell was born on November 5, 1968, in San Mateo, California, the only child of two actors, Pete Rockwell and Penny Hess. The family moved to New York when he was two years old, living first in the Bronx and later in Manhattan. When Sam was five years old, his parents separated, at which ...
2017.
01. SAM ROCKWELL, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSDIE EBBING, MISSOURI (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. WILLEM DAFOE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT
03. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
04. RICHARD JENKINS, THE SHAPE OF WATER
05. WOODY HARRELSON, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
57. Mahershala Ali
Actor | Leave the World Behind
Mahershala Ali is fast becoming one of the freshest and most in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill set and wide-ranging background in film, television, and theater.
He can be seen in the independent feature film, Moonlight, as well as reprising his role in The Hunger ...
2018.
01. MAHERSHALA ALI, GREEN BOOK (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. RICHARD E. GRANT, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
03. ADAM DRIVER, BLACKKKLANSMAN
04. SAM ELLIOT, A STAR IS BORN
05. SAM ROCKWELL, VICE
58. Joe Pesci
Actor | Goodfellas
Compact Italian-American actor Joe Pesci was born February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey, to Mary (Mesce), a part-time barber, and Angelo Pesci, a bartender and forklift driver. Pesci first broke into entertainment as a child actor, and by the mid-1950s, was starring on the series "Star Time Kids"....
2019.
01. JOE PESCI, THE IRISHMAN
02. ANTHONY HOPKINS, THE TWO POPES
03. AL PACINO, THE IRISHMAN
04. TOM HANKS, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
05. BRAD PITT, ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD (OSCAR WINNER) ***
59. Paul Raci
Actor | Sound of Metal
Paul Raci is an American actor best known for his role as Joe in the Sound of Metal (2020) directed by Darius Marder, starring opposite Riz Ahmed and Olivia Cooke. Paul can also be seen in many TV shows including Baskets opposite Zach Galifinakis, Goliath opposite Billy Bob Thornton and Parks and ...
2020.
01. PAUL RACI, SOUND OF METAL
He calls back character actors from peak 70s American films, he steals every scene, the words he has to say are quite specific but he gives them a full-fledge meaning.
02. LAKEITH STANFIELD, JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
He's good to a point, initially he sells the situation pretty well, the undecided man trapped into two worlds and suggest self-pity but at some point he plays it way too obvious. Like Kaluuya, he needed to play this role 10 years ago, and by the way, this is a lead performance, you lazy voters.
03. DANIEL KALUUYA, JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (OSCAR WINNER) ***
He became a household name thanks to Get Out but oddly this one also feels like a star-making turn, arresting presence, although he should've played this role 10 years ago to be truly great.
04. LESLIE ODOM JR, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
The movie is done with so much respect that is boring, same goes for the performances, fine, correct, heartfelt but unremarkable, highly doubt people will talk about this in years to come
05. SACHA BARON COHEN, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Like anybody in this movie (except for Frank Langella and Mark Rylance), he should be on trial for whatever the hell he was doing here (one of the worst nominations of the last 20 years in the category)
60. Kodi Smit-McPhee
Actor | Let Me In
Kodi Smit-McPhee started acting at the age of 9. He dropped out of high school in his first year to pursue acting and currently resides in Los Angeles as does his father Andy McPhee and sister Sianoa Smit-McPhee, who are also actors.
He made his feature film debut alongside Eric Bana in 2007's "...
2021.
01. KODI SMIT-MCPHEE, THE POWER OF THE DOG
02. JESSE PLEMMONS, THE POWER OF THE DOG
03. TROY KOTSUR, CODA (OSCAR WINNER) ***
04. CIARÁN HINDS, BELFAST
05. J.K. SIMMONS, BEING THE RICARDOS
61. Ke Huy Quan
Actor | Everything Everywhere All at Once
Ke Huy Quan, also known as Jonathan Ke Quan, is a Vietnamese-born Chinese-American actor and stunt choreographer. Quan played Short Round in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984) and Data in "The Goonies" (1985). In 1990 and 1991, he co-starred as Jasper Kwong in the sitcom "Head of the ...
2022.
01. KE HUY QUAN, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (OSCAR WINNER) ***
02. BARRY KEOGHAN, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
03. BRIAN TYREE HENRY, CAUSEWAY
04. BRENDAN GLEESON, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
05. JUDD HIRSCH, THE FABELMANS
A case where the winner is clearly above everyone else, Quan simply displays a endless bag of tricks and tying everything in every multiverse into a sole person (unlike his co-stars), truly a heartflet, once in a lifetime performance/role
Keoghan and Tyree Henry (both wonderful young actors) are moving mountains, bringing enormous depth to roles that are simply not as profound on paper, lines and scenes become meorable because of their approach.
Gleeson's a bit underwhelming, there's a tiresome / been there don that vibe to what he's doing and in within his impressive catalog is not a stand out.
Hirsch... I guess he's fine but it just feels incomplete, Williams also took a similar approach in performing in a more loud register but in her you understand where she's coming from, he just appears, makes some noise and disappears.
62. Ryan Gosling
Actor | Blue Valentine
Born Ryan Thomas Gosling on November 12, 1980, in London, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Donna (Wilson), a secretary, and Thomas Ray Gosling, a traveling salesman. Ryan was the second of their two children, with an older sister, Mandi. His ancestry is French-Canadian, as well as English, ...
2023.
01. RYAN GOSLING, BARBIE
02. ROBERT DE NIRO, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
03. MARK RUFFALO, POOR THINGS
04. ROBERT DOWNEY JR., OPPENHEIMER
05. STERLING K. BROWN, AMERICAN FICTION
Tell Your Friends