Poll: 20 Interesting Facts About Acting Oscars and Names

Results of 141 votes:

1. 1.
   

   Xander Berkeley in 24 (2001)

    

   No Oscar-nominated actor ever had a first name starting with X or Z and no Oscar nominee's last name ever started with X.
2. 2.
   

   Christoph Waltz

    

   4 years in a row, an actor whose 'Christian' name could be shortened to Chris won the Best Supporting Oscar (Christoph Waltz, Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer and again Waltz)
3. 3.
   

   Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio at an event for Scarface (1983)

    

   The longest name ever for an Oscar nominee is Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (25 letters).
4. 4.
   

   Best Actor Sidney Poitier ("Lilies of the Field") accepts his Oscar from Anne Bancroft. 36th Academy Awards.

    

   Finally, with Sidney Poitier and Melvyn Douglas in 1964, guess what is the only identical first name for two Oscar-winning characters of the same year: Homer! (Homer Smith in "Lilies on the Field…
5. 5.
   

   Al Pacino at an event for The 65th Annual Academy Awards (1993)

    

   If you discount one-worded nicknames, 8 is the smallest number of letters in a winner's name with Al Pacino, Gig Young, Burl Yves, Sean Penn, Joe Pesci, Ed Begley, Lee Grant and Brad Pitt. 6 is the sm…
6. 6.
   

   Philip Seymour Hoffman at an event for The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006)

    

   The longest name for an Oscar winner is Philip Seymour Hoffman (20 letters).
7. 7.
   

   Anne Hathaway

    

   With 14 actresses, Anne/Ann/Ana/Anna is the most represented first name among nominated actresses, 15 if we also consider Annette (Bening)
8. 8.
   

   Bradley Cooper

    

   There are 11 twice-winning last names (from different actors): Barrymore, Baxter, Coburn, Cooper, Crawford, Fonda, Hepburn, Hunt, Hunter, Jones and Young. If Bradley Cooper ever wins an Oscar for &quo…
9. 9.
   

   "Academy Awards: 39th Annual," Audrey Hepburn. 1967.

    

   The only instances of actors of the same last name being co-nominated are the two legendary Hepburns (Katharine and Audrey) in 1960 and in 1968, when Katharine won.
10. 10.
    

    Daniel Day-Lewis at an event for The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)

     

    The only occurrences of Oscar wins for namesake characters (discounting derivatives like William/Bill or Catherine/Kate) are: Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview ("There Will Be Blood"), Ge…
11. 11.
    

    Cher and Olympia Dukakis at an event for The 45th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1988)

     

    The shortest name for an Oscar winner is Cher (4 letters) followed by Mo'Nique (7 letters). The shortest name for an Oscar nominee is Mako (4 letters)
12. 12.
    

    Jessica Chastain at an event for The Oscars (2022)

     

    But the Christic initials are the most represented in terms of nominations with a total of 15 performers, the 6 aforementioned winners and James Caan, James Coco, James Cromwell, Jeff Chandler, John …
13. 13.
    

    "Academy Awards: 33th Annual," Shirley Jones and Peter Ustinov.

     

    There were three instances of three actors of the same first name being nominated the same year, 3 Peters in 1965 (O'Toole, Sellers and Ustinov), 3 Shirleys in 1961 (MacLaine, Jones and Knight) and on…
14. 14.
    

    Jennifer Lawrence

     

    Jennifer and Anne are the most represented first names among Oscar-winning actresses with four each (Jennifer Jones, Connelly, Hudson and Lawrence and Anne Bancroft, Baxter, Hathaway and Revere)
15. 15.
    

    Julianne Moore at an event for The Oscars (2015)

     

    Moore is the most represented last name among nominees with Ron, Dudley, Grace, Juanita, Terry and Julianne, the only Oscar winner. It's followed by Harris: Ed, Richard, Barbara, Julie and Rosemary, n…
16. 16.
    

    Meryl Streep

     

    M.S. and J.C are the most represented initials among Oscar winning actors with 6 each: Maximilian Schell, Mira Sorvino and the four consecutive Best Supporting winners: Maggie Smith, Meryl Streep, Mar…
17. 17.
    

    George Clooney at an event for The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)

     

    With 7 Oscar winners (Arliss, Burns, C. Scott, Chakiris, Clooney, Kennedy and Sanders) George is the most represented first name among Oscar-winning actors, followed by Paul and John (4 each).
18. 18.
    

    Robert De Niro at an event for A Single Man (2009)

     

    With 16 actors each, Robert, John and James are (expectedly) the most represented first names among Oscar-nominated actors (Not including Roberto Benigni, Jim Broadbent, Johnny Depp and Jon Voight)
19. 19.
    

    Marie Dressler in Min and Bill (1930)

     

    The only instance of an Oscar-winning role sharing the same initials as the actor is Min Divot (played by Marie Dressler) and it happened as far back as 1930 for "Min and Bill".
20. 20.
    

    Jack Palance in Shane (1953)

     

    The only occurrences of Oscar nominations for namesake characters are: Jack Palance as Jack Wilson ("Shane"), Jack Lemmon as Jack Godell ("The China Syndrome"), Gene Hackman as Ge…