Who has starred in the most ‘Best Picture’ winners?
While it’s ridiculous that we’re still all pretending that the ‘Best Picture’ award at the Academy Awards actually decides what is the best in cinema that year, we all still inevitably buy into it.
Even if it’s to lament how awful the movie of that year is, or who has been robbed, or, let’s be real, outright ignored, given the Academy’s tendency towards certain kinds of film. And to all the cast and crew involved, it’s still an incredibly big deal.
While actors are primarily gunning for the ‘Best Actor/Actress’ accolades, starring in a ‘Best Picture’ winner is still something to celebrate. And it’s surely a consolation if you miss out on your own category, but it’s not something we tend to make much of a tally of.
So, who has starred in the most ‘Best Picture’ winners?
Well, it’s a 19-way tie, which isn’t surprising given that the best actors are often picked for the best movies and even contribute to their success. However, not all of the actors featured here are necessarily hugely successful in their own right. After all, it’s surely professional extras who would really win this title, but since they mostly go uncredited, we can’t really account for them.
Of the 19 actors with credited roles in three ‘Best Picture’ winners, nearly half are no longer active. Many are Old Hollywood supporting actors, like John Gielgud, Donald Crisp, Hugh Griffith and Jack Gwillim. Then there’s the great Harry Davenport, who is the only name on the list to appear in three back-to-back winners with 1938’s The Life of Emile Zola, 1939’s You Can’t Take It with You, and 1940’s epic period drama Gone with the Wind.
In this bunch, two of the most notable are Jack Hawkins and the legendary Clarke Gable, and although Hawkins might be a lesser-known name than the latter, he was so sought after in his own time that he continued to act even after losing his larynx. His three ‘Best Picture’ wins also happened to be for some of the most iconic films of the era, like The Bridge on the River Kwai, Ben-Hur in 1960 and Lawrence of Arabia three years later.
For It Happened One Night, Mutiny on the Bounty and Gone with the Wind, the ‘King of Hollywood’ Gable not only appeared, but also won ‘Best Actor’ for all three performances. Then there’s the beloved but tragic figure of John Cazale, who only starred in five films before his untimely death at 42, and three out of the five happened to be ‘Best Picture’ winners.
The last of this crowd is the late Bernard Hill, whom you might know as King Theoden from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Captain Edward Smith from Titanic. Not only are these two out of his three ‘Best Picture’ appearances, but they also hold the record for most overall Oscar wins. Touché.
Which active actors have starred in three ‘Best Picture’ winners?
Unshockingly, a couple of the still-active performers to have starred in ‘Best Picture’ winners are record holders themselves, and of course, Meryl Streep makes an appearance on the list. Holding the record for most nominations of any actor, three of her films were ‘Best Picture’ winners: The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer and Out of Africa. Who knows, maybe she’ll step up and break another record with a fourth?
Then there’s the male actor with the most nominations: Jack Nicholson. He might not have been in anything since 2010, but already has three ‘Best Pictures’ under his belt with One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment and The Departed.
Nicholson’s Terms of Endearment co-star, Shirley MacLaine, has also managed to make the roster with her films Around the World in 80 Days and The Apartment also winning the prestigious award shout. It’s not shocking that fellow award-winners Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton and Dustin Hoffman also have three of the ‘Best Pictures’ in their résumés.
Slightly less expected, but wonderful and lauded names include Talia Shire, Colin Firth and Ralph Fiennes, and by far the most unexpected performer to have appeared in three ‘Best Picture’ Academy Awards winners is Beth Grant. You might not know her name, but you’d surely know her face. While she doesn’t hold any individual nominations or wins, she’s been a steady supporting actress in over 70 films, with Rain Man, No Country for Old Men, and The Artist winning ‘Best Picture’.
So far, it’s a ridiculously long list of actors who have starred in this many ‘Best Picture’ winners, and it might only get longer, but let’s hope that someone edges out all the others to appear in four for a new milestone.
