Who has won the most ‘Best Director’ Oscars Awards?
Although artists compete in various categories at the Oscars each year, film fans are primarily interested in the winners and nominees of the “Big Five”. The ‘Best Picture’ Award is undoubtedly the most coveted one, but the Academy’s celebration of the individual talent of actors, writers, and directors also garners attention from a global audience.
The ‘Best Director’ Award has been one of the most important categories throughout the history of the Academy. Over the years, some of the greatest cinematic pioneers have won the Best Director Oscar – ranging from Billy Wilder and David Lean to William Friedkin and Francis Ford Coppola. It truly represents the pinnacle of the art form and is rightly regarded as one of the most highly prized awards in Hollywood.
In 2022, Jane Campion made history by becoming the only female director to have been nominated twice for the ‘Best Director’ category. After a long hiatus, Campion returned with the revisionist western The Power of the Dog, which received widespread acclaim and multiple prestigious accolades. This year sees another ream of incredible directors up for the prize as Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), the Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Todd Field (Tar), Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness) go up against cinematic legend Steven Spielberg (The Fablemans).
Of course, many cinematic legends, including Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock, never managed to win the ‘Best Director’ Award. During a conversation with Interview Magazine, Scorsese revealed that he always had dreams of Oscar glory as a child, which he eventually achieved with The Departed.
Scorsese said: “Don’t forget, as a kid, I watched the Academy Awards on television and always wanted one—or several—like one of my favourite directions, John Ford. He won six. On the other hand, Orson Welles, who’s on the top of my list, didn’t win any. Alfred Hitchcock didn’t win any. Howard Hawks didn’t win any.”
While William Wyler holds the record for the most number of Best Director nominations, John Ford is the iconic filmmaker with the highest number of wins in the category. Narrowly beating out Wyler by one, Ford won four Best Director Awards out of five nominations.
Starting with The Informer in 1935, Ford embarked on an incredible run and picked up nominations for multiple categories with unforgettable gems such as How Green Was My Valley. Even though it is difficult to have such a monopoly at the Oscars in this current landscape of cinema, it is entirely possible that Ford’s record will be broken soon.
