Who were the first twins to win an Oscar for the same movie?
Hollywood is ruled by nepotism – it seems to be the only way into such a competitive industry. It’s always been a case of who you know, not necessarily what you know; so if you’ve got a famous father, auntie, sibling, or cousin, you’re much more likely to wheedle your way into the spotlight, much to the dismay of those who aren’t so lucky.
It makes sense that many children of famous actors or directors go into the industry, too; it’s all they grow up knowing. While there are instances of celebrity kids doing normal jobs, you’d be stupid not to use your connections and wealth if you grew up with a famous and well-connected parent. Imagine if Sofia Coppola decided she wasn’t going to use every chance she had to become a filmmaker when her dad literally directed The Godfather. That’s just the (unfair) nature of the game.
Many famous families have ruled Hollywood over the years – the Coppolas, the Barrymores, the Fondas, to name a few – and as a result, there have been various relatives from the same families who have ended up nominated for multiple Oscars. It’s to be expected in such a tight-knit industry, and in some cases, relatives have even been nominated for the same films, like Laura Dern and Diane Ladd for Rambling Rose and Henry and Jane Fonda for On Golden Pond.
But what about twins? It’s much less common to find twins in the industry, with it often being the case that an actor will have a non-famous twin, like Scarlett Johansson or Rami Malek (whose twin is called Sami, no less). Yet, there has been an instance when twins won an Oscar for the same movie, although they were screenwriters, not actors.
The first twins to win an Oscar for the same movie
There has only been one instance of twins winning Oscars for the same movie, and this occurred all the way back in 1942. It was the 16th Academy Awards, and the ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ category saw twins Philip G Epstein and Julius J Epstein (alongside Howard Koch) take home the prize for Casablanca. The classic film is regarded as one of the greatest ever made, full of iconic catchphrases (“Here’s lookin’ at you, kid”) and iconic performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
The Epstein twins and Koch adapted the movie from the play Everybody Comes to Rick’s, written by Joan Alison and Murray Burnett, which never even hit the stage before it was given the green light to be transformed into a movie. It was evidently a wise decision from Warner Bros to turn the play into a movie, and it also won ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ at the Academy Awards.
The twins were incredibly close, although Philip sadly died 48 years before Julius in 1952, just ten years after the success of Casablanca. Their closeness clearly worked in their favour, and they were able to collaborate with ease to transform the play into one of the greatest screenplays ever written. They poured their experiences of being Jewish into the script, which was written during the height of World War Two, allowing a powerful story about religion, war, and love to emerge.
Casablanca is a stone cold classic, and it’s hardly surprising that the screenplay took home an Oscar, beating movies like Watch on the Rhine and The More the Merrier. Little did they know, the siblings would create Oscar history by becoming the only twins to ever win an Academy Award for the same movie.
