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In the 96-year history of the Academy Awards, more than 900 men and women have been honored with nominations for their roles. On July 4, 2024, the oldest living winner (or nominee) will turn 100. Our research shows that Eva Marie Saint joins a very short list of centenarians who have received Oscar nominations, four of whom have won the award.
A star of stage, radio, television and film, Saint won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1955 for her film debut in On the Waterfront; she was also the first actress to win the award and one of the last stars of the Golden Age. She went on to star alongside Cary Grant in one of the Alfred HitchcockShe starred in one of television’s most acclaimed films, “North by Northwest” (1959), and became known to younger audiences for her role as Clark Kent’s adoptive mother in “Superman Returns” (2006). Although she never received another Oscar nomination, she earned five Emmy nominations, winning Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for “People Like Us” in 1990. Along with Saint, which four Oscar-winning actors have lived to be 100?
The reigning Oscar survivor champion was the German Louise Rainerdied on December 30, 2014, just 13 days shy of her 105th birthday. In addition to being the longest-living Oscar-winning actress of all time, she was also the first actress to win back-to-back Academy Awards. Her first Best Actress statuette came in 1937, for her role as Florenz Ziegfeld’s emotional first wife in the musical biopic “The Great Ziegfeld.” The following year, she won for a completely opposite role, as Chinese peasant O-Lan in “The Good Earth.” Rainer was only 28 when she won her second statuette, and her career subsequently declined, with her making only a few more films before leaving Hollywood, making only sporadic appearances on television and film.
Another actress who won two was Olivia de Havillanddied on July 26, 2020, less than a month after turning 104. Her first nomination came in 1940, for her best-known role as Melanie in “Gone With the Wind.” Between 1942 and 1950, she received four Best Actress nominations, winning for “The Heiress” in 1947 and “The Heiress” in 1950. She was the last surviving major star of classic Hollywood, appearing in 49 feature films over a five-decade career that included many classic films, including nine with Errol Flynnthe most memorable of which is “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938).
The fourth winner just celebrated his 100th birthday. George Burns died on March 9, 1996, after reaching the age of 90 on January 20. The comedian rose to fame alongside his wife and comedy partner Gracie Allen He acted in films, radio and television. He had only appeared in about 15 films (mostly as himself) when, at age 79, he was offered the role of Al Lewis in “The Sunshine Boys,” his first feature film appearance in 36 years. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 80, making him the oldest winner ever. And he continued to work for most of his remaining 20 years, appearing in films such as “Oh, God!” (1977) and working as a stand-up comedian. His last television appearance was in 1995, when he received the Screen Actors Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
In addition to these four Oscar winners, three nominated actors lived to be 100 years old:
Like de Havilland, Kirk Douglas was born in 1916 (December to January), and died in 2020, but he died in February at the age of 103 at 104. He appeared in his first film, “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers,” in 1946, and received his first of three Best Actor nominations for “Champion” in 1950. He followed this with nominations for “The Bad and the Beautiful” in 1953 and “Lust for Life,” in which he starred Vincent Van Goghin 1957. He failed to win any of the offers, but received an honorary Oscar in 1996. Surprisingly, he failed to get an offer for his most famous role in “Spartacus” (1960); however, he insisted that the screenplay credit be given to the blacklisted actor Dalton Trumboan act that helped end the blacklist in Hollywood.
In 1998, at the age of 87 Gloria Stuart She became the record holder for the oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actress, playing the 101-year-old Rose in “Titanic.” Between 1932 and 1946, she appeared in more than 40 films, including “The Invisible Man” (1933) alongside Claude Rainsand “Poor Little Rich Girl” (1936) and “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938) alongside Shirley TempleBut it was her role in Titanic that earned her her only Oscar nomination and helped revive her career in her later years. In 2004, she appeared in Land of Plenty, her final film role before her death on September 26, 2010, just over two months after her centenary.
The most recent Oscar centenarian to die was Glynis Johnsdied on January 4, 2024, three months after turning 100. In 1961, she received her only Academy Award nomination for her role in “The Sundowners,” which was nominated for Best Picture. She had an incredible career spanning several decades, with her first film appearance at age 14 in “South Riding” in 1938. Her career also extended to television and theater, and she won the Tony for Best Actress in a Musical in 1973 for “A Little Night Music.” However, she is best remembered as the mother of the Banks children in “Mary Poppins” (1964), a role that earned her the title of Disney Legend in 1998.
Several Oscar nominees and winners have lived long lives, with a number of them reaching their 90s. And while he was never nominated for an acting Oscar, Bob Hope He remained an indelible part of the history of the Academy, which hosted the ceremonies a record 19 times. Between 1940 and 1965, the Academy awarded him five special awards for his contributions to the film industry, his humanitarian works and his service to the Academy. He died on July 27, 2003, two months after his 100th birthday.
There are currently about 20 winners and nominees who are in their nineties, including Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, James Earl Jonesm, Shirley Jones, Shirley MacLaine, Rita Moreno And Joanne Woodwardwho could one day join the 100 club.
PREDICT 2025 Oscar nominations close on January 17
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