The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Supporting Actress winner. However, in recent years, it has shifted towards being presented by previous years' Best Supporting Actor winners instead. In lieu of the traditional Oscar statuette, supporting acting recipients were given plaques up until the 16th Academy Awards, when statuettes were awarded to each category instead.
The Best Supporting Actor award has been presented a total of 90 times, to 81 actors. The first winner was Walter Brennan for his role in Come and Get It (1936). The most recent winner is Sean Penn for One Battle After Another (2025). The record for most wins is three, held by Brennan–who won every other year within a succession of the first five years. Seven other actors have won twice. Brennan is also tied for receiving the most nominations in the category (with four altogether) along with Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Claude Rains, and Mark Ruffalo. For his performance in The Dark Knight (2008), Heath Ledger became the first actor to win posthumously in this category—and second overall. Christopher Plummer is the oldest actor to receive a nomination in any category at age 88, for All the Money in the World (2017).
Nominations process Nominees are currently determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy.
Winners and nominees In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months, from August 1 to July 31. For the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1, 1932, to December 31, 1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full previous calendar year from January 1 to December 31.
+ Table key ‡ Indicates the winner † Indicates a posthumous winner † Indicates a posthumous nominee § Indicates actor who refused the nomination
1930s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1936 (9th) Come and Get It Carlo My Man Godfrey Pigskin Parade Tybalt Romeo and Juliet 1937 (10th) Chang Lost Horizon Topper 1938 (11th) Kentucky Four Daughters Regis Algiers Marie Antoinette If I Were King 1939 (12th) Stagecoach Juarez President of the Senate Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Beau Geste Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1940s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1940 (13th) Foreign Correspondent Joe They Knew What They Wanted 1941 (14th) How Green Was My Valley Sergeant York Here Comes Mr. Jordan 1942 (15th) Johnny Eager Wake Island Yankee Doodle Dandy Tortilla Flat Mrs. Miniver 1943 (16th) Giuseppe Sahara Casablanca Pablo For Whom the Bell Tolls 1944 (17th) Going My Way Mr. Skeffington Laura Since You Went Away 1945 (18th) Spellbound 1946 (19th) Notorious 1947 (20th) Miracle on 34th Street Pancho Ride the Pink Horse Montgomery Crossfire Kiss of Death 1948 (21st) Howard Johnny Belinda Joan of Arc I Remember Mama Horace (A Leprechaun) 1949 (22nd) Twelve O'Clock High All the King's Men Champion Battleground
1950s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1950(23rd) All About Eve Cochise Broken Arrow Mister 880 Sunset Boulevard 1951 (24th) Petronius Quo Vadis Death of a Salesman Nero Quo Vadis Come Fill the Cup 1952 (25th) Viva Zapata! My Cousin Rachel Narrator Sudden Fear 1953 (26th) From Here to Eternity Roman Holiday Shane Stalag 17 1954 (27th) On the Waterfront 1955 (28th) Mister Roberts Trial Angie Marty Rebel Without a Cause Picnic 1956 (29th) Lust for Life Bus Stop Friendly Persuasion Dooley Written on the Wind 1957 (30th) Sayonara Peyton Place 1958 (31st) Some Came Running Teacher's Pet 1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur Anatomy of a Murder
1960s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1960 (33rd) Spartacus Murder, Inc. Exodus Beekeeper 1961 (34th) West Side Story Judgment at Nuremberg Pocketful of Miracles § 1962 (35th) Sweet Bird of Youth What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Birdman of Alcatraz Lawrence of Arabia Billy Budd 1963 (36th) Hud Twilight of Honor Captain Newman, M.D. Tom Jones 1964 (37th) Topkapi King Louis VII Becket My Fair Lady Seven Days in May 1965 (38th) Doctor Zhivago Ship of Fools Iago Othello 1966 (39th) Mako Po-han Georgy Girl Nick Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? King Henry VIII 1967 (40th) Dragline Cool Hand Luke Bonnie and Clyde Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Bonnie and Clyde 1968 (41st) Chet Faces Star! Oliver! 1969 (42nd) They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice Easy Rider Anne of the Thousand Days
1970s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1970 (43rd) Michael Ryan's Daughter Lovers and Other Strangers Old Lodge Skins Little Big Man I Never Sang for My Father Love Story 1971 (44th) Sam the Lion Fiddler on the Roof Sometimes a Great Notion 1972 (45th) The Master of Ceremonies Cabaret 1973 (46th) Bang the Drum Slowly Save the Tiger 1974 (47th) Lightfoot Thunderbolt and Lightfoot 1975 (48th) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Dog Day Afternoon Shampoo 1976 (49th) All the President's Men Network Rocky Marathon Man Rocky 1977 (50th) Julia Equus Star Wars Johann Julia 1978 (51st) Coming Home Dodger Comes a Horseman Max Midnight Express Heaven Can Wait 1979 (52nd) Being There Apocalypse Now Kramer vs. Kramer
1980s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1980 (53rd) Ordinary People Ordinary People Raging Bull Melvin and Howard 1981 (54th) Hobson Arthur Only When I Laugh Chariots of Fire Reds Ragtime 1982 (55th) The Governor of Texas Victor/Victoria 1983 (56th) Terms of Endearment To Be or Not to Be Terms of Endearment Cross Creek 1984 (57th) Places in the Heart † Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes 1985 (58th) Cocoon and Out of Africa Prizzi's Honor Jagged Edge Runaway Train 1986 (59th) Hannah and Her Sisters Platoon Hoosiers 1987 (60th) Broadcast News Street Smart Moonstruck Cry Freedom 1988 (61st) Little Dorrit Tucker: The Man and His Dream Running on Empty Married to the Mob 1989 (62nd) Glory Do the Right Thing Driving Miss Daisy Crimes and Misdemeanors
1990s Year Actor Role(s) Film 1990 (63rd) GoodFellas David Elders Longtime Companion Kicking Bird Dances With Wolves Dick Tracy 1991 (64th) City Slickers JFK Bugsy Barton Fink 1992 (65th) Unforgiven Dil Glengarry Glen Ross Mr. Saturday Night 1993 (66th) What's Eating Gilbert Grape Schindler's List In the Line of Fire In the Name of the Father 1994 (67th) Ed Wood Pulp Fiction Cheech Bullets Over Broadway Quiz Show Forrest Gump 1995 (68th) Babe Apollo 13 12 Monkeys Rob Roy 1996 (69th) Jerry Maguire Fargo Shine Primal Fear Ghosts of Mississippi 1997 (70th) Good Will Hunting Jackie Brown Amistad As Good as It Gets Boogie Nights 1998 (71st) Affliction Christof Shakespeare in Love 1999 (72nd) Magnolia
2000s Year Actor Role(s) Film 2000 (73rd) Traffic Shadow of the Vampire Erin Brockovich Emperor Commodus Gladiator 2001 (74th) Iris Training Day Sexy Beast Gandalf the Grey Ali 2002 (75th) Adaptation Road to Perdition Chicago Catch Me If You Can 2003 (76th) Mystic River 21 Grams Mateo Kuamey In America 2004 (77th) Million Dollar Baby Sideways Collateral Closer 2005 (78th) Syriana Crash Cinderella Man Brokeback Mountain 2006 (79th) Little Miss Sunshine Little Children Blood Diamond Dreamgirls 2007 (80th) No Country for Old Men Charlie Wilson's War Into the Wild Michael Clayton 2008 (81st) † The Joker Milk Tropic Thunder Doubt Revolutionary Road 2009(82nd) Inglourious Basterds Invictus
2010s Year Actor Role(s) Film 2010 (83rd) Winter's Bone 2011 (84th) Beginners My Week with Marilyn Moneyball Warrior Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 2012 (85th) Django Unchained Argo Silver Linings Playbook Lincoln 2013 (86th) Rayon Dallas Buyers Club Captain Phillips American Hustle 12 Years a Slave 2014 (87th) Whiplash Boyhood Birdman Foxcatcher 2015 (88th) Bridge of Spies 2016 (89th) Juan Moonlight Hell or High Water Manchester by the Sea Lion Nocturnal Animals 2017 (90th) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Giles All the Money in the World 2018 (91st) Green Book BlacKkKlansman Can You Ever Forgive Me? Vice 2019 (92nd) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2020s
Year Actor Role(s) Film 2020/21(93rd)The eligibility period for the 93rd ceremony was extended through to February 28, 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Judas and the Black Messiah One Night in Miami... Joe Sound of Metal Judas and the Black Messiah 2021(94th) CODA Pop Belfast Being the Ricardos 2022(95th) Everything Everywhere All at Once Causeway 2023(96th) Oppenheimer American Fiction Killers of the Flower Moon Ken Barbie Poor Things 2024(97th) A Real Pain Igor Anora 2025(98th) One Battle After Another One Battle After Another Frankenstein Sinners Sentimental Value
Multiple wins and nominations
The following individuals received two or more Best Supporting Actor awards: Wins Actor Nominations 3 Walter Brennan 4 2 Jason Robards 3 Peter Ustinov Mahershala Ali 2 Michael Caine Melvyn Douglas Anthony Quinn Christoph Waltz
The following individuals received two or more Best Supporting Actor nominations: Nominations Actor 4 Walter Brennan Jeff Bridges Robert Duvall Arthur Kennedy Jack Nicholson Al Pacino Claude Rains Mark Ruffalo 3 Charles Bickford Charles Coburn Willem Dafoe Benicio Del Toro Robert De Niro Gene Hackman Ed Harris Philip Seymour Hoffman Tommy Lee Jones Martin Landau Edward Norton Jack Palance Joe Pesci Christopher Plummer Jason Robards Peter Ustinov Gig Young 2 Eddie Albert Mahershala Ali Alan Arkin Christian Bale Michael Caine Lee J. Cobb Robert Downey Jr. Charles Durning Peter Falk Morgan Freeman Vincent Gardenia John Gielgud Hugh Griffith Alec Guinness Edmund Gwenn Woody Harrelson Ethan Hawke Jonah Hill Judd Hirsch Anthony Hopkins Djimon Hounsou Walter Huston Cecil Kellaway Ben Kingsley John Lithgow Karl Malden John Malkovich James Mason Burgess Meredith Sal Mineo Thomas Mitchell J. Carrol Naish Edmond O'Brien Arthur O'Connell Brad Pitt Anthony Quinn Basil Rathbone Ralph Richardson Sam Rockwell Mickey Rooney Geoffrey Rush George C. Scott Michael Shannon J. K. Simmons Akim Tamiroff Christopher Walken Christoph Waltz Jack Warden Denzel Washington Clifton Webb
Age superlatives
Record Actor Film Year Age (in years) Oldest winnerChristopher Plummer Beginners 2012 82 Oldest nominee All the Money in the World 2018 88 Youngest winner Timothy Hutton Ordinary People 1981 20 Youngest nominee Justin Henry Kramer vs. Kramer 1980 8
Films with multiple Supporting Actor nominations There have been 23 instances in which films have produced more than one nominee within this category. All resulted in two nominations, with the exceptions of On the Waterfront (1954), The Godfather (1972), and The Godfather Part II (1974), which each obtained three.
Winners are in bold. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) – Harry Carey Sr. and Claude Rains Quo Vadis (1951) – Leo Genn and Peter Ustinov Shane (1953) – Brandon deWilde and Jack Palance On the Waterfront (1954) – Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden, and Rod Steiger Peyton Place (1957) – Arthur Kennedy and Russ Tamblyn Anatomy of a Murder (1959) – Arthur O'Connell and George C. Scott The Hustler (1961) – Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott Bonnie and Clyde (1967) – Gene Hackman and Michael J. Pollard The Last Picture Show (1971) – Jeff Bridges and Ben Johnson The Godfather (1972) – James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Al Pacino The Godfather Part II (1974) – Robert De Niro, Michael V. Gazzo, and Lee Strasberg Rocky (1976) – Burgess Meredith and Burt Young Julia (1977) – Jason Robards and Maximilian Schell