The following is a list of actors whose performances of characters with disabilities, impairments, and/or diseases were nominated for Academy Awards.

Physical disability or disease

Ailment Actor Film Character Category Year Status ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) Gary Cooper The Pride of the Yankees Lou Gehrig Best Lead Actor 1942 Frances McDormand North Country Glory Dodge Best Supporting Actress 2005 Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything Stephen Hawking Best Lead Actor 2014 Amputee Harold Russell The Best Years of Our Lives Petty Off. 2nd Class Homer Parrish Best Supporting Actor 1946 Spencer Tracy Bad Day at Black Rock John J. Macreedy Best Lead Actor 1955 Gary Sinise Forrest Gump Lt. Dan Taylor Best Supporting Actor 1994 James Franco 127 Hours Aron Ralston Best Lead Actor 2010 Brian Tyree Henry Causeway James Aucoin Best Supporting Actor 2022 Aplastic Anemia Melvyn Douglas Being There Ben Rand 1979 Bedridden Ethel Barrymore The Spiral Staircase Mrs. Warren Best Supporting Actress 1946 Blindness & Deafness Patty Duke The Miracle Worker Helen Keller 1962 Breast Cancer Patricia Clarkson Pieces of April Joy Burns 2003 Burn Victim Faye Dunaway Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Parker Best Lead Actress 1967 Ralph Fiennes The English Patient László Almásy Best Lead Actor 1996 Cancer (Undisclosed) Debra Winger Terms of Endearment Emma Greenway-Horton Best Lead Actress 1983 Bill Nighy Living Rodney Williams Best Lead Actor 2022 Cardiovascular Disease Austin Butler Elvis Elvis Presley Cerebral Palsy Daniel Day-Lewis My Left Foot Christy Brown 1989 Chronic Pain Antonio Banderas Pain and Glory Salvador Mallo 2019 Diabetes Julia Roberts Steel Magnolias Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie Best Supporting Actress 1989 Dwarfism Michael Dunn Ship of Fools Glocken Best Supporting Actor 1965 Linda Hunt The Year of Living Dangerously Billy Kwan Best Supporting Actress 1983 Emphysema Allison Janney I, Tonya LaVona Golden 2017 Glioma Bette Davis Dark Victory Judith Traherne Best Lead Actress 1939 Gout (Arthritis) Olivia Colman The Favourite Queen Anne 2018 Hearing Loss James Stewart It's a Wonderful Life George Bailey Best Lead Actor 1946 Jane Wyman Johnny Belinda Belinda MacDonald Best Lead Actress 1948 Ida Kamińska The Shop on Main Street Rozália Lautmannová 1966 Alan Arkin The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter John Singer Best Lead Actor 1968 John Mills Ryan's Daughter Michael Best Supporting Actor 1970 Marlee Matlin Children of a Lesser God Sarah Norman Best Lead Actress 1986 Rinko Kikuchi Babel Chieko Wataya Best Supporting Actress 2006 Riz Ahmed Sound of Metal Ruben Stone Best Lead Actor 2020/2021 Paul Raci Joe Best Supporting Actor Troy Kotsur CODA Frank Rossi 2021 HIV/AIDS Bruce Davison Longtime Companion David Elders 1990 Tom Hanks Philadelphia Andrew Beckett Best Lead Actor 1993 Javier Bardem Before Night Falls Reinaldo Arenas 2000 Ed Harris The Hours Richard "Richie" Brown Best Supporting Actor 2002 Djimon Hounsou In America Mateo Kuamey 2003 Jared Leto Dallas Buyers Club Rayon 2013 Matthew McConaughey Ron Woodroof Best Lead Actor Rami Malek Bohemian Rhapsody Freddie Mercury 2018 Jeremy Strong The Apprentice Roy Cohn Best Supporting Actor 2024 Impotence (Erectile Dysfunction) Warren Beatty Bonnie and Clyde Clyde Barrow Best Lead Actor 1967 Invisible Disability Amy Madigan Weapons Aunt Gladys Best Supporting Actress 2025 Leukemia Diane Keaton Marvin's Room Bessie Best Lead Actress 1996 Limp Dustin Hoffman Midnight Cowboy Enrico Salvatore "Ratso" Rizzo Best Lead Actor 1969 Liver Cancer Marion Cotillard La Vie en Rose Édith Piaf Best Lead Actress 2007 Marfan Syndrome Andrew Garfield Tick, Tick...BOOM! Jonathan Larson Best Lead Actor 2021 Metastatic Carcinoma Debra Winger Shadowlands Joy Davidman Best Lead Actress 1993 Miliary Fever Tom Hulce Amadeus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Best Lead Actor 1984 Morbid Obesity Gabourey Sidibe Precious Claireece "Precious" Jones Best Lead Actress 2009 Brendan Fraser The Whale Charlie Best Lead Actor 2022 Multiple Sclerosis Emily Watson Hilary and Jackie Jacqueline du Pré Best Lead Actress 1998 Muteness Holly Hunter The Piano Ada McGrath 1993 Samantha Morton Sweet and Lowdown Hattie Best Supporting Actress 1999 Sally Hawkins The Shape of Water Elisa Esposito Best Lead Actress 2017 Myocardial Rupture Mickey Rourke The Wrestler Robin Ramzinski ( Randy "The Ram" Robinson) Best Lead Actor 2008 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Sylvester Stallone Creed Rocky Balboa Best Supporting Actor 2015 Nosebleed Timothée Chalamet Call Me by Your Name Elio Perlman Best Lead Actor 2017 Oral Cancer Meryl Streep August: Osage County Violet Weston Best Lead Actress 2013 Osteoporosis Felicity Jones The Brutalist Erzsébet Tóth Best Supporting Actress 2024 Ovarian Cancer Meryl Streep One True Thing Kate Gulden Best Lead Actress 1998 Pancreatic Cancer Woody Harrelson Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Chief Bill Willoughby Best Supporting Actor 2017 Paraplegia Irene Dunne Love Affair Terry McKay Best Lead Actress 1939 Jon Voight Coming Home Luke Martin Best Lead Actor 1978 Tom Cruise Born on the Fourth of July Sgt. Ron Kovic 1989 Mary McDonnell Passion Fish May-Alice Culhane Best Lead Actress 1992 Woody Harrelson The People vs. Larry Flynt Larry Flynt Best Lead Actor 1996 Pneumonia Glenn Close Hillbilly Elegy Bonnie "Mamaw" Vance Best Supporting Actress 2020/2021 Polio Salma Hayek Frida Frida Kahlo Best Lead Actress 2002 Prostate Cancer Javier Bardem Biutiful Uxbal Best Lead Actor 2010 Proteus Syndrome John Hurt The Elephant Man Joseph “John” Merrick 1980 Pseudobulbar Affect Joaquin Phoenix Joker Arthur Fleck / The Joker 2019 Quadriplegia (Tetraplegia) Hilary Swank Million Dollar Baby Mary Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald Best Lead Actress 2004 Radiation Exposure Cher Silkwood Dolly Pelliker Best Supporting Actress 1983 Scrub Typhus Warren Beatty Reds John Reed Best Lead Actor 1981 Stroke Emmanuelle Riva Amour Anne Laurent Best Lead Actress 2012 Stuttering Brad Dourif One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Billy Bibbit Best Supporting Actor 1975 Colin Firth The King's Speech King George VI Best Lead Actor 2010 Surgical Anastomosis Emma Stone Poor Things Bella Baxter Best Lead Actress 2023 Jacob Elordi Frankenstein The Creature Frankenstein's Monster Best Supporting Actor 2025 Terminal Illness Ali MacGraw Love Story Jenny Cavilleri Best Lead Actress 1970 Tuberculosis (Consumption) Bette Davis Of Human Bondage Mildred Rogers 1934 Greta Garbo Camille Marguerite Gautier 1937 Anne Hathaway Les Misérables Fantine Best Supporting Actress 2012 Visual Impairment Arthur Kennedy Bright Victory Larry Nevins Best Lead Actor 1951 Jane Wyman Magnificent Obsession Helen Phillips Best Lead Actress 1954 Anne Bancroft The Miracle Worker Anne Sullivan 1962 Elizabeth Hartman A Patch of Blue Selina D'Arcey 1965 Audrey Hepburn Wait Until Dark Susy Hendrix 1967 John Malkovich Places in the Heart Mr. Will Best Supporting Actor 1984 Al Pacino Scent of a Woman Lt. Col. Frank Slade Best Lead Actor 1992 Jamie Foxx Ray Ray Charles 2004

Mental health