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« Tuesday Top Ten: Marvin Hamlisch Movie Moments | Main | Team FYC: "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" Original Score »
Tuesday
Dec102013

Top Ten: The Oldest Best Actress Line-Ups

Statistics show us time and again that Oscar likes his ladies young. In fact 29 is the most common age that leading ladies win Oscars (for comparison's sake only one man under 30 has ever won Best Actor). And yet, as we speed towards the Oscar nominations, barring an extreme long-shot fresh-faced spoiler like an Adèle (20) or a Brie (26), this year's Best Actress Lineup will likely skew incredibly 'vintage'. If the expected five make an historic "all winners lineup" it's going to be the oldest lineup ever. Now, there is some degree of unusual feeling (I share it) that Meryl Streep (64) is vulnerable to a shut-out for her work in August: Osage County -- something that seemed unthinkable even a few months ago -- but even if she doesn't make the shortlist, there's no guarantee it'll be someone at the beginning of their career. Amy Adams (39) and Julia Louis Dreyfus (52) might still triumph over Brie or Adèle for that hotly contested fifth slot.

So let's look at...

The Top Ten Most Mature Best Actress Shortlists

This top ten is actually only nine years long. I'm reserving a spot for 2013. Barring a major upheaval, the 2013 lineup will be our oldest on average ever. Unless Adèle makes it... and even then it'll come close to being the very oldest. A funny thing occurred while researching this: the years I thought of as elderly weren't. I immediately thought of 1950, for example, with those grande dame performances by All About Eve's Bette Davis and Sunset Boulevard's Gloria Swanson (two of the best performances to lose the Oscar) but both of those women were barely 50 (Grande Dame used to start young!) and the rest of the category was young, younger and youngest. I was also wrong about these years which average a touch or a lot younger than I remembered or was expecting: 1960, 1962, 1974, 1990 and 1992.

Runners Up [3-way Tie] With an Average Age of 41.2 years
1997 As Good as It Get's Helen Hunt, the winner, was the median age of 34.
1996 Fargo's Frances McDormand, another median age winner, was 37.
1952 Come Back Little Sheba's Shirley Booth, pictured left and recently discussed, was the oldest at 52 and the winner. (She's still the only woman to win Best Actress during her fifties. Isn't that insane?) Can you guess which years made the list before you click to proceed? Try it silently for fun... 

09. 1932/1933
average age 43


  • Katharine Hepburn, Morning Glory (26)
  • May Robson, Lady for a Day (75)
  • Diana Wynyard, Cavalcade (28) 

Robson yanked the average age way up. In fact, up until Riva surfaced last year she was one of the three oldest Oscar nominees ever in this category. The youngest nominee, Katharine Hepburn, won. Even Hepburn disciples today don't think Morning Glory is among her finest hours but such is the excitement of the new girls with Oscar.

08. 1985 
average age 43.4

 

  • Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God (54)
  • Whoopi Goldberg, Color Purple (30)
  • Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams (36)
  • Geraldine Page, Trip to Bountiful (61)
  • Meryl Streep, Out of Africa (36) 

If it hadn't been for the obscenely overdue status of Geraldine Page, a living legend who died just a year after the ceremony, another kind of history might have been made here with a win for Whoopi. But who knows? Perhaps Meryl was running second since Out of Africa was a humongous hit with both general audiences and AMPAS that year.

07. 2000
average age 43.4


  • Allen, The Contender (44)
  • Binoche, Chocolat (36)
  • Burstyn, Requiem (68)
  • Linney, You Can (36)
  • Roberts, Brockovich (33) 

Another year when the youngest star won. Despite a very vocal minority rooting for Burstyn, Roberts was never going to lose this at the peak of her stardom.

06. 2001 
average age 44


  • Halle Berry, Monster's Ball (35)
  • Judi Dench, Iris (67)
  • Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! (34)
  • Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom (52) 
  • Renée Zelwegger, Bridget Jones's Diary  (32) 

Interesting that two years in a row with Oscar in this category the major battle was between a peaking beauty /star playing a struggling poor woman versus a legendary Oscar winner in a very dark drama. In both cases of course the former won. Question: is ageism less of a problem now or is it mere coincidence because of the unusual golden girl box office pull of Mirren, Dench, and Streep skewing the sample?

05. 1931/1932
average age 46.3


  • Marie Dressler, Min & Bill (63)
  • Lynn Fontane, The Guardsman (44) 
  • Helen Hayes, The Sin of Madelon Claudet (32) 

If you've never seen Marie Dressler in Min & Bill, boy are you missing out. It's one of the most atypical Best Actress wins ever but she's utterly fab in a high energy surprising movie. It seems impossible to imagine it but she was a box office giant in her sixties way back at the dawn of the talkies.

04. 1989 
average age 46.8


  • Isabelle Adjani, Camille Claudel (34)
  • Pauline Collins, Shirley Valentine (49)
  • Jessica Lange, Musix Box (40)
  • Michelle Pfeiffer, Fabulous Baker Boys (31)
  • Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy (80)

1989...sigh... Also known as "The Year That Scarred Young Nathaniel Forever". In a somewhat atypical move, Oscar decided to go with the old lady -- Jessica Tandy was the most senior acting winner of all time until Christopher Plummer's Beginners stole that trivia answer -- when they could've had a young superstar goddess during her ascension at the peak of her beauty. A look through Oscar history will show you that this almost never happens but 1989 was a weird year with Oscar having a very reactionary conservative moment, and bristling against or trying to resist any of the sizzling contemporary stuff (see also the shunning of Do The Right Thing and that year's indie sensation sex, lies and videotape) and La Pfeiff was sizzling contemporary stuff.

03. 1978 
average age 47.6


  • Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata (63)
  • Ellen Burstyn, Same Time Next Year (46)
  • Jill Clayburgh, An Unmarried Woman (34)
  • Jane Fonda, Coming Home (41) 
  • Geraldine Page, Interiors (54) 

I don't have much to say about this year other than "isn't it fab?" Not only is it full of sensational actresses but it's also very womanly in its thematic concerns. Geraldine Page as "Ivy" in Interiors is everything and though I wouldn't have given Jane Fonda her second win this year, she's pretty damn terrific at charting her sexual entanglement with a disabled vet.

02. 1967 
average age 48.2


  • Anne Bancroft, The Graduate (36)
  • Faye Dunaway, Bonnie & Clyde (27)
  • Edith Evans, The Whisperers (80)
  • Audrey Hepburn, Wait Until Dark (38)
  • Katharine Hepburn, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (60)

It's funny to think of Anne Bancroft as the original "cougar" if you will since she was only 36 when The Graduate premiered, just six years older than the "young" man she was seducing, and the second youngest of these nomines. I will never be okay with Katharine Hepburn's win this year -- by far the least of this otherwise awesome box set -- but what can you do? 

01. 2006
average age 50.6


  • Penelope Cruz, Volver (32)
  • Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal (72)
  • Helen Mirren, The Queen (61)
  • Meryl Streep, Devil Wears Prada (57)
  • Kate Winslet, Little Children (31)

AKA "The Year when Dame Helen Mirren Inexplicably Steamrolled and No One Raised a Fuss About It Even Though She'd Been Better Before and Most Of Her CoStars Were Doing Their (Arguable) Best Work Ever." Whew. I know that's an unwieldly title for any Best Actress year but this is a fun annual to talk about. We do it often.

Ready. Set. Go...

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Reader Comments (74)

I couldn't help it, this talk about Best Actress 2006 reminded me of your mini film (I had to search for it for a while but I found it): http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8023/550/1600/queen.gif

It was amazing.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJorge Rodrigues

@The Pretentious Know it (not) All

I am also too young to remember '89. I think I was -10 or perhaps -20 that year......but Tandy was a never honored but revered actress doing excellent work in one of the most popular films of the year. Didn't hurt that she had a long history on stage and was married to an equally respected actor.

Her competition were an European in a more risque film, a Tony winning Brit in a film version of her one woman show that wasn't as good as the stage play, a former winner and Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer was excellent in Baker Boys but it was always assumed she would have more noms and a win in the future and I think she and Adjani probably canceled each other out with the final race being between Tandy and Collins.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterHenry

I think Judi Dench, whom I adore, is going to get a nomination but I think she's shaky for the actual win - which kills me because she is so very deserving. She hasn't done any press here in the US - a few video linked interviews but that's it - no real sit down interviews that I've seen. Unless she parks herself over here from now until the Oscars and does some serious campaigning, I can't see her getting beyond the nomination. I could be wrong but as much as the Academy loves to nominate her they love to give the gong to the one with the best campaign.

I can't figure out what Weinstein is doing with the marketing. They're presenting it as a comedy but it's not - it's surprisingly sad and angry. So far their sharpest marketing tactic was resurrecting M for the MPAA fight.

Despite Dench's flawless performance, the movie is saddled with some problems that, I think, will contribute to the film having a very slim chance in the best picture race. It's supposed to start in July - on her son's 50th birthday - but Philomena is wearing fall clothing and the people entering the party are wearing coats; I've never been in London in July but I think it's more summery than the clothing worn would indicate. There's a scene where Martin is in Washington DC and on the phone with his editor in London but it’s nighttime in both locations-which means his editor is burning the midnight oil. Not unheard of but without some sort of reference it felt more like sloppy filmmaking than his editor pulling an all-nighter. Finally, Philomena is cast as a bit of a dope - which I don't think she is in real life - but the writers have dumbed her down for laughs which does a disservice to the character and to the story.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterTom May

@Pretentious - I don't know if the Pfeiffer- Tandy race was considered to be close. But one thing that seems to puzzle people looking back is how an obscure elderly actress could win. But Jessica Tandy was one of the most famous and respected actresses in America in theatrical circles. Like a Streep of Broadway. She was a contemporary of Geraldine Page and Maureen Stapleton, also renowned stage actresses who also won Oscars.

So for Tandy to get a plum film role at her age, plaudits would ensue. And speaking practically when would they ever get another chance to award Tandy?

Pfeiffer would be considered to have many more good years and roles in front of her. I would have nominated her for What Lies Beneath and definitely given her Best Supporting Actress for White Oleander. That she didn't get more awards contention is just --- odd.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commenteradri

We are forgetting that there are lot of AMPAS members who think Streep has been nominated way too many times and that enough is enough.

In a weaker year - Streep be nominated in a flash. But the reviews for August have been so so.

As for a nod for a 20 year old in a 3 hour French film featuring a much talked about hard core lesbian scene - are you serious?

Depending on how the Weinstein's campaign - the Best Actress line up could look like this;-
Adams, Blanchett, Bullock, Thompson - and the 5th slot will be between Dench and Streep... and I'm leaning Dench.

If this does happen - we will see four of the Best Actress noms going to foreign born women. Bullock being the only one born in the US (Adams was born in Italy).

And we all know what happens when an American born actress competes against 4 foreign born acrtresses. Think Marissa Tomei everyone!

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBette Streep

From my memory of 1989 (I was in college, so wasn't paying as much attention), it was a battle between Pfeiffer and Tandy only, with the other three just lucky to be nominated, and Tandy had the edge because of: the Best Picture nominee + Career Win for her work in film and on Broadway + Respect + Marriage to Hume Cronyn. + hit movie over independent film + Michelle will have plenty of chances later on....

.... and we're still waiting.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterforever1267

jorge - oh my god that gif! lol

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commentermarcelo

Weren't Adrien Brody AND Richard Dreyfuss under 30 for their Best Actor wins?

No. Dreyfuss was 30 and held the title of youngest winner for the category until Brody came along at 29 for his win.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commenter3rtful

For those who think Streep gets nominated for everything she does, she was shut out for The Hours when she should have been nominated. She was shut out For Marvin's Room, arguably another nomination caliber performance. She also missed for The Manchurian Candidate, a film that landed her a BAFTA supporting nomination but no Oscar nomination. I think her role in A:OC is too big to ignore and she'll receive her 18th? nomination.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterbrandz

Pfeiffer was the absolute front-runner until Daisy opened late in December and changed everything. Tandy's win was totally expected.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPeggy Sue

Peggy Sue, that's how I remember it as well. There was a sea tide of sentiment sweeping Tandy to that podium.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterbrookesboy

@Nathaniel:
◾Marie Dressler, Min & Bill (63)
◾Lynn Fontanne, The Guardsman (44)
◾Helen Hayes, The Sin of Madelon Claudet (32)

I believe Marie Dressler was nominated for Emma; she had won the previous year for Min and Bill

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterEddie

I think people is not paying that Tandi became a movie star at the last stage of her life. I don't think it was mostly because she was respected (she definitely was, like most actors her age), but it was more related to the fact that she was getting leading/big roles around the time of "Driving miss Daisy" (before and after), that happened to be doing good at the box office and with the critics. "*batteries not included" (love this movie... and she's so good in it), "Fried green tomatoes" (another nomination from the Academy) and the "Cocoon" movies are probably the best examples of that. Also, I'll have to say, I'm more OK with her having an Oscar than Pfeiffer.

December 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMe34

I agree with Brandz!!!

Bette Streep- I do not remember Iron Lady getting such great reviews and she still won!

December 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJamie

Besides- Meryl is Weinstein's best chance for ANY Oscar Nod period for August: Osage County! He will fight for it.

December 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJamie

Were Julia Roberts and Halle Berry's win really ageism? Roberts was definitely a lock in her year, but I remember 2001 as being a three-horse race with Berry, Spacek and Kidman.

December 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJakey

No 18th nomination for Streep? They're so mean!

December 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMirko

I don't understand the Streep bashing. The woman is the greatest actress of all time. She can probably act in her sleep. She is beloved in Hollywood because she is a wonderful actress. We will probably not see another actor attain 17,18 or 19 nominations in our life times. If your performance is the best then it is the best. Why should you be denied a nomination because it is perceived that you have been rewarded enough? And I agree with the Bullock analysis. What range of emotion sis she display in Gravity? It was entertaining but the picture was not an actors' showcase. I would be most satisfied with her elimination instead of any of the others.

December 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMarcus Love

OMG that 2006 Best Actress mini movie gif. Dead, cremated, scatter my ashes, etc.

"The Year when Dame Helen Mirren Inexplicably Steamrolled and No One Raised a Fuss About It Even Though She'd Been Better Before and Most Of Her CoStars Were Doing Their (Arguable) Best Work Ever." became a running gag by the time that year's Emmy came around, led by Mirren herself. I think that also led to her 'falling ass over tit' comment and we can all be grateful for that.

1978 Best Actress is indeed fab. Although I would've bumped Page to supporting (and subsequently given her the win) and moved Mary Beth Hurt's shattering performance up to lead from the same movie, it's still an amazing category. Actually, can we take a moment to talk about Interiors in 2014? One of my favorite Woody Allens, even if he is babysitting a Bergman.

December 12, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMark The First

Sean, no. Richard Dreyfuss was 30 and a 1/2 when he won and Marlon Brando, who is the third youngest was just a few days shy of turning 31. so yeah... they like best actresses much much younger than best actors

December 13, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterNATHANIEL R

I feel like Emma Thompson is more vulnerable than every one else does, but she is seeming more likely, especially after that THR roundtable. But I don't see the love every one initially thought the movie would have...

This talk of Streep not making it in kinda makes me hope it'll happen just because it would be surper interesting. It would cause such an uproar though, I feel.

If anyone sneaks their way in, I hope it's Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

December 14, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPhilip H.

I would go with Hepburn winning 4 Oscars, perhaps just not for the films she won for. Edith Evans should have won in 67 - that was never going to happen!

December 16, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJoe (uk)

Henry -- no. i remember that year well. it was always between Pfeiffer and Tandy. Collins and the rest were "just happy to be nominated" situations though surely Meg Ryan was not happy to be snubbed.

December 16, 2013 | Registered CommenterNATHANIEL R

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