The New Actor Hierarchy: Oscar's Most Beloved Male Stars
Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 11:24PM 
Leonardo DiCaprio is now an Oscar winner but where does he stand in history?
If you're feeling celebratory -- and we've all lived through his rise into cinematic legend so why shouldn't we? -- you really need to check out this cute video of Leo getting his Oscar engraved or this silliness of a party of bros celebrating his win like mad men (hey it's better than the bro-ness of the pussy posse reuniting) or the once mocking memes that have turned into odes to Leo Joy. Good funny stuff.
Even if you weren't enamored with The Revenant (*raises hand*) or find it downright suspect, his filmography is so loaded with memorable films that surely anyone can find one therein to direct all their feelings towards in this momentous week for the 41 year old superstar. I'm choosing to view the Oscar as a career achievement Oscar for specifically prompted by Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet, and The Departed... love them all!)
Last year when Julianne Moore won her long-awaited Oscar for Still Alice we quickly tabulated the All Time Oscar Actress Hierarchy; movement in the ranks at last! Given that DiCaprio waited even longer for his eventual statue, nabbing his first nomination at the dewy age of 19 for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), four years before Julianne Moore's first nomination, it seemed only right to do the same thing for the men in the wake of Leo's coronation.
What follows is Oscar's 33 All Time Favorite Actors !
It's restricted to men with 5 or more nominations. Only the acting statistics are accounted for so George Clooney, for example, is not (yet) ranked. If you counted non-acting nominations, you'd also see DiCaprio jump a rank as he was nominated for producing Wolf of Wall Street two years ago and Brad Pitt would also factor in since he won Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave. Now that many major stars are involved in producing these types of extra nominations stats are likely to make Oscar lists of the future progressively murkier so we're opting not to include them for now.
If you'd like to see how the ranks were determined (it's not as simple as basic addition or there would be many ties) that's at the bottom of the post.
OSCAR'S FOUR KINGS
And 29 other Royals
after the jump
THE HIGH KINGS
01 Jack Nicholson 12 noms | 3 wins
02 Laurence Olivier (1907-1989) 10 Noms | 1 win | 2 honorarys
03 Paul Newman (1925-2008) 9 noms | 1 win | 2 honorarys
04 Spencer Tracy (1900-1967) 9 noms | 2 wins
(Their counterpart brides in Oscar's enamored eyes: Streep, Hepburn, Davis)
MORE KINGS
05 Marlon Brando (1924-2004) 8 noms | 2 wins
06 Jack Lemmon (1925-2001) 8 noms | 2 wins
07 Al Pacino 8 noms | 1 win
08 Peter O'Toole (1932-2013) 8 noms | 0 wins | honorary
09 Dustin Hoffman 7 noms | 2 wins
10 Robert De Niro 7 noms | 2 wins 🔺
(Similarly celebrated women: Bergman, Page, Fonda)
DUKES
11 Robert Duvall 7 noms | 1 win 🔺
12 Daniel Day-Lewis 5 noms | 3 wins 🔺
13 Denzel Washington 6 noms | 2 wins 🔺
14 Michael Caine 6 noms | 2 wins
15 Richard Burton (1925-1984) 7 noms | 0 wins
16 Jeff Bridges 6 noms | 1 win 🔺
17 Gary Cooper (1901-1961) 5 noms | 2 wins | honorary
COUNTS, KNIGHTS, AND BARONS
18 James Stewart (1908-1997) 5 noms | 1 win | honorary
19 Gregory Peck (1916-2003) 5 noms | 1 win | honorary
20 Fredric March (1897-1975) 5 noms | 2 wins
21 Sean Penn 5 noms | 2 wins
22 Tom Hanks 5 noms | 2 wins
23 Gene Hackman 5 noms | 2 wins
24 Paul Muni (1895-1967) 5 noms | 1 win
25 Leonardo DiCaprio 5 noms | 1 win 🔺
26 Morgan Freeman 5 noms | 1 win
27 Walter Brennan (1894-1974) 4 noms | 3 wins
28 Alec Guiness (1914-2000) 4 noms | 1 win | honorary
29 Charles Boyer (1899-1978) 4 noms | 0 wins | honorary
30 Anthony Quinn (1915-2001) 4 noms | 2 wins
31 Albert Finney 5 noms | 0 wins
32 Arthur Kennedy (1914-1990) 5 noms | 0 wins
33 Warren Beatty 4 noms | 0 wins (*special case with nominations in other categories more than doubling his acting haul though he's still mostly thought of as an actor -- an additional 9 nominations and a win in other categories)
RECENT MOVEMENT
Anyone with an up arrow has been nominated or won during this current decade.
WHO DO YOU THINK MOVES UP WITHIN THE LIST NEXT?
THE FUTURE
Though it seems unlikely that the four kings will have to share their vast lands of Oscar real estate there is one man who might do it. Robert De Niro, 72 years old and still working non-stop is just two nominations or another win away from joining the Newmans and the Nicholsons.
Bradley Cooper started moving like a rocket up Oscar's beloved list with 3 consecutive nominations but the real test is whether or not he can keep it up. Oscar often loves actors for a few years and then moves on. George Clooney, who has 4 acting nominations, seems even more likely to enter this list (and Clooney already has two Oscars, albeit one for Picture). Tommy Lee Jones and Geoffrey Rush both with 4 nominations and a win could do it if they fall on a killer role. Javier Bardem, Christian Bale, Mark Ruffalo, and Joaquin Phoenix only have 3 but could all conceivably rise.
WHO DO YOU THINK ENTERS NEXT?
NOT ON THE LIST ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS INSANE: Ed Harris is a four time loser but hasn't had any Oscary roles in some time. And Ralph Fiennes just can't catch a break with the Academy having only received 2 nominations in his career despite a wide swath of great performances of different genres and styles. At this point, perhaps they should consider both of them for Honoraries?
How the ranks were determined. Number of nominations determines general placement. Once that's established wins are most important. In the event that someone has the same exact stats in nominations and wins, the tiebreaker factor in rank is that lead counts more than supporting. If the tie stubbornly remains the tie is broken by endurance (how many years your nomination spread includes). Further mitigating factors: Three statues is so uncommon that it gives the actor a phantom extra nomination in terms of ranking (thus Daniel Day-Lewis is higher than he otherwise would be) but this phantom nomination only helps to determine relative rank and does again when counting wins and they may only vault over those who have not won competitive Oscars. Honorary statues (Oscar or Jean Hersholt) give the actor a phantom extra boost with the same affect as an additional nomination or win (thus Paul Newman trumps Spencer Tracy) to be determined by the gate keeper yours truly. In the event that someone has multiple wins they may vault over the next immediate rivals if said rivals have never won a competitive Oscar (which is why a few people beat Richard Burton). Honorary statues also account for a 4 nomination man (Sir Alec Guiness) placing on the list. Beatty's unique record merits inclusion, despite only 4 acting nominations as well, as determined by the judge (yours truly).
Reader Comments (61)
My particular friend Paul Muni didn't really have 5 noms. He had 4 regular nominations, 1 unofficial nom and 1 write-in nomination. Since all of this was allowed by the Academy at that time, he could - and should - be considered a 6 nom guy.
I wonder what makes you say that Oscar just did not love Montgomery Clift ("the way it loved other stars on his level"). Clift has made only 17 movies and received 4 nominations, half of which I find rather undeserved (lead for supporting The Search and supporting for a cameo in Judgment At Nuremberg).
True, Monty's almost 25% nomination rate in an 18-year career is pretty nifty.
Daniel Day Lewis is number 1. His THREE LEAD Oscars beats Nicholson's 2 leads and one supporting.
Considering that Clift took two four year breaks, he was effectively working in the motion picture industry for only a bit more than a decade.
The Search (1948) by the way is a film all those Jacob Tremblay lovers should see to get some perspective on what constitutes a truly great child performance.
Come to think of it, 1948 was quite a year for boy actors: Enzo Staiola in Bicycle Thieves (fPS: Ladri Di Biciclette), Dean Stockwell in The Boy With Green Hair, Bobby Driscoll in So Dear To My Heart, John Howard Davies and Anthony Newley in Oliver Twist, Bobby Henrey in The Fallen Idol and Edmund Meschke in Germany Year Zero (fPS: Germania Anno Zero). None of them reached Ivan Jandl in The Search of course.
I expect Denzel to move up the list by this point next year if Fences gets a 2016 theatrical release. I also fully expect Daniel Day-Lewis to be one of the Five Kings when all is said and done. Even if he only makes another three or four movies, he'll receive nominations for at least two of them and maybe even win once more.
Leo's got the potential to move into double digits one day if he keeps his focus on acting and doesn't transition into directing like Warren Beatty or Clint Eastwood.
I for one cannot imagine a world where Daniel Day-Lewis has the same number of Oscars as Katharine Hepburn.
I for one cannot imagine a world in which he doesn't, because Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and On Golden Pond. I love Kate, but those two wins, just no.
What Willy said about Montgomery Clift being nominated for a cameo role in Judgement at Nuremberg made me think about how the Academy doesn't really do that anymore, nominate someone for a performance under 10 minutes (or thereabouts). Think Gladys Cooper for My Fair Lady, Beatrice Straight in Network, or Judi Dench for Shakespeare in Love (as far as I can remember, Dench's nom & Oscar was the last of these to date). Nowadays it seems as though they're more inclined to nominate leads for supporting, rather than recognizing these smaller supporting performances. Nathaniel, have there been any in-depth looks at the shortest nominated performances?
3rtful: Well, that's embarassing. Thanks for catching my oversight.
This article needs an update.
3/6: Daniel Day-Lewis
2/8: Denzel Washington (+ Best Picture nod)