Let's discuss Oscar hiearchies. This one is ultra specific and could be argued that it doesn't exist since actors can be nominated in leading categories, too. But we love ultra niche rankings and trivial Oscar Trivia, and you do too! So who are Oscar's 10 favorite supporting actresses of all time? We'll work the ranking like so: Supporting nominations count most, and wins act like half a nomination to help determine rank. The tiebreaker is the spread of time of nominations which can denote either long term fandom on the Academy's part or more shortlived enthusiasms. If a final tiebreaker is still required (and it is in the case of the second place ranking on this list), that's the only time activity in the Leading Actress category is factored in. READY?
The Ten Most Oscar-Lauded Supporting Women
RUNNER UP:
AMY ADAMS (4 nominations across a 7 year period)
Her leading miss for Arrival (2016) despite its Best Picture nomination could mean her Oscar time is up (it ends for most performers at some point, no matter how beloved they are). On the other hand that might have just been the actors branch bias against science fiction throwing a tight race. If she's nominated for the political drama Backseat this year, she might be impossible to beat given the decade plus of momentum. Currently in Sharp Objects on HBO.
10 DIANNE WIEST (3 nominations, 2 wins, across an 8 year period)
We've argued before and will again that her two Oscar wins show more range than any other two time winner's do. It's sad that major auteurs aren't courting her and trying to give her yet more showcases to test how far that range could possibly go. She always delivers. Still working on both screen and stage.
09 SHELLEY WINTERS (3 nominations, 2 wins, across a 13 year period)
One of Hollywood's most memorable loudmouths. My favorite story about her is her "audition" for Stepping Out (1991) when she showed up to the meeting, instead of reading lines she reportedly pulled her two Oscars out of her bag, 'Some people say I can act.' When I was a little kid I devoured her autobiography from the library in paperback because it was so Hollywood juicy. She died in 2006 leaving a giant filmography behind that stretches from 1943 to 1999.
08 AGNES MOOREHEAD (4 nominations across a 22 year span)
Though she's best known for her classic sitcom role of "Endora" on Bewitched from the 1960s she sure was a striking and fun big screen presence for two full decades before it. Her first nomination for Magnificent Ambersons is one of our favorites in the category ever.
07 GERALDINE PAGE (4 nominations across a 31 year span)
The ultimate actor's actor. I loved discussing why and how enamored thespians were by her with Sheila O'Malley a couple of years on the podcast. A trivia note: her 8 Oscar nods were neatly split in half across lead and supporting, though some would argue that her Interiors leading nomination should've been in supporting and her Hondo supporting nomination should've been in lead.
06 ETHEL BARRYMORE (4 nominations, 1 win across a 6 year period)
The middle child of three esteemed screen and stage actors, her older brother Lionel was also an Oscar winner. They were the first siblings to ever be Oscar winners for acting. That trick was only repeated once thereafter by Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland. (Other siblings have since both won Oscars but never again have siblings both won their statue for acting.)
05 MAUREEN STAPLETON (4 nominations, 1 win across a 23 year span)
Another actor's actor. Her autobiography "A Hell of a Life" is a good read. That win for Reds was surely a landslide victory, but she's dynamite in all of her nominated roles.
04 LEE GRANT (4 nominations, 1 win, across a 25 year span)
That 25 year span suggests endurance, which she had, but it's more complicated than that since she didn't work regularly in the movies for about 15 years after her film debut and first nomination (Detective Story, 1951) due to Hollywood blacklisting. When she came back, she proved well loved by the Academy. But here's a strange nomination snub given their love for both her and this particular film: how did she miss for that stellar short performance in Best Picture winner In the Heat of the Night (1967)? Or was that just the 'oh, remember how good she is?' before they embraced her again with The Landlord... which she's just genius in.
03 MAGGIE SMITH (4 nominations, 1 win, across a 36 year span)
If The V.I.P.s (1963) had been released after her breakthrough in Othello (1965) perhaps this count would be higher? We keep expecting her to return for one last Oscar run but she hasn't been nominated since Gosford Park (2001) despite constant work. Maggie is 83 and still beloved (see all those Emmy wins for Downton Abbey) so maybe we'll see her in the Oscar lineup again now that she's reprising that late-career signature role for the big screen?
02 MERYL STREEP (4 nominations, 1 win, across a 36 year span)
it's pretty crazy that in her first three years on screen she co-starred in three best picture nominees, two of which won! (Julia, The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs Kramer). This is possibly the only actressy list where you'll see Meryl Streep in second place. She'd need another two nominations in supporting to displace the queen of supporting players and we think that would be a shame since Meryl is quite obviously queen of leading ladies and you shouldn't get to wear both crowns! Still two more supporting nominations do seem quite possible given the ease with which she collects honors. (If you include her leading nominations her Oscar record is the impossibly enormous 21 nominations and 3 wins. Just three more overall nominations and she'll have doubled the nomination count of her nearest rival, Jack Nicholson, who retired after 12 nominations and 3 wins.)
01. THELMA RITTER (6 nominations across a 12 year span)
Horrifically this salt of the earth supporting star neither won the Oscar nor was given an Honorary even though in many ways she DEFINES the Hollywood character actress. Despite Oscar's love she somehow missed for both Rear Window and The Misfits both of which she is fantastic in.
What do you make of this ranking?
We're always wondering if anyone else will ever join this group to make it a top dozen...
Nobody else in history has 4 nominations (and Shelley and Dianne remain the only women to have won the Supporting Actress category twice). Multiple noms in supporting used to be harder to pull off but with the increased habit of category frauding, it's easier to do now... for the movie stars. It's harder to do now for the actual supporting actresses as a result!
Eight living women (beside Dianne Wiest on the list above) have three nominations in the Supporting Actress category. Those women are:
- Cate Blanchett (2004*, 2006, 2007)
- Glenn Close (1982, 1983, 1984)
- Diane Ladd (1974, 1990, 1991)
- Angela Lansbury (1944, 1945, 1962... and an honorary in 2014)
- Frances McDormand (1988, 2000, 2005)
- Octavia Spencer (2011*, 2016, 2017)
- Marisa Tomei (1992*, 2001, 2008)
and - Kate Winslet (1995, 2001, 2015)
Do you think any of them will make it an even top dozen or will someone like Viola Davis (who has two), leapfrog them to join this rarified group first?