Oscar Completism: Best & Worst of Supporting Actor
Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 10:00AM by Baby Clyde
Walter Brennan in "The Westerner". The last of his three wins was the most deserving.
After spending most of my life cataloguing all these Oscar winning performances, I feel uniquely qualified to bore you all with my rankings. We’ll cover my favourite winners before handing out some booby prizes to the all-time worst recipients in each acting category.
Let’s start with the category that nobody cares about, Best Supporting Actor...
Special Mentions that don’t quite make Top 10
- Walter Brennan: The Westerner (1940)
- Jack Albertson: The Subject Was Roses (1968)
- John Gielgud: Arthur (1981)
- James Coburn: Affliction (1998)
TEN BEST WINNERS - BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
#10 Edmund Gwen: Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
I defy anyone to watch this then not believe in Santa.
#9 Peter Ustinov: Topkapi (1964)
Category fraud obviously but Ustinov has never known a scene he couldn’t steal and here he steals every one, along with the jewel encrusted dagger.
#8 Walter Matthau: The Fortune Cookie (1966)
More category fraud but Walter was the best thing about any Billy Wilder film of the entire 60’s.
#7 Jack Nicholson: Terms Of Endearment (1983)
By the end of his career Jack was just coasting on being ‘Jack’ (Yes, I’m talking about Oscar #3) but when the script called for it that schtick was phenomenal.
#6 Gig Young: They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969)
Journeyman actor who’d been working in Hollywood for three decades and garnered two baffling earlier nods (I rank him 4th each time) finally finds a role that reveals his full talent and we wonder what we’d been missing all those years.
#5 Walter Huston: The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
Bogie was robbed of a nom in Best Actor but there was no denying Anjelica’s grandad on his 4th nomination. He probably should have won in 1936 as well.
#4 Joe Pesci: Goodfellas (1990)
I haven't seen this for 30 years but Pesci is unforgettable. Should do a rewatch really fucking soon.
#3 Joel Grey: Cabaret (1972)
When you take a role and make it so completely your own that 50 years later any other interpretation is still just a pale imitation.
#2 James Dunn: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (1945)
Award winning drunks are always loud and obnoxious but Dunn’s amiable father trying (And failing) to overcome his alcoholism for the sake of his adoring daughter is more heartbreaking than any showier turn.
#1 George Sanders: All About Eve (1950)
Never has a role so perfectly suited an actor. And he gives one of my favourite line readings in movie history. “Miss Casswell is an actress, a graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Art.” #Genius
Now let’s take a look at some clunkers.
Truth is the worst winners in the category don’t usually give bad performances asuch, they just don’t do anything that deserved awards attention. The overall theme is ‘They won for THAT????’. Here’s a group of middle-aged white men being rewarded for doing the absolute least……
TEN WORST WINNERS - BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
#10 Brad Pitt: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Even if we ignore the obvious problem with category placement the Oscar is meant to be an award for acting not eternal hotness. Pitt is absolutely fine, basically playing himself, but nothing about it is remotely award worthy. They should have got it over and done with 30 years before and given him the win for Thelma and Louise.
#9 Don Ameche: Cocoon (1985)
The ultimate career award. Being an agreeable second rank leading man 45 years previously does not warrant an actual Oscar, especially when the performance in question is so pedestrian. No idea why he was singled out amongst the illustrious cast of veterans. And he certainly didn’t deserve that legendary presenter.
#8 Martin Balsam: A Thousand Clowns (1965)
This was the final Best Supporting Actor winner I saw in my trek to watch all nominees. I waited 35 years to find out what the fuss was about. I’m still waiting.
#7 Dean Jagger: Twelve O’Clock High (1949)
If you were to watch this film and have to guess which one of the entirely interchangeable supporting players was the award winner, I defy anyone to choose Dean Jagger. He essentially wins an Oscar for moving around a Toby Jug. Baffling.
#6 Sean Connery: The Untouchables (1987)
For that accent???
#5 George Chakiris: West Side Story (1961)
Great dancing, beautiful dancing.
#4 Jack Lemmon: Mister Roberts (1965)
At his best Jack Lemmon is fantastic (Some Like It Hot/The China Syndrome). At his worst he’s absolutely insufferable. This is his worst. He also beat out Sal Mineo for Rebel Without A Cause which is, of course, unforgiveable.
#3 Tim Robbins: Mystic River (2003)
In a shortlist otherwise full of forgettable performances this one stands out as actually bad. I can’t remember the exact quote, but Humphrey Bogart once said of Betty Hutton that she wasn’t a very accomplished actress because you could see the cogs working*, which is exactly how I felt about Tim Robbins’ terrible performance in Mystic River. Which is weird because he’s otherwise a reliably competent actor. Here he plays sad by moping around shoulders hunched and turning down the corners of his mouth. There’s a dramatic breakdown scene that feels unbearably forced. I always thought this was a bad performance in an otherwise great film. Rewatched it yesterday to confirm my opinion, only to discover I was totally wrong. It’s a bad performance in a pretty bad film, which somehow makes things a bit better.
#2 Michael Caine: The Cider House Rules (1999)
In perhaps the greatest line-up this category has ever seen (And Tom Cruise), Caine wins an entirely unnecessary second Oscar with a shonky accent more distracting that Connery’s. To make matters worse the following year the Academy saw fit to snub his far more talented contemporary Albert Finney FOR THE FIFTH TIME.
#1 John Mills: Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
YIKES!!!!
NEXT: Best Supporting Actress. I have thoughts.
*Whilst I’m sure I read it somewhere many years ago the only evidence I can find on the internet of this quote existing is by myself on Goldderby a decade ago. I don’t consider myself to be a reliable source.
Reader Comments (35)
My picks-
Honorable Mentions:
Walter Matthau, The Fortune Cookie
Jack Albertson, The Subject Was Roses
Melvyn Douglas, Being There
Chris Cooper, Adaptation
JK Simmons, Whiplash
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
10. Jason Robards, All the President's Men
9. Javier Bardem
8. Edmund Gwenn
7. Heath Ledger
6. Walter Brennan, The Westerner
5.James Dunn
4. Joe Pesci
3. Joel Grey
2. Walter Huston
1. George Sanders
One of the biggest snubs: Edward G. Robinson, Double Indemnity
Walter Huston really is great in Treasure. So glad he won.
I like Connery's win because he elevates and brings needed energy to every scene he's in.
I've never understood what's so great about Melvyn Douglas in Being There.
And count me as one of the few who thinks Michael Caine is better in Cider House Rules than Hannah and Her Sisters, mostly because I find him merely serviceable in the latter, while he brings complicated verve to the former.
My best:
1. Joel Grey, Cabaret (1972)
2. Robert DeNiro, The Godfather Part II (1974)
3. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (2008)
4. Mahershala Ali, Moonlight (2016)
5. Key Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
6. Joe Pesci, GoodFellas (1990)
7. Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects (1995)
8. Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People (1980)
9. Christian Bale, The Fighter (2010)
10. Troy Kotsur, CODA (2021)
Worst:
78. Walter Brennan, Come and Get It (1936)
79. Thomas Mitchell, Stagecoach (1939)
80. Michael Caine, The Cider House Rules (1999)
81. John Houseman, The Paper Chase (1973)
82. Don Ameche, Cocoon (1985)
83. Jack Palance, City Slickers (1991)
84. Louis Gosset, Jr., An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
85. George Chakiris, West Side Story (1961)
86. Hugh Griffith, Ben-Hur (1959)
87. John Mills, Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
We definitely have overlap on the worst. Surprised not to see Hugh Griffith there. I actually liked Balsam and was fine with Pitt, but otherwise we agree quite a bit. The best though - where did you have De Niro and Ledger?
Also, welcome to the club of people who can answer "This is the worst ever!!!" with "I'm sorry, have you seen any of the following..."
Of your worst picks I agree with some of them,I'm very rusty in 30s,40s and 50s winners
Caine is trying with his shoddy accent but it's a rather lacklustre unnatural performance,was no American available,the accent just takes you out of the film which is a big clunker to begin with.
Mills - Barry Keoghan almost showed us how this type of role needs to be done though even he on occasion nearly falls into the Mills trap but the scene by the river with Condon is a beauty.
Pitt - Why oh why Academy,should have won in 2011.
Balsam - is always a good prescence but this role asks nothing of him and he only has one great scene but it's career honour.
Chakiris and Ameche - No No No
Connery - this film needed his oomph and gravitas,yes it's the accent that does his characterisation in but he's such a force that he wipes away evertone in the film inc a bad De Niro.
Robbins - he's not as bad as Penn,great with Marcia Gay Harden,a wins a bit too far
I'm a bit rusty with some of your fave winners,i'm still doing 68's performance and need to finish 1964 then it's onto 1960 and 1966.
Albertson - Lead through and through,find his unnominated Willy Wonka turn superior
Coburn a very good performance and a deserved win even though i'd go Ed Harris.
Nicholson - my least favourite of Jack's performances are always those when he's just being Jack,charisma and Maclaine chemistry yes but did he need a 2nd when he was better 2 years prior being very unJack,
Grey,Sanders,Young,Pesci are all masterful and would all rank in my current Top 10.
My own best in no order
Pesci,Grey,Young,Sanders,Walken,Hutton,Hackman,Landau and then two time winners Douglas for Hud and Waltz for Inglorious Basterds.
My own worst in no order
Mills,Clooney,Rockwell,Arkin,Freeman,Palance,Ameche,,Houseman,Chakiris and Caine 2nd time round.
Wow, if both Baby Clyde and Eurocheese consider John Mills and George Chakiris to be the worst, then I really need to watch those movies again. I remember Chakiris as having very strong charisma and elevating the movie whenever he came on screen. Guess I remembered incorrectly? And I would never have put John Mills in dead last either since I thought he at least was doing something in a pretty tepid movie.
I do remember being utterly baffled by Don Ameche's win, and everything leading up to it. I thought he wasn't even the best in his own movie. Ditto with Cider House Rules.
I know it's "the category nobody cares about," but I tend to prefer it to Best Actor, and always root for it to come through. They put together a good shortlist from time to time.
And there's tons of great winners beyond this top 10 -
Melvyn Douglas x2, Johnson, De Niro, Robards first, Walken, Plummer, Ali's first, honestly 1992-96 are all strong (even if some are icky now).
I'm always curious what people make of Kevin Kline's win. Kline/Landau/Phoenix/Stockwell is such an interesting group.
Brad Pitt is both a great actor and also one of the hottest actors (still). His Oscar win, though, is a pretty ho hum one. While I was happy for him during the season, it feels like the academy got it wrong. Especially because he's given so many other worthy performances in supporting and lead that they've overlooked. I wish he'd won for Burn After Reading, one of the great comedic male performances of the 2000s.
The Chakiris win is fine. I think he's solid in the film and truly incredible in the dance scenes which works because the film uses dance to tell the story. Still his win, unlike Rita's, feels like it's far more about the fact that they really loved West Side Story. If only Gleason, Scott, or Clift had won (I haven't seen Falk)!
What a fun article, a sort of variation on the smackdown feature.
To this day I don't understand the win for Caine for TCHR. That was an all-time lineup of nominees and they gave it to the only nothing performance in the bunch.
I also will never get Robard's win for Julia. He was fine, but c'mon. Plus he'd JUST won for All the President's Men the year prior. WTH.
My favorite winner of all is Timothy Hutton for Ordinary People, even though he's the lead, along w/ Donald Sutherland (who should have been nominated imho). But even with category fraud it's a special performance. He knocked it clear out of the park.
Finally, Baby Clyde, thank you for recognizing the genuine, overall badness of Mystic River. My husbo and I still call it Spastic Liver. Look forward to your next post on this Very Important Topic!
Baby Clyde, super duper fun to read your thoughts. Oy, this category really is a groaner. So many bad or mediocre winners. Definitely the category that most suffers from locked-in early frontrunners that even one year later look very embarrassing (Jared Leto, Ali/Greenbook, Kotsur, etc.).
Among the best, I'd add Kevin Kline, one of the best surprises in this category ever; Ben Johnson; Christopher Walken, before he lost his mind; Timothy Hutton, despite category fraud; Chris Cooper, divinely inspired; and Martin Landau, the kind of performance this category was birthed for. I also still am chilled to the bone anytime I think of Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.
Although Christoph Waltz' Django performance didn't deserve to win, his work in Basterds is pretty untouchable.
And I love all the love for the obvious best: George Sanders, de Niro, and especially Joel Grey.
EricB thanks for the reminder of Leto - that was an all-time terrible decision, imho - and it was terrible right from the start, no aging required. Not to mention that he's such an annoying person to begin with.
I know Leto has become an internet punching bag much of it his own making but i thought he was wonderful in DBC "I've been looking for you lown starrrrrrr" it's MM I didn't buy at all.
Some line ups are weak and produce weak winners 77's Robards over Alec G win is one of those.
Co sign the Hutton love yes it's fraudulant but he's perfect as Conrad.
Who should've won?
30s
Auer, Bellamy, Morley, Mitchell
40s
Brennan, James Gleason, Huston, Coburn, Fitzgerald, Mitchum, Rains, Gwenn, Huston, Richardson
50s
Sanders, Ustinov, McLaglan, Strauss, Cobb, Lemmon, Quinn, Hayakawa, Ives, Scott
60s
Ustinov, Jackie Gleason, Stamp, Griffith, Tracy, Finlay, Matthau, Pollard, Wild, Young
70s
Hackman, Scheider, Devall, Quaid, Strasberg, Dourif, Robards, Schell, Farnsworth, Henry
80s
Robards, Rollins Jr., Mason, Nicholson, Richardson, Hickey, Hopper, Brooks, Guinness, Landau
90s
Pacino, Keitel, Pacino, Malkovich, Landau, Pitt, Gooding Jr, Kinnear, Thornton, Caine
00s
Dafoe, Hawke, Cooper, del Toro, Owen, Gyllenhaal, Murphy, Affleck, Hoffman, Waltz
10s
Rush, Plummer, Hoffman, Leto, Norton, Rylance, Hedges, Dafoe, Grant, Pesci
20s
Raci, Hinds, Gleeson
Among the least deserving, I would have to include Harold Russell for Best Years of Our Lives. He absolutely deserved a special award for his courage, but his acting was awful.
Had Edmund Gwenn competed in Best Actor, the supporting Oscar could have gone to the richly deserving Richard Widmark in Kiss of Death. As Tommy Udo, Widmark based his maniacal performance on the Joker in the Batman comic. The brutality explored here is still incendiary today.
James L. Brooks wrote the role of retired astronaut Garrett Breedlove for Burt Reynolds. The famed Cosmopolitan centerfold declined the role to fulfill a commitment in Stroker Ace. I find it hard to imagine Terms of Endearment without the invigorating energy between Nicholson and MacLaine.
Gig Young is the only recognized murderer to have won an Oscar. In 1978, Young was found dead from a self inflicted gun shot wound. His bride of three weeks was also dead from a gun shot wound to the back of the head.
The notable snub here is the legendary work of WWII paraplegic Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives. Under the direction of William Wyler, Russell broke hearts and elevated compassion for wounded veterans. The Academy Board of Governors was so convinced Russell would not win supporting actor that they voted him an honorary Oscar presented that night, Russell was a surprise victor over front runner Claude Rains and remains the only recipient of two Oscars for one performance.
I will not stand the Brad Pitt slander! There are far worse winners during the same decade.
I am glad I'm not alone over John Mills' performance in Ryan's Daughter. Honestly, what was the point of his character in the film? It was an example of him going full-retard and it was horrible. It's my least favorite film by David Lean so far as the only thing I haven't seen from him so far is a short film from 1979 and Summertime as I have the latter on Blu-Ray which I will watch this summer.
Ad_Mil -- i feel the same. I think Pitt is pretty great in ONCE UPON A TIME...,
Eric B -- yeah, Waltz is one of the strange Oscar cases where one win is utterly deserving and the other is "whaaa...?" when the second one is the "whaaaa...?" it's really frustrating becasue the performer is never "due".
Rob -- i'm with you on Robards. I don't get that second win AT ALL. wouldn't even consider nominating him, let alone a win.
You’re not boring me! I ADORE lists such as these!!! I’ll admit Best Supporting Actor isn’t a category I take as much interest in as the other three acting prizes, but I wouldn’t say I don’t care about it at all.
That’s a bit of a harsh quote on Betty Hutton though not without some merit. I find her fun and enjoyable onscreen but a subtle actress she was not.
Enjoyed looking over both your lists though my choices differ at points, we’re in closer agreement on who’s best. One thing we both agree on though is George Sanders in All About Eve. The absolute best winner and the most deserving for the performance he won for in the category’s history!
Best
1.George Sanders-All About Eve
2. Edmund Gwenn-Miracle on 34th Street
3. Charles Coburn-The More the Merrier
4. James Dunn-A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
5. Melvyn Douglas-Hud
6. Gig Young-They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
7. Timothy Hutton-Ordinary People (the rankest category fraud, almost equivalent to Tatum O’Neal’s but he’s excellent)
8. Walter Huston-Treasure of the Sierra Madre
9. Peter Ustinov-Topkapi
10. Kevin Kline-A Fish Called Wanda
I would have chosen Burl Ives if he’d been awarded for Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof the same year he won for The Big Country, he’s very good in Big Country but like Jo Van Fleet’s win for East of Eden was aided by her work in I’ll Cry Tomorrow Burl’s was bolstered by Cat.
Worst
1. Walter Brennan-Kentucky (he’s just awful in an equally dreadful film)
2. Tim Robbins-Mystic River
3. George Clooney-Syriana
4. Jared Leto-Dallas Buyers Club
5. John Mills-Ryan’s Daughter
6. Jason Robards-Julia (He’s not bad in the film but the role is a nothing, certainly not worthy of a prize. Especially since he had just deservedly won the year before for All the President’s Men. It wasn’t a particularly strong line-up however in 1977.)
7. Louis Gossett, Jr-An Officer and A Gentleman (same as above)
8. George Chakiris-West Side Story (exactly what you said!!)
9. Christoph Waltz-Django Unchained (his win for Inglorious Basterds was earned but a second prize a few years later for the same performance is just wrong)
10. Dean Jagger-Twelve O’clock High (love him but I agree about being puzzled why he was singled out for his work here. Perhaps it was a career Oscar, he’d been in the industry at least 20 years at this point, but this should have gone to Ralph Richardson in The Heiress.)
Weird to start the post by saying it's a category no one cares about - lol it's sounding like when the hosts insult people for loving the Oscars. Not what you intended, perhaps but it sounded weird.
Curious as to how Javier Bardem, Waltz 1 and Ledger didn't even make your honourable mentions - nothing past 1990 makes it onto your best at all which doesn't quite seem right surely? I'd add in Ali for Moonlight and I'm very partial to Quan but I do think recency bias may be impacting me ha - I'll give it time to settle.
Impressive work for sure - but I feel somewhere in the last 33 years, one of the winners should at least be top 10 worthy. Will be curious to see if this is across all your rankings or just this category.
If we're looking at worst - isn't it odd that Waltz and Ali won two each, one for a top 10 performance and one for both average performances in average (or terrible) movies. It wasn't even like they won for their average movie first and then upped themselves, seems quite odd that it's happened twice in the last 15 years :D
And suddenly Baby Clyde comes with “It’s a bad performance in a pretty bad film” about Mystic River and now I want to marry him.
The minor awards, as you can see, have already been presented. Minor awards are for such as the writer and director, since their function is merely to construct a tower so that the world can applaud a light which flashes on top of it.
perfect choice for #1
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I had always thought of this as "give the old guy an Oscar" category, but, looking through the category now, I am amazed that over a third of the winners (including all three for Brennan) were in their 40s. I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned the Sinatra win, as I'd consider that one of the stronger performances of the 87. I also think that Buttons gives a strong performance that many did not think he had in him.
I had a lot of fun reading these lists and look forward to your other picks. I'm especially glad to see the respect for Jack in Terms of Endearment. It's my favorite of his three wins by far, and maybe my favorite of his performances. The scene with Shirley and Jack driving on the beach is pure gold.
Hanks, Pesci, and Pacino were all so good in 2019, plus so many great options were omitted from the category (Dafoe and Song Kang-Ho most prominently, but I found Chris Cooper really affecting in Little Women). Pitt's win was a letdown in such a year of riches.
Yikes is right, Baby Clyde! And not just the performance but the entire film!
I'm still baffled that it wasn't Russ Tamblyn who was nominated and won for "West Side Story."
Can someone write my dissertation?
Comparing George Chakiris & Joel Grey/Cabaret - in defense of George, he danced & acted in WSS, whereas Joel only sang, danced and contorted his face. Chakiris did have more charisma than Richard B./WSS. I didn’t even bother with Spielberg’s remake, did the actor who played George’s part improve on the role? He didn’t seem to get a nomination.
My head scratcher is Thomas Mitchell in Stagecoach (1939). I love that film, but feel that he only won because he was in every great 1939 film that year (GWTW/Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Surely there had to be someone denied a nomination that year that was more deserving.
Still feel that Michael Caine’s reward for TCHR only happened because that muck was spun into gold by Harvey Weinstein. I would’ve preferred Haley Joel Osment/The Sixth Sense.
EVERYONE -- i am so jealous that Baby Clyde can do these lists with confidence. I have done a few lists of the sort but I am a long way from having screened all acting nominees even after all these years of mouthing off about the Oscars.
Great post! One nit - Finney wasn't nominated the year Caine won. His fifth loss was for Erin Brockovich which came out in 2000. Cider House Rules was 1999 and Caine won over Cruise, Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
I think he made that clear @Peter - he said the following year they saw fit to snub his contemporary for the fifth time ;)
I like to pretend Robert Forster won for Jackie Brown so he can be my #1 of all time.
That's the gold standard of Supporting Actor work against which all other performances should be measured!
Kevin Kline gives like the funniest performance of all time. He should probably be #1 for A Fish Called Wanda.
Michael Caine should be on both lists. He really is that bad in The Cider House Rules but he’s tremendous in Hannah and Her Sisters. It’s easily his best performance ever from a really great career. And the thing about his Cider House win, he shouldn’t have been nominated but it’s one of my all time favorite Oscar speeches. It’s long, he makes great observations about the other 4 and it really feels from the heart. I watch it all the time. I’m conflicted.
I don't understand all the hate for Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules. He was the best part of the film and gave a touching performance. I wasn't impressed with him in Hannah and Her Sisters. Felt very one-note but I wasn't impressed with Barbara Hershey in that either or the film in general despite being one of Woody Allen's most acclaimed.