Who is the youngest person to ever win an Oscar?

Answer 1

Youngest Best Actor winner: 29-year-old Adrien Brody, The Pianist (2002)

Youngest Best Actress winner: 5-year-old Shirley Temple - in 1934

Youngest Best Supporting Actress winner: 10-year-old Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon (1973)

Youngest Best Supporting Actor winner: 20-year-old Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People (1980)

NOTE: Both O'Neal and Hutton had the lead roles in their movies, but were moved to the supporting categories to better their chances in winning, and both were nominated against truly supporting co-stars (Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon, Judd Hirsch in Ordinary People).

Youngest Best Director winner: 32-year-old Norman Taurog, Skippy (1931)

Youngest nominees:

Youngest Best Actor nominee: 9-year-old Jackie Cooper, Skippy (the only one under 19 nominated in this category)

Only teenage Best Actress nominee: 12-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider (2003)

Youngest Best Supporting Actor nominee: 8-year-old Justin Henry, Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) (the only one under 10 nominated in this category)

Youngest Best Supporting Actress nominees: 10-year-old Mary Badham, Quinn Cummings and Abigail Bresling for To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), The Goodbye Girl (1977) and Little Miss Sunshine (2006), respectively.

Youngest Best Director nominee: 24-year-old John Singleton, Boyz n the Hood (1991)

* Shirley Temple received a special Oscar (she didn't win because she was never nominated) when she was 6-years-old!

The youngest person to win a competitive Oscar was Tatum O'Neal, who won the 1973 Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Addie Pray in "Paper Moon." When she accepted the award on April 2, 1974, she was 10 years and 148 days old.

The youngest to receive an honorary Oscar was Shirley Temple, who was six years and 310 days old when she was presented a special Juvenile award on February 27, 1935.

Answer 2

It depends on exactly how you count.

• Shirley Temple received a special, non-competitive "Academy Juvenile Award" in 1934 at age six.
• The youngest winner of an actual competitive "real" Academy Award was Tatum O'Neal, who received the Best Supporting Actress award in 1973 (when she was ten) for her performance as a street-wise "con-man" in Paper Moon (1973). The film also starred her father, Ryan O'Neal. She continues to do some acting.
• The youngest nominee was Justin Henry, who was 8 when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in 1979 for Kramer vs. Kramer.

Answer 3

• Tatum O'Neal, age 8, became the youngest person to win a Best Supporting Actress Award for her performance as a street-wise "con-man" in Paper Moon (1973). The film also starred her father, Ryan O'Neal.

Answer 4

Believe it or not, it's 25-year-old Ben Affleck who won for Good Will Hunting (1997). There aren't many under 30 who won. But it might not be the correct answer, because I couldn't find Pierre Uytterhoeven's or David Wechsler's date of birth, among others. They won an Oscar for A Man and a Woman and The Search, respectively.

Answer 5

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Adrien Brody (29) for The Pianist

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Marlee Matlin (21) for Children of a Lesser God

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Timothy Hutton (20) for Ordinary People

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Tatum O'neal (10) for Paper Moon

Honorary Juvenile Award - Shirley Temple (6)

Answer 6

Many producers' birth year isn't listed, so it's tough to say. Francis Ford Coppola (for The Godfather) and Michael Douglas (for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) were in their early 30s. I believe the only winning Oscar producer under 30 happens to be the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Picture: 29-year-old Julia Phillips who won with her 30-year-old husband Michael Phillips (and 33-year-old Tony Bill) for The Sting (1973).

Answer 7

Tatum O'Neal, who won the 1973 Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress in "Paper Moon," was the youngest person to win a competitive Oscar. When she accepted the award on April 2, 1974, she was 10 years and 148 days old.

Answer 8

The youngest person to win a competitive Oscar was Tatum O'Neal, who received the 1973 Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Addie Pray in "Paper Moon." When she accepted the award on April 2, 1974, she was 10 years and 148 days old.

Answer 9

The youngest actor to win an Academy Award was Timothy Hutton, who was 20 years and 227 days old when he received the 1980 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance as troubled teen Conrad Jarrett in "Ordinary People." The youngest person to win an Oscar for acting was Tatum O'Neal, who won the 1973 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Addie Pray in "Paper Moon." When she accepted the award on April 2, 1974, she was 10 years and 148 days old.