Oscar at last: Which actors had the longest careers before winning?

Matthew Stewart
·3 min read
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Long before he won the 2024 Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” Robert Downey Jr. made his screen debut at age five in the experimental 1970 film “Pound,” which was directed by his father and co-starred his mother and sister. Upon clinching said prize, he emulated only three other men who were first honored by the academy at least half a century into their acting careers. Considering both male categories (and only counting credited roles in feature films), his waiting period of 54 years far exceeds the all-time average, which now stands at 19.5 years.

Although nearly two full decades separate their time-of-win ages (58 and 77), Downey came within five years of breaking John Gielgud’s general record for longest acting career preceding an Oscar victory. The English performer has held that distinction since 1982, when he was lauded for his supporting turn in “Arthur” 58 years after debuting in “Who Is the Man?” (1924). While no male actor has yet matched his record, he does share it with 1990 Best Actress winner Jessica Tandy (“Driving Miss Daisy”), who initially appeared in “The Indiscretions of Eve” (1932).

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The average pre-win career for a first-time supporting male victor lasts 21.7 years, while the corresponding lead mean is 17.3 years. Since he began building his feature resume in 1998 with “Sweety Barrett,” reigning Best Actor champ Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) lands well above his category’s average yet far below its record of 47 years, which has belonged to Henry Fonda (“On Golden Pond”) since 1982.

Including Downey, Gielgud, and Fonda, 11 men have acted for 40 or more years before becoming Oscar winners. Rounding out this group are leads John Wayne (41 years, “True Grit,” 1970) and Jeff Bridges (40, “Crazy Heart,” 2010) and supporting players Christopher Plummer (54, “Beginners,” 2012), Don Ameche (50, “Cocoon,” 1986), George Burns (44, “The Sunshine Boys,” 1976), Jack Palance (42, “City Slickers,” 1992), Alan Arkin (41, “Little Miss Sunshine,” 2007), and James Coburn (40, “Affliction,” 1999). Since he got such an early start, Downey is naturally the youngest actor to ever join this club, whereas every other member was at least 60.

Of the 159 unique male actors who have ever won competitive Oscars, 97 (or 61%) did so as first-time nominees. This includes Murphy but not Downey, who, as a former contender for “Chaplin” (lead, 1993) and “Tropic Thunder” (supporting, 2009) is only the 28th man to initially prevail on his third bid or later. He is the first member of that subset whose pre-win career exceeds 42 years, boosting their specific average from 24.7 to 25.7 years.

Focusing on the last decade alone, the average pre-win career length for a male actor is 26.8 years, with all but five of the 18 first-timers who emerged since 2015 having waited at least two decades. Whereas Downey caps off the range, its minimum of only nine years applies to 2015 Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), who is indeed the sole 21st century male victor whose success was preceded by less than a decade of work.

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