Burt Lancaster, Jane Fonda, and…Henry O’Neill?: The Curious Case of the 1,959 Co-Stars to Oscar-Winning Performances

There are so many Oscar stats in the world, it’s enough to make your head spin. Everyone knows who has the most nominations and most wins. But those obscure stats that no one looks into, who is the leader in those categories? I am here to present you one of my favorite obscure Academy Awards stats: who has co-starred with the most Oscar-winning performances?

How many performers are we talking here? From Aaron Eckhart to Zoe Bell, I counted 1,959 with at least one co-starring performance receiving a statue. And to answer your question, yes…this took a very long time.

The Methodology

A co-star means the performer was featured in the film in some capacity. Uncredited doesn’t matter, but some measure of fame does. Is it possible there was an extra who was in the background of 10 Oscar-winning Best Actress performances? Of course. But, in order to qualify, the performer must be mentioned among the cast and at least have their own dedicated Wikipedia page. For example: Brendan Fraser’s 2022 Oscar win for The Whale gives a mention to co-stars Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. But Sathya Sridharan, who plays the pizza delivery man, is not included. Nothing against him personally, but documenting every single miniscule part through 96 years of history would have been a bridge too far.

Additionally, performers do not get credit for their own Oscar-winning performances. For example: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis only get two mentions for co-starring in Everything Everywhere All At Once. While Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, and Jenny Slate each get three mentions. This is how you end up with someone as awarded as Katherine Hepburn only receiving three mentions.

The Stats

Burt Lancaster is the king of this stat. In fact, his prevalence in Oscar-winning films is what prompted me to begin this endeavor. Lancaster co-starred with nine different Oscar-winning performances from 1952 to 1970. Those nine wins span seven different films, with 1953’s From Here to Eternity and 1958’s Separate Tables both winning a pair of acting Oscars. 

A pair of Oscar-winning veterans still active today are tied at second with eight Oscar-winning co-stars: Jane Fonda and Robert Duvall. Fonda has the highest amount for any female, but hasn’t had a mention on this list since 1981’s On Golden Pond. Duvall went 33 years between his seventh and eighth co-stars between the three acting winners in 1976’s Network and Jeff Bridges’ Best Actor win in 2009’s Crazy Heart.

Jack Warden is the highest-ranked non-Oscar winner, tied with Marlon Brando with seven mentions. Henry O’Neill is the highest-ranked non-Oscar nominee with six mentions, tied with Bruce Dern, Meryl Streep, and William Holden. O’Neill was a longtime character actor who appeared in hundreds of films from 1933 to 1959. Just the sheer amount of work he did put him in the same orbit with Oscar-winning performances. Dern holds the record for most time between first and last mentions at 50 years. His first came as the co-star in 1969’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? and his most recent came when Brad Pitt was awarded for 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

This is a list unsurprisingly dominated by the old. Among performers with four or more mentions, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is the youngest at 54, followed by Helena Bonham Carter at 57. Among performers with five or more mentions, Streep is the youngest at 74. 79-year-old Danny DeVito is the only other under 80.

The Anomalies

I already mentioned Hepburn only has three Oscar-winning co-stars, but who else on this list is surprising? Despite two Oscars of his own, Tom Hanks has only co-starred in one Oscar-winning performance, that being Mark Rylance’s 2015 win for Bridge of Spies. Hanks’ Philadelphia co-star Denzel Washington only has two, with the other being Viola Davis’ 2016 win for Fences.

You also get some memorable character actors with surprisingly high totals, like O’Neill. Tracey Walter got three mentions in 1991 for appearing in both Silence of the Lambs and City Slickers. He also had a small part in 2000’s Erin Brockovich. Same thing with Porter Hall, who co-starred with four Oscar-winning performances from 1936-1947.

Who’s Next?

If you have a situation like 2022, it’s very easy for a performer to get a burst of mentions very quickly. Hsu is already a third of the way to Lancaster, so you never know. Someone like Dominic Sessa could end up with two mentions after this year’s ceremony. As mentioned, this list skews older, so someone like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Colin Firth, Willem Dafoe, or David Oyelowo with three mentions could make a push. Or someone more surprising, like Lucas Hedges, Finn Wittrock, or Paul Dano (each also have three) could have long careers and make a push for Lancaster.

Looking at the 2024 Oscars

Nothing is set in stone, but things are starting to shape up. With the predicted wins for Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (neither on this list), the limited cast of The Holdovers and the massive cast of Oppenheimer will find themselves added to this list. 

Matt Damon currently has two mentions, so he will climb the ranks. Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh will get to join the list, while Cillian Murphy gets his third mention. Obviously, if Murphy himself wins, each of the other actors will have two mentions, while Downey gets to add his name. Paul Giamatti has two previous mentions, while Tate Donovan and Carrie Preston are the only members of The Holdovers cast with previous mentions. If Giamatti wins, Randolph will also be added to the list.

In Best Actress, Emma Stone could move Dafoe into the top 30 with a win. Margaret Qualley has one mention, but no other Poor Things cast member (including Mark Ruffalo) has a previous mention. Stone herself has two mentions, but is not expected to add to it this year. If Lily Gladstone earns the statue, DiCaprio would take the top 30 spot from Dafoe, while Robert De Niro would move into the top 10 all-time. Jesse Plemons has two previous mentions, while John Lithgow would also join the top 30 with three previous mentions.

Is this a dumb stat? Undoubtedly. But it’s one I appreciate for its obscurity. The Oscars are all about obscure stats. It’s one of the things that makes it so great.

See the full ranked list below. (BA = Best Actor, BSA = Best Supporting Actor, BAS = Best Actress, BSAS = Best Supporting Actress)