Oscar Directors: Young? Old? Middle-Age?

In 2006, when Martin Scorsese finally won the Best Director Oscar, at his sixth nomination (for “The Departed”), he became one of the five oldest filmmakers to be recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Three years later, in 2009, when Kathryn Bigelow received the Best Director for “The Hurt Locker,” she became the only fourth female nominee to ever be nominated by the Academy. But in terms of age, Bigelow, 58, is one of the veteran recipients, even if she won at her first nomination.

Right now, the oldest winners are Roman Polanski, 69, who won the Oscar at his third nomination for “The Pianist,” in 2002, and George Cukor, who was 65, when he won the Oscar for “My Fair Lady,” at his fifth nomination.

Young Directors

The youngest winners in the Academy annals are Norman Taurog, 32, for Skippy,” and Lewis Milestone, 33, who won the Best Comedy Director in the first year of the Oscars, for “Two Arabian Nights.” Joining him that year was Frank Borzage, who was 35, for “Seventh Heaven.” Other young achievers include Sam Mendes, 34, for “American Beauty,” in 1999.

Oldest Winners

The oldest winners are atypical in many ways: Roman Polanski began his career in Poland and foreign-born director tend to get recognition from their peers at a later age than their American counterparts.

British-born director Carol Reed, who was nominated twice, back-to-back, in 1949 for “The Fallen Idol,” and in 1950 for “The Third Man.” Reed won for an uncharacteristic movie genre, a musical, Oliver! At his third nomination.

George Cukor was one of most nominated directors in the Academy’s history, having been nominated five times, the first in 1933, at age 34, for “Little Women,” starring Katharine Hepburn. His other nominations are for “The Philadelphia Story” (1940), also starring Hepburn, “A Double Life (1947), and “Born Yesterday,” in 1950.

For Clint Eastwood, who’s 83, directing is a second career, having begun his work in the industry as a screen (Sergio Leone’s Westerns) and TV (“Rawhide”) actor. Eastwood made his directing debut in 1973, at the age of 43 with “Play Misty for Me.” Eastwood won his first Directing Oscar for “Unforgiven” in 1992, at age 62. He was 74 when he received his second Director Oscar for “Million Dollars Baby,” in 2004.

Oscar-winning Directors by Age Group

Early Thirtysomething: 30 to 34: Four (4)

Lewis Milestone

Norman Taurog

William Friedkin

Sam Mendes

Late Thirtysomething: 35 to 39: Fourteen (14)

Frank Borzage

Frank Capra

Leo McCarey

Billy Wilder

Elia Kazan

Delbert Mann

Tony Richardson

Mike Nichols

Francis Ford Coppola

Michael Cimino

Kevin Costner

Mel Gibson

Steven Soderbergh

Tom Hooper

Early Fortysomething: 40 to 44: Eighteen (18)

Frank Lloyd

John Ford

William Wyler

John Huston

Joseph Mankiewicz

Jerome Robbins (co-winner with Robert Wise)

John Schlesinger

John Avildsen

Woody Allen

Robert Redford

Warren Beatty

James Brooks

Oliver Stone

Robert Zemeckis

Anthony Minghella

James Cameron

Peter Jackson

Michel Hazanavicius

Late Fortysomething: 45 to 49: Twelve (12)

George Stevens

Fred Zinnemann

David Lean

Robert Wise

Bob Fosse

Milos Forman

Robert Benton

Bernardo Bertolucci

Barry Levinson

Jonathan Demme

Steven Spielberg

Ron Howard

Fiftysomething 50 to 59: Twelve (12)

Victor Fleming

Michael Curtiz

Vincente Minnelli

Franklin Schaffner

George Roy Hill

Richard Attenborough

Sydney Pollack

Ang Lee

Joel Coen

Ethan Coen

Danny Boyle

Kathryn Bigelow

Sixtysomething: Older than 60: 5

George Cukor (won at fifth nomination)

Carol Reed (British director won at third nomination)

Clint Eastwood (began as actor, won at first nomination)

Roman Polanski (Polish director, won at third nomination)

Martin Scorsese (won at sixth nomination)

Trend:

If you want to predict the most prevalent age at winning the Best Director Oscar, stick close to the category of 45-49: Half of the Oscar-winning directors were in their 40s.

Notes

Many directors, such as John Ford or Kazan or Clint Eastwood, have won multiple Oscars; our study measures the age at which they were when first winning.

There have been only two Oscar-winning movies, “West Side Story,” which were co-directed (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins) and “No Country for Old Men,” by the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

Oscar Directors: Young? Old? Middle-Age?

PROFESSOR / CRITIC / AUTHOR