In 1982, 76-year-old Henry Fonda finally won a long-overdue Best Actor Oscar trophy, becoming the oldest Best Actor winner up to that time (he held the record for oldest nominee in that category for 18 years, and oldest winner for 39). His last acting nomination had been in 1941, and he has held the record for the longest gap between acting nominations — until now. Judd Hirsch has broken Fonda’s 41 year record 41 years after it was set, earning his second supporting nomination for “The Fabelmans” 42 years after his bid for “Ordinary People.”
Hirsch isn’t the only one returning to the Oscar ballot decades after a nomination. Angela Bassett is back 29 years after her Best Actress nomination for “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” and is now nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” This isn’t the first time the Academy has recognized a performer years — even decades — later.
There have been 38 actors and actresses who have a span of at least 20 years between competitive acting nominations. A few, like Fonda, were nominated in other categories – for instance, Fonda received a Best Picture bid for co-producing “12 Angry Men” and was bestowed an Honorary Oscar the year before his competitive win. There are some other interesting statistics as well.
Two performers, Fay Bainter and Al Pacino, were double nominated in a year; Sylvester Stallone and Peter O’Toole, were nominated for playing the same character in two different films; Pacino and Joe Pesci, made their Oscar comebacks in the same film, “The Irishman;” O’Toole and Glenn Close, are tied for the largest number of nominations without a win; and Lynn Redgrave is the only performer to have been nominated for each of the EGOT awards at least once without winning any.
Some of the oldest nominees and winners make the list, and some won on a first nomination, some won years after their first nomination and some failed to win any. But it’s interesting to see those who made memorable returns to the Oscar ballots years after their last nominations. Tour our alphabetical photo gallery featuring all of the performers with at least 20 years between acting nominations at the Oscars.
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Alan Arkin (38 Years)
Image Credit: Rob Latour/Variety Arkin received his first Best Actor nomination in 1967, for his film debut in “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,” and followed with his second bid two years later for “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.” He lost both times, and had to wait another 38 years for his chance at a statue. This time around he was nominated in supporting, and won in 2007 for “Little Miss Sunshine.” He received a second supporting nod in 2013 for “Argo.”
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Fay Bainter (23 Years)
Image Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Bainter has the distinction of being the first of 12 performers nominated for two acting awards in the same year. In 1939, she received a Best Actress bid for “White Banners” and a Supporting Actress nomination for “Jezebel,” winning for the latter. In 1962, she earned her final nomination, again in supporting, for “The Children’s Hour.”
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Angela Bassett (29 Years)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Stewart Cook/WWD Bassett received her first Oscar nomination in 1994 in the lead category, for her portrayal of legendary singer Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” It’s taken 29 years to get her name back on the ballot, but in 2023 she became the first performer to receive an acting bid for a role in a Marvel film, this time for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Queen Ramonda in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
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Kenneth Branagh (22 Years)
Image Credit: Katie Jones/Variety Branagh is not only an accomplished actor, but also a dedicated filmmaker who writes, directs and produces many of his projects. A fan of Shakespeare, he received his first two Academy Award nominations for his adaptation of “Henry V” in 1990, earning bids for Best Actor and Best Director. His second acting nomination came in 2012, this time for Best Supporting Actor for “My Week with Marilyn.” These are his only two acting bids; however, he is the first individual to be nominated in seven different categories. His sole win has been for Best Original Screen play for “Belfast” in 2022.
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Ellen Burstyn (20 Years)
Image Credit: Michael Buckner/Variety A “Triple Crown of Acting” recipient, Burstyn has received accolades for her work on stage, TV and film. Her first nomination was for Best Supporting Actress was for “The Last Picture Show” in 1972, and she has received five bids for Best Actress in the years since, winning for “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” in 1975. Her first five nominations occurred between 1972 and 1981; 20 years later, she was in contention again, for “Requiem for a Dream” in 2001.
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Julie Christie (26 Years)
Image Credit: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media Christie received international fame and a Best Actress Oscar on her first nomination, for “Darling” in 1966 (this came out the same year as “Doctor Zhivago,” for which she surprisingly did not receive a bid). She has received four more Best Actress bids since, with a 26-year span between “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” in 1972 and “Afterglow” in 1998, and then an eight-year stretch to her last nomination, for “Away from Her” in 2006.
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Glenn Close (23 Years)
Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Variety Unfortunately known for tying (with Peter O’Toole) for most Oscar nominations without a win, Close has earned four bids each in Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Her first streak occurred between 1983, with a supporting bid for “The World According to Garp,” and 1989, with a lead bid for “Dangerous Liaisons.” Her next streak started 23 years later, for Best Actress for “Albert Nobbs” in 2011, and she’s earned three more acting nods since.
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Gladys Cooper (21 Years)
Image Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Cooper’s impressive career lasted almost seven decades, on both stage and screen. She received three Best Supporting Actress nominations, for three very different and memorable roles. She received back-to back bids, most memorably in 1943 for playing Bette Davis’s vile mother in “Now Voyager,” and the next year for playing a skeptical nun in “The Song of Bernadette.” Two decades later, she’d receive another bid for playing a much less harsh mother, Mrs. Higgins, in “My Fair Lady” in 1965.
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Robert De Niro (21 Years)
Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/WWD One of the most esteemed actors of his generation, De Niro has received seven acting nominations. His first bid came in 1975, winning for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the young Vito Corleone in “The Godfather Part II.” He’d receive five Best Actor bids over the next 17 years, with a win for “Raging Bull” in 1981, and the last for “Cape Fear” in 1992. It would be another 21 years before he’d get another nomination, again in supporting, for “Silver Linings Playbook” in 2013.
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Bruce Dern (35 Years)
Image Credit: OConnor/AFF-USA.com / MEGA Dern has worked with some of the best in the business throughout his prolific six-decade career. He has been nominated twice; the first was for Best Supporting Actor for “Coming Home” in 1979; in 2014, he earned acclaim and a Best Actor nomination for his role as the elderly Woody Grant, who’s convinced he’s won a million dollars, in “Nebraska.”
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Laura Dern (23 Years)
Image Credit: Rob Latour/Variety The daughter of Oscar nominees Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, it’s not surprising that Dern has had an impressive career and three nominations herself. Her first bid was for Best Actress for “Rambling Rose” in 1992; with Ladd’s nomination in supporting for the same film, they became the only mother/daughter pair to garner acting nominations for the same film. In 2015, she earned a Best Supporting Actress bid for “Wild,” and would win in that category in 2020, for “Marriage Story.”
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Richard Farnsworth (21 Years)
Image Credit: Dianna Whitley/Getty Images He began his movie career as a stuntman, and went on to receive two Academy Award nominations for acting. In 1979, he earned a supporting bid for the western “Comes a Horseman,” and earned a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal of the stubborn Alvin Straight in the biopic “The Straight Story” in 2000. At the age of 79, he became the oldest Best Actor nominee, a record he held until 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins’s nomination for “The Father” in 2021.
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Sally Field (28 Years)
Image Credit: Fairchild Archive/Penske Media The Academy members showed they “really liked” Field with two Best Actress wins, in 1980 for her role as union organizer “Norma Rae,” and again in 1985 for her roles as the resilient Depression-Era widow in “Places in the Heart.” She was two-for-two until 2013, with her unsuccessful bid for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in “Lincoln.”
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Henry Fonda (41 Years)
Image Credit: Harry Langdon/Getty Images With a five-decade career that includes roles in several now-classics, it’s hard to believe Fonda was only nominated for two competitive acting Oscars. He earned his first bid in 1941 for his iconic role as Tom Joad in “Grapes of Wrath,” but lost to his good friend James Stewart (“The Philadelphia Story”) – who actually voted for Fonda. In 1958, Fonda was nominated, alongside Reginald Rose, as a producer for “12 Angry Men,” but failed to earn an acting bid. In 1981, he was bestowed an Honorary Award, but finally won his competitive Oscar 41 years after his first nomination, for “On Golden Pond” in 1982, just a few months before his death. This was the longest gap in acting Oscar nominations until Judd Hirsch’s nomination this year.
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Alec Guinness (20 Years)
Image Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images Prolific British actor Guiness earned his first nomination early in his career, for Best Actor for “The Lavender Hill Mob” in 1953, and won five years later for his iconic portrayal of British POW commanding officer Lt. Colonel Nicholson in “The Bridge on the River Kwai.” Although he received a writing bid for “The Horse’s Mouth” in 1959, it would be another 20 years before he’d appear on an Oscar ballot for acting, for his supporting role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars.” He didn’t win the Oscar, but he won a new generation of fans; he was bestowed an Honorary Oscar in 1980, and received his final bid in 1989, for supporting in “Little Dorrit.”
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Richard Harris (27 Years)
Although largely remembered for his role as Albus Dumbledore in the first two “Harry Potter” films, Harris had an impressive career that went back to the 1960s. He gained his first Oscar nomination in 1964 for his first lead role, in “This Sporting Life.” He earned his second and final bid in 1991, for the Irish drama “The Field.”
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Helen Hayes (39 Years)
Image Credit: Bettmann / Contributor Although known as the “First Lady of American Theatre,” Hayes had an impressive eight-decade career that spanned stage, film and television. She was the first person to complete the Triple Crown of Acting; she was the second person, and first performer and first female, to achieve EGOT status. She, Rita Moreno and Viola Davis are the only three performers to have accomplished both with all EGOTs being for competitive awards. This grande dame was nominated for two Academy Awards during her impressive career, and won them both – 39 years apart. She was the fifth Best Actress winner, for the precode drama “The Sin of Medelon Claudet” in 1932, and won again for her role as the elderly stowaway in the disaster film “Airport” in 1971, this time for Best Supporting Actress – making her the first of seven actresses who have won in both categories.
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Wendy Hiller (20 Years)
Image Credit: Sasha/Hulton Archive/Getty Images One of the most esteemed British actresses of her generation, Dame Hiller preferred the stage and was a favorite of George Bernard Shaw, who cast her as Eliza Doolittle in the 1936 stage version of “Pygmalion.” She starred in the film version at Shaw’s request, earning a Best Actress nomination in 1939. It would be another 20 years before she received another bid, this time winning for Best Supporting Actress for “Separate Tables” in 1959. Her last nomination was in 1967, for “A Man for All Seasons.”
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Judd Hirsch (42 Years)
Image Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images Hirsch is likely best remembered for his role as Alex Reiger on “Taxi” from 1978-1983, for which he won two Emmys; he is also well-known for his stage work, with two Tony wins for Best Actor. He earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for one of his first film roles, as psychiatrist Tyrone C. Berger in “Ordinary People” in 1981. Now, 42 years later, he has broken Henry Fonda’s record for longest span between acting nominations, with his Best Supporting Actor bid for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.” At the age of 87, Hirsch is the second-oldest acting nominee of all time, behind Christopher Plummer by 91 days and ahead of Gloria Stuart by 94 days.
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William Holden (23 Years)
Image Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Holden received three Best Actor nominations over his forty-year career, the first being in 1951 for his role as the struggling “kept” screenwriter to Gloria Swanson’s faded movie star Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard.” Three years later, he won for Billy Wilder’s war film “Stalag 17.” In 1977, he received his last nomination for the dark comedy/drama film “Network.”
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Anthony Hopkins (22 Years)
Image Credit: FS/AdMedia Newscom/Mega Agency Hopkins was 55 years-old and had been making films for more than 20 years when he gained international fame and won a Best Actor Oscar on his first nomination – with just 16 minutes of screen time – for his role as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in “Silence of the Lambs” in 1992. This led to three more acting nominations over that decade, with the last being a supporting bid for “Amistad” in 1998. Then, 22 years later, he came back with another supporting bid for “The Two Popes” in 2020, and was a surprise win for “The Father” in 2021, making him the oldest acting winner in Academy history at the age of 83.
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Charles Laughton (22 Years)
Image Credit: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images One of the foremost British actors of the Golden Age, Laughton was the fifth man to win Best Actor, earning a statue for “The Private Life Henry VII” in 1934. He earned another bid two years later for playing Captain Bligh in “Mutiny on the Bounty.” His final nomination came 22 years later in 1958, for the Billy Wilder legal thriller “Witness for the Prosecution,” for which his real-life wife Elsa Lancaster also received a bid, for Best Supporting Actress.
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Paul Muni (22 Years)
Image Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images One of the most prestigious stars of the 1930s, Muni received four nominations (plus one write-in) throughout that decade, finally winning for “The Story of Louis Pasteur” in 1937. He received another bid the next year for “The Life of Emile Zola,” but didn’t appear as a nominee again for 22 years. In 1960, he received his final bid, for “The Last Angry Man,” which was also his last film appearance.
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Peter O’Toole (24 Years)
Image Credit: WWD It’s dismaying that an actor of O’Toole’s acclaim and abilities has gone down as the biggest Oscar loser, losing eight competitive bids throughout his career (Glenn Close is now tied with him). If he had received his first nomination in just about any other year, he probably would have won for his iconic performance in “Lawrence of Arabia;” however, Gregory Peck gave the performance of his career that year in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and won. Between 1963 and 1983, O’Toole earned seven lead acting bids, and was the second of six people to earn two acting nominations for playing the same character; in his case, for his portrayal King Henry II in “Becket” and “The Lion in Winter” in 1965 and 1969 respectively. The Academy finally bestowed him an Honorary Award in 2003, which he initially planned to decline because he wanted to earn a competitive award, but did agree to accept. And he did manage one more nomination, 24 years after his last, for “Venus” in 2007, but lost to Forest Whitaker for “The Last King of Scotland.”
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Al Pacino (27 Years)
Image Credit: Michael Buckner/VAR For a time, it looked like Pacino would become one of the great actors nominated many times over, but without a win. His first Supporting Actor bid came in 1973, for “The Godfather,” and over the next 20 years he earned five lead bids and two more supporting – and two were in the same year. In 1993, he became the sixth of 12 people nominated for two acting awards in the same year, finally winning in lead for “Scent of a Woman.” His losing streak was over, but he didn’t make another appearance as a nominee for 27 years. In 2020, he garnered another supporting bid, for “The Irishman.”
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Jack Palance (38 Years)
Image Credit: Newscom/The Mega Agency Known for playing villains, Palance earned three supporting nominations throughout his career, with the first being in 1953 for his third film, “Sudden Fear,” in which he plays Joan Crawford’s duplicitous husband. The next year, he received another bid for playing a ruthless gunslinger in the classic “Shane.” It was almost four decades before his name appeared again on the ballot, for his role has grizzled cowboy Curly in “City Slickers” in 1992. This time he won, at the age of 73, memorably doing one-arm push-ups during his speech.
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Joe Pesci (29 Years)
Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Variety Pesci has had many memorable roles, but it’s his collaborations with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro that have earned him three Best Supporting Actor nominations. In 1981, he earned the first playing opposite De Niro in his Oscar-winning portrayal of Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull.” Ten years later, it was Pesci who earned a statue, for “Goodfellas,” giving one of the shortest acceptance speeches ever. In 2020, he was invited back with another nomination for “The Irishman.”
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Lynn Redgrave (32 Years)
Image Credit: WWD Born into the Redgrave family acting dynasty, it’s not surprising that Redgrave had a distinguished career herself. She received a Best Actress nomination early in her career in 1967, playing the title role in “Georgy Girl.” In 1999, she received a supporting nod for her role as James Whales’s housemaid in “Gods and Monsters.” Although she failed to win either, she won a Golden Globe for both roles. She has the unfortunate distinction of being the only person nominated for an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony without winning any.
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Ralph Richardson (35 Years)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Richardson was a well-established actor of British stage and film when he achieved a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination in 1950 for his first Hollywood film, “The Heiress,” in which he starred as Olivia de Havilland’s overprotective father in one of her Oscar-winning roles. Over three decades later, he became one of nine performers nominated for an acting Oscar posthumously, for Best Supporting Actor for “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes” in 1985.
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Mickey Rooney (23 Years)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer With a career that began when he was only 2 years-old, Rooney had an incredible 90-year career that crossed over into all entertainment mediums. He was the top box office star from 1939-1941, and is the second-youngest Best Actor nominee, with his first competitive nomination, for Best Actor for “Babes in Arms” in 1940. He had won a special juvenile award the year before. He earned another lead bid for “The Human Comedy” in 1944, and one for supporting in 1957, for “The Bold and the Brave.” He had a career resurgence two decades later, earning another Best Supporting Actor bid, for “The Black Stallion” in 1980. Although Rooney never claimed a competitive Oscar win, he was bestowed an Honorary Award in 1983, “in recognition of his 50 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances.”
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Paul Scofield (28 Years)
Image Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images One of the great English stage actors, Scofield appeared in a handful of films, and became one of 11 actors to win both a Tony and an Academy Award for the same role, with his Best Actor Oscar win for “A Man for All Seasons” in 1967. With a 1969 Emmy win, he achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, accomplishing this feat in only seven years, which remains a record. In 1995, he earned another Oscar bid, this time in supporting, for “Quiz Show.”
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Jean Simmons (21 Years)
Image Credit: Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images One of the most popular British stars of the 1950s, Simmons earned her first Oscar nomination in 1949, for her supporting role in Laurence Oliver’s “Hamlet.” In 1970, she received her second bid, this time for Best Actress, for her role as a dissatisfied housewife in “The Happy Ending.”
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Sylvester Stallone (39 Years)
Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Variety In 1977, Stallone went from struggling actor to international star and two-time Oscar nominee with his film “Rocky.” Not only did he receive a Best Actor bid, but he became the third person to garner bids for acting and writing for the same film. He lost both nominations, but the film won Best Picture. In 2016, he became the sixth performer twice nominated for acting awards for playing the same character in different films, with the longest span (39 years) between those nominations, with his Best Supporting Actor bid for his reprisal of Rocky Balboa in “Creed.”
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Gloria Swanson (21 Years)
Image Credit: WWD A queen of the silent era, Swanson was one of the first women considered for Best Actress, at the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, for her memorable portrayal of “Sadie Thompson.” She’d appear on the ballot again two years later, for “The Trespasser,” before her career went into decline. She made one of the most spectacular comebacks in Hollywood history 21 years later for her iconic role as Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard.” She was indeed “ready for her closeup,” and was favored to win Best Actress in 1951, after winning the Golden Globe and several critics’ awards; however, Bette Davis was also up for her memorable performance in “All About Eve,” and it’s believed the two divas split the vote, allowing Judy Holliday to swoop in and win for “Born Yesterday.”
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Max von Sydow (23 Years)
Image Credit: Francois Duhamel Swedish actor von Sydow’s career spanned seven decades, and includes iconic films such as “The Seventh Seal” (1957) and “The Exorcist” (1973). He was 60-years-old when he received his first Academy Award nomination in 1989, for Best Actor the Danish film “Peele the Conqueror,” which won Best Foreign Language Film. He became one of the oldest acting nominees 23 years later with his Best Supporting Actor bid for “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” in 2012 at the age of 82.
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Christopher Walken (24 Years)
Image Credit: WWD One of the most recognizable and diverse actors of his time, Walken earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on his first nomination, for his portrayal of an emotionally devastated Vietnam War soldier in “The Deer Hunter” in 1979. Despite an impressive quantity and quality of work, he’s only received one other nomination, also in supporting, for “Catch Me If You Can” in 2003.
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John Wayne (20 Years)
Image Credit: WWD One of the biggest stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Wayne is primarily remembered for his war films and westerns, so it’s not surprising that his two acting nominations came from those genres. His first bid for Best Actor came in 1950, for the WWII film “Sands of Iwo Jima.” In 1960, he produced, directed and starred as Davy Crockett in “The Alamo,” which earned him a Best Picture bid only. However, after 40 years in the business and over 20 years after his only other acting nomination, Wayne finally stood victorious on the Oscar stage in 1970, for his legendary role of Rooster Cogburn in “True Grit.”
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James Whitmore (26 Years)
Image Credit: SGranitz/WireImage Whitmore began a long and distinguished acting career with a Best Supporting Actor nomination in 1950, for the war film “Battleground.” In 1976, he garnered a Best Actor nod for his portrayal of President Harry S. Truman in the one-man show “Give ’em Hell, Harry!” Throughout his 60-year career, Whitmore received an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony – making him just an Oscar short of an EGOT.
