Oscar Tribute-Best Actor

Spencer Tracy holds his Best Actor Oscar with Bette Davis beside him.

The first winner of this award, in that long ago spring of 1928 was Emil Jannings for The Way of All Flesh, beating out Richard Barthelmess. Incredibly they were the only two nominated actors that year. The following year Warner Baxter won for In Old Arizona. At the third annual ceremony George Arliss won, followed the next year by Lionel Barrymore, then at the fifth ceremony in 1932 Fredric March and Wallace Beery tied for their roles in Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde and The Champ. In the Academy’s history there has been only one other tie in any of the six major categories; when Barbra Streisand and Katharine Hepburn shared the Best Actress honor in 1968.

The first dozen years were dominated by Spencer Tracy with three nominations and back to back wins in 1937 &1938 for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. Paul Muni also did quite well, garnering 5 nominations and winning for his role as the title character in The Story of Louis Pasteur. Clark Gable and Fredric March each had three nominations and one win during this time.

In 1940, when James Stewart won for The Philadelphia Story it is worth noting that among the actors he was competing with was Charlie Chaplin who was nominated for acting just this one time for The Great Dictator. Gary Cooper, James Cagney and Laurence Olivier all took the golden statuette home during the WWII decade, however in 1946 it was Fredric March with a brilliant performance in the William Wyler classic The Best Years of Our Lives who became the second man to win this award twice.

No actor thus far has acquired a third Best Actor award, although Tom Hanks could do it if he is nominated and wins for Cast Away. He is, along with Tracy and March as already stated, one of only seven men to be in this exclusive club. The others are Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman, and Jack Nicholson.

As far as nominations go Spencer Tracy (how appropriate that he was lovers with Katherine Hepburn since they are the undisputed reigning king and queen of the Oscars) and Sir Laurence Olivier have 9 each, followed by Paul Newman with 8 and then Brando, Hoffman, Nicholson and Jack Lemmon who have 7 apiece.

I would be amiss to not mention that in The Academy’s almost three quarters of a century as an institution, it has given only one lead acting award to a person of color and that was decades ago. In fact Sidney Poitier won for Lilies of the Field which came out when JFK was still in the White House! Anyway off my soapbox and into my final thoughts. Sure Best Picture and even Best Director are held in higher esteem by the industry but is anything more personal than acting? This is an award for BECOMING someone else. To that end I must end with what is in my humble opinion the greatest run in the history of this award.

In 1951 Marlon Brando went on a four-year streak that has yet to be equaled. Beginning with his unforgettable performance as the brutish yet charismatic Stanley Kowalski in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire, followed the next year by his role as a Mexican revolutionary in Viva Zapata, then came his unique yet brilliant interpretation of Marc Anthony in Julius Caesar. For each of these incredibly varied roles he was nominated for best actor, however it was not until his career defining performance in On the Waterfront in 1954 that he would win, thus proving to the world that he was far more than just “a contenda”.