The
Academy Awards Database lists the to 10 oldest and youngest nominees and winners in each category of database. Although it does not list the ages of all 85 winners, their is at least 10 women who won at under the age of 27 by the time of the awards ceremony, so presumably they were much younger than that when they actually acted. Some films are made years before the nomination.
At the same time, in 85 years only 1 man has won the "Best Actor" award and was under the age of 30 when he won (and only by one month).
Does this unbelievable difference say anything about the talents of men vs women? Personally, I think it says a lot about the difference in how we feel about men vs women actors. We expect more gravitas from a man to think of him as the "best" something. He must not be a newcomer. But we are much more accepting of a young woman, as long as she can arouse strong emotions. Marlee Matlin as an extreme example since she was not a child star, and won the award her first time on screen.
Youngest Winners [from date of birth to date of awards ceremony]
29 years, 343 days. *Adrien Brody, The Pianist (2002)
[April 14, 1973 - March 23, 2003]
30 years, 156 days. *Richard Dreyfuss, The Goodbye Girl (1977)
[October 29, 1947 - April 3, 1978]
30 years, 361 days. *Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront (1954)
[April 3, 1924 - March 30, 1955]
31 years, 122 days. *Maximilian Schell, Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
[December 8, 1930 - April 9, 1962]
32 years, 78 days. *Nicolas Cage, Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
[January 7, 1964 - March 25, 1996]
32 years, 283 days. *James Stewart, The Philadelphia Story (1940)
[May 20, 1908 - February 27, 1941]
32 years, 331 days. *Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot (1989)
[April 29, 1957 - March 26, 1990]
34 years, 26 days. *Clark Gable, It Happened One Night (1934)
[February 1, 1901 - February 27, 1935]
34 years, 258 days. *Charles Laughton, The Private Life of Henry VIII (1932/33)
[July 1, 1899 - March 16, 1934]
34 years, 348 days. *Robert Donat, Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
[March 18, 1905 - February 29, 1940]
Youngest Winners [from date of birth to date of awards ceremony]
21 years, 218 days. *Marlee Matlin, Children of a Lesser God (1986)
[August 24, 1965 - March 30, 1987]
22 years, 193 days. *Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
[August 15, 1990 - February 24, 2013]
22 years, 222 days. *Janet Gaynor, 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise (1927/28)
[October 6, 1906 - May 16, 1929]
24 years, 127 days. *Joan Fontaine, Suspicion (1941)
[October 22, 1917 - February 26, 1942]
24 years, 325 days. *Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday (1953)
[May 4, 1929 - March 25, 1954]
25 years exactly. *Jennifer Jones, The Song of Bernadette (1943)
[March 2, 1919 - March 2, 1944]
25 years, 4 days. *Julie Christie, Darling (1965)
[April 14, 1941 - April 18, 1966]
25 years, 138 days. *Grace Kelly, The Country Girl (1954)
[November 12, 1929 - March 30, 1955]
25 years, 240 days. *Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry (1999)
[July 30, 1974 - March 26, 2000]
26 years, 116 days. *Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind (1939)
[November 5, 1913 - February 29, 1940]
The Median Age of the 86 Best Actress Winner is 33 years and 30 weeks. Only 7 actors have been younger than that:
Adrien Brody The Pianist
Richard Dreyfuss The Goodbye Girl
Marlon Brando On the Waterfront
Maximilian Schell Judgment at Nuremberg
Nicolas Cage Leaving Las Vegas
James Stewart The Philadelphia Story
Daniel Day-Lewis My Left Foot
Do you agree that are perception is very different of the sexes? Or is it a byproduct of the industry?
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