Acting is a peculiar profession. In no other occupation do you see children as young as ten winning the highest award in an entire field alongside adults entering their eighties. In acting, age is no limit to what you’re able to achieve.
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The Academy Awards is anextremely inconsistent awards ceremony, as “For Your Consideration” campaigns, politics, and personal connections all can influence the results, not to mention that artistic aptitude can’t be quantifiably measured. This being said, the talent of the men and women on this list is beyond reproach. The following actors are amongst the most revered performers of the past century, and the fact that they were able to attain such a coveted award so late in their careers is a testament to that fact.
Anthony Hopkins (83) — ‘The Father’ (2020)
The Fatheris one of the most heart-wrenching and empathetic portrayals of mental illness ever. In 2021,Anthony Hopkinsbecame the oldest person to ever win an acting Oscar for his devastating performance as an elderly man struggling with dementia. DirectorFlorian Zellerand his brilliant cast (includingOlivia ColemanandImogen Poots) thoughtfully relay the agonizing misperceptions one must suffer through when afflicted with such a vicious disorder. It’s a movie that gaslights the viewers to put them in the protagonist’s mindset.
Hopkins' role inThe Fatheris easily one of the best performances to win an Academy Award; even hisiconic enactment of the villainous Hannibal LectorinThe Silence of the Lambscan’t live up to his masterclass in confusion and distress here.
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Christopher Plummer (82) — ‘Beginners’ (2010)
Christopher Plummerheld the record for the oldest Oscar-winning performance for ten years before Anthony Hopkins wowed inThe Father. In stark opposition toThe Father,Beginnersis a feel-good romp maintaining that it’s never too late for you to be true to yourself. Plummer plays Hal, a septuagenarian who comes out of the closet five years before his death, which rekindles his passion for life.
Plummer shines in a fantastic performance in what is a pretty good movie. His joyous attitude, frantically racing to live a life’s worth of freedom in a few years, won’t fail to warm your heart. Plummer’s smile and the twinkle in his eyes sell the whole movie. Though he’s not technically the main character,his performance is what vividly remains in your memorylong after you’ve seen it.
Jessica Tandy (80) — ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ (1989)
One of the most controversial best picture winners ever,Driving Miss Daisyis a safe and rather inoffensive look at race relations in the American south. Critics were upset that the much more transgressiveDo the Right Thingwasn’t even nominated, andDriving Miss Daisywas accused of pandering to white Oscar voters instead of challenging prejudice. Unfortunately, time has only shed further light on how bland and mediocre this film is.
What isn’t mediocre, however, isJessica Tandy’s acting as the titular Miss Daisy, a stubborn wealthy woman who slowly builds a friendship with her personal driver Hoke, played by an equally brilliantMorgan Freeman. Towards the movie’s end, Miss Daisy’s mental barriers start breaking down, and she becomes much more vulnerable. This is where Tandy’s facial nuances add an extra layer to the character, and she successfully wins the viewers over.
George Burns (80) — ‘The Sunshine Boys’ (1975)
The first movieGeorge Burnsmade in over 30 years,The Sunshine Boysstars Burns andWalter Matthauas a famous vaudeville duo who ruled the comedy landscape for 47 years. Now, 11 years after they unceremoniously broke up, they come together for one last show.
Burn’s Lewis is the deeply sardonic and less animated partner to Matthau’s Clark and comes across as the more level-headed and contented of the pair. One must assume that the role of the over-the-hill vaudeville performer came naturally to Burns, who was a massive vaudeville sensation in the early 20th century. In his acceptance speech, Burns summed it up best: “if you stay in the business long enough, andyou get to be old enough, you get to be new again.”
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Melvyn Douglas (79) — ‘Being There’ (1979)
Being Thereis beloved by cinephiles all over the world. This satire on societal elitism, white privilege, and the wealthy is perhaps most famous as the movie wherePeter Sellersalmostwon an Oscar—helmed byHarold and MaudedirectorHal Ashby,Being Thereearned veteran actorMelvyn Douglashis second Academy Award.
Douglas plays the stern, commanding businessman Ben Rand, who instantly likes Seller’s slow, gardener protagonist, Chance. Douglas has to walk a tightrope by making the powerful, gruff businessman a warm and likable character we also care about. Interestingly, Douglas became the second-oldest winning actor with this win in 1980, when he beat fellow nominee, 8-year-oldJustin Henry(forKramer vs. Kramer), the youngest Oscar nominee of all time.
John Gielgud (77) — ‘Arthur’ (1981)
John Gielgudwas just shy of his 78th birthday when he won the 1981 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the comedy classicArthur, starringDudley MooreandLiza Minnelli. Ten years after winning forArthur, he won a Grammy, making him only the fourth person in history to achieve an EGOT, known as the “the grand slam” of entertainment (anEGOT is an individual who wins an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and TonyAward)
Gielgud plays the fan-favorite Hobson, the sarcastic and dead-panned valet with a heart of gold. He’s a fantastic foil to the spoilt, ignorant drunkard Arthur Bach (Moore). Hobson is exceptionally witty, rude, snobbish, and hilarious. Gielgud is responsible for the biggest laughs in the entire film, but he’s also the heart. It’s a performance by a true master of his craft.
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Don Ameche (77) — ‘Cocoon’ (1985)
Cocoonis a feel-good sci-fidrama directed byRon Howard, channeling his innerStevenSpielberg. It’s a whimsical narrative about a group of elderly citizens who stumble across an alien fountain of youth of sorts. Soon, they discover their ailments and pains are alleviated by the aliens' life force. It’s kind of likeThe Best Exotic Marigold Hotelby way ofClose Encounters of the Third Kind.
More than most movies, Cocoon is an ensemble piece, soDon Ameche’s win for Best Supporting Actor feels like a collective recognition of the entire cast. Ameche is great, but so areWilford Brimley,Hume Cronyn,Brian Dennehy, and the rest of the performers. Perhaps it was Ameche’s sweet moves on the dance floor in the disco scene that elevated him above the rest of his peers in the mind of the Academy.
Peggy Ashcroft (77) — ‘A Passage to India’ (1984)
Peggy Ashcrofthad a long and prolific theater career. Though her primary love was the stage, she had an impressive, albeit limited, filmography, includingThe 39 StepsandThe Nun’s Story.A Passage to Indiawas the final film in the intimidating and influential career ofDavid Lean, the director behind the desert classicLawrence of Arabia.A Passage to Indiais somewhat of a spiritual successor toLawrence of Arabia, as it is a historical epic about white Britons traveling to a foreign land and clashing with the culture and scenery.
Ashcroft won her Supporting Actress Oscar in 1985 andremains the oldest woman to win the award. She steals the show as Mrs. Moore, one of the few characters to call out the abusive power dynamics imposed upon India by British colonialism. Mrs. Moore is comforting and charming when she needs to be but ruthless whenever anyone tries toshovel her any BS.
Henry Fonda (76) & Katharine Hepburn (74) — ‘On Golden Pond’ (1981)
On Golden Pondis an adaptation of the stage production of the same name, starring legendary starsHenry FondaandKatharine Hepburnas a retired couple vacationing at their lake house for the Summer. Norman (Fonda) is acantankerous grump preoccupied with death, while his wife, Ethel (Hepburn), refuses to give up her youthful exuberance and optimism.
Unfortunately, the directing inOn Golden Ponddoesn’t do much to justify the play being adapted to the silver screen. The music is obnoxiously insistent (frequently telegraphing what’s about to happen), the stakes are agonizingly low, and the conflicts often feel contrived. Luckily, the dialogue is witty, and both actors do a tremendous job bringing Norman and Ethel to life. The second their characters interact, you instantly understand their relationship dynamics. Fonda and Hepburn are so convincing that you’ll forget you’re watching famous actors by the picture’s end. Theywere class actsright until the end.On Golden Pondis a rare feature where both leads won an Oscar for their role, and it deserves that honor.
