Rank the "1 and Done" Oscar-Winning Actors
Saturday, November 12, 2016 at 11:19AM 
Did you catch the out of focus Yul Brynner robot in the background of a darkly lit scene in last week's episode of Westworld? That charismatic movie star had a lot of success in action films (see also the original Magnificent Seven) but he won his only Oscar race for a musical, The King and I. Which brings us back around to our "One and done" discussion. We featured the actresses who'd won Oscars for their one and only nomination a week ago and it was so fun we decided we should do the men this weekend. The "One and Done" club includes men, too, and even a few more of them. (As with the women I left out those who would otherwise qualify but for a second round via the Honorary Oscars)
Give us your top ten among them in the comments!
LEAD
A few differences worth noting that differ from leading actresses. Only 9% of leading actresses win from their sole nomination. For men, it's quite different with around 21% belonging to the 1 and done club...
That said none of the "1 and done" women had nominations in other types of categories as the men do which points to another gender divide within Hollywood, with men getting to wear hats on prestige films and men were much older when they won on average. This suggests on the surface that they're more eager to nominate their leading ladies again but we suspect it has more to do with the age of the winners; women win when they're much younger, statistically, so there is more time in their careers to get a second nomination.
- Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona, 1928)
- Lionel Barrymore (A Free Soul, 1931 ... though he was nominated in the directing category once too)
- Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine, 1943)
- Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend, 1945)
- Broderick Crawford (All the King's Men, 1949)
- Ernest Borgnine (Marty, 1955)
- Yul Brynner (The King and I, 1956)
- David Niven (Separate Tables, 1958)
- Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou, 1965)
- Cliff Robertson (Charly, 1968)
- Art Carney (Harry and Tonto, 1974)
- F Murray Abraham (Amadeus, 1984)
- Michael Douglas (Wall Street, 1987... though he won in the producing category once, too)
- Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, 1990)
- Robert Benigni (Life is Beautiful, 1997 ... he received two other nominations in non acting categories for this same film)
- Adrien Brody (The Pianist, 2002)
- Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, 2006)
- Jean Dujardin (The Artist, 2011)
- Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer's Club, 2013)
SUPPORTING
About 39% of the winners in this category are one time only nominees... so Supporting Actor is slightly less novelty oriented than Supporting Actress which has about 50% of its winners being one competition only. One curious statistic is that men AND women who've won Oscars for supporting performances in musical films 7 of them all together were 'one & dones' except for Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables. On the leading side, it's the opposite; Yul Brynner is the only "1 and done" among male or female musical leads that won. (Rex Harrison, Bing Crosby, James Cagney, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, etcetera all had multiple nominations)
Brynner wasn't the only man to win his 1 and done for a Musical performance
- Joseph Schildkraut (The Life of Emile Zola, 1937)
- Donald Crisp (How Green Was My Valley, 1941)
- Van Heflin (Johnny Eager, 1942)
- Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way, 1944*... technically he was nominated twice but both times were for this performance in lead & supporting after which the Academy made that double dipping for the same performance against the rules so we'll count this as one nomination)
- James Dunn (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 1945)
- Dean Jagger (Twelve O'Clock High, 1949)
- George Sanders (All About Eve, 1950)
- Red Buttons (Sayonara, 1957)
- Burl Ives (The Big Country, 1958)
- George Chakiris (West Side Story, 1961)
- Ed Begley (Sweet Bird of Youth, 1962)
- Martin Balsam (A Thousand Clowns, 1965)
- George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, 1967)
- Jack Albertson (The Subject Was Roses, 1968)
- John Mills (Ryan's Daughter, 1970)
- Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show, 1971)
- Joel Grey (Cabaret, 1972)
- George Burns (The Sunshine Boys, 1975)
- Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, 1980)
- Louis Gossett Jr (An Officer and a Gentleman, 1982)
- Haing S Ngor (The Killing Fields, 1984)
- Don Ameche (Cocoon, 1985)
- Sean Connery (The Untouchables, 1987)
- Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda, 1988)
- Cuba Gooding Jr (Jerry Maguire, 1996)
- James Coburn (Affliction, 1997)
- Jim Broadbent (Iris, 2001)
- Chris Cooper (Adaptation., 2002)
- Tim Robbins (Mystic River, 2003... was also nominated for Best Director in another year)
- Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, 2013)
- JK Simmons (Whiplash, 2014)
- Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, 2015)
Reader Comments (31)
Oscars history with men is so weird.
I practically know all the winners of best actress and best supporting actress (LOL) but I hardly recognize any of the names of best supporting actors and their movies.
Yul is so hot, but looking back The King and I doesn't really give him a chance to truly act. He was hamming it up as the king and it was even a borderline supporting role.
Really hoping Mark Rylance and Jeremy Irons will get another nom.
How are we ranking? The best performances that won or the best actors from these lists?
Top 10 / favorite performances (chronologically):
Ray Milland
George Sanders
Cliff Robertson
Joel Grey
Timothy Hutton
Lou Gossett
Kevin Kline
Jeremy Irons
Chris Cooper
Jean Dujardin
Most likely to return:
Matthew McConaughey, Mark Rylance, Forest Whitaker........Jeremy Irons
Paul I desperately want the backwoods bimbo McConaughey to be a one and done. His Oscar win feels like Trump's permanent place in history as one of our presidents.
Leading men: Not a lot of choices here.
1. Ray Milland, The Lost Weekend (Nathaniel, I know that you hate this performance, but I don’t get why)
2. Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune
3. Adrien Brody, The Pianist
4. Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scottland
5. F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus
I can imagine Brody and Whitaker returning, though I wouldn’t wager money either way. McConaughey is likely returning
Supporting Actor: Tonne of strong choices, which is weird given how bad the category often feels like.
1. George Sanders, All About Eve
2. Ben Johnson, The Last Picture Show
3. Chris Cooper, Adaptation
4. Joseph Schildkraut, The Life of Emile Zola
5. Dean Jagger, Twelve O’Clock High
6. James Dunn, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
7. Tim Robbins, Mystic River
8. Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda
9. Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
10. Haing S Ngor, The Killing Fields AND Donald Crisp, How Green was my Valley AND Timothy Hutton, Ordinary Pople AND Ed Begley, Sweet Bird of Youth AND Jack Albertson, The Subjet Was Roses AND George Kennedy, Cool Hand Luke
.
Likely returning: Chris Cooper, Mark Rylance… and I can imagine Kevin Kline returning actually.
Lead Actor:
1. Michael Douglas
2. Adrien Brody
3. Ray Milland
4. Lee Marvin
5.Yul Brynner
6. Ernest Borgnine
7. Paul Lukas
8. Forest Whitaker
9. F. Murray Abraham
10. Jean Dujardin
Most Likely to return: Matthew McConaughey, Forest Whitaker, Adrien Brody
Supporting:
1. George Sanders
2. Kevin Kline
3. Joel Grey
4. Chris Cooper
5. Louis Gossett Jr.
6. Cuba Gooding Jr.
7. George Chakiris
8. Ben Johnson
9. Barry Fitzgerald
10. Sean Connery
Many of the other performances are better but are truly lead and I will not dignify their category fraud on my list.
Most Likely to return: Jim Broadbent, Chris Cooper, Mark Rylance
My three cents...Charlton Heston carried Ben hur beautifully on his broad shoulders....art Carney created a sweet character study in Harry and ton to...and f Murray Abraham was sublime in Amadeus.
Some terrible supporting winners recently when you see them together.
Anne Hathaway won a supporting Oscar for a musical and isn't a one and done...les mis was her 2nd nomination...
Duh - oops. thanks. don't know how i messed that up. Text is fixed.
Love these! This is tougher than the women since many of these men haven’t won for their best work, although that happened with the actresses as well, and I’m going by the winning performance rather than my fondness for the actor though sometimes they converge.
My top 10 in order:
George Sanders (All About Eve, 1950)
James Dunn (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 1945)
Ray Milland (The Lost Weekend, 1945)
Ernest Borgnine (Marty, 1955)
Burl Ives (The Big Country, 1958)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, 2015)
F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus, 1984)
Joel Grey (Cabaret, 1972)
Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda, 1988)
Yul Brynner (The King and I, 1956)
The rest (also in order):
Paul Lukas (Watch on the Rhine, 1943)
Donald Crisp (How Green Was My Valley, 1941)
Van Heflin (Johnny Eager, 1942)
Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, 1980)
George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke, 1967)
Adrien Brody (The Pianist, 2002)
Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, 1990)
Ben Johnson (The Last Picture Show, 1971)
Jack Albertson (The Subject Was Roses, 1968)
Haing S. Ngor (The Killing Fields, 1984)
James Coburn (Affliction, 1997)
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland, 2006)
John Mills (Ryan's Daughter, 1970)
Jim Broadbent (Iris, 2001)
Ed Begley (Sweet Bird of Youth, 1962)
Martin Balsam (A Thousand Clowns, 1965)
Broderick Crawford (All the King's Men, 1949)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist, 2011)
George Chakiris (West Side Story, 1961)
David Niven (Separate Tables, 1958)
Lee Marvin (Cat Ballou, 1965)
Dean Jagger (Twelve O'Clock High, 1949)
Robert Benigni (Life is Beautiful, 1997)
Art Carney (Harry and Tonto, 1974)
Chris Cooper (Adaptation., 2002)
Red Buttons (Sayonara, 1957)
Barry Fitzgerald (Going My Way, 1944)
Sean Connery (The Untouchables, 1987)
Cuba Gooding Jr (Jerry Maguire, 1996)
Cliff Robertson (Charly, 1968)
Joseph Schildkraut (The Life of Emile Zola, 1937)
Michael Douglas (Wall Street, 1987)
Louis Gossett Jr (An Officer and a Gentleman, 1982)
Don Ameche (Cocoon, 1985)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer's Club)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, 2013)
Lionel Barrymore (A Free Soul, 1931)
George Burns (The Sunshine Boys, 1975)
Tim Robbins (Mystic River, 2003)
Warner Baxter (In Old Arizona, 1928)
You didn’t ask this time who we thought were likely returnees but here’s my guesses anyway.
Jim Broadbent, Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey and maybe…maybe Adrien Brody if he ever gets himself back together and starts giving disciplined performances again.
I admire all of the following performances a great deal, and my top four could be put in any order, but if you want a ranking:
1. George Sanders
2. Chris Cooper
3. Adrien Brody
4. Jeremy Irons
5. Jim Broadbent
6. Forrest Whitaker
7. F. Murray Abraham
8. Michael Douglas
9. Ben Johnson
10. Jean Dujardin
I do not have time to do lists like others but Yul Brynner
Adrien and. Borgnine are my BA favs
BSA. Tim Huttonl. Chris Cooper. Jim Broadbent.
Isn't name calling beneath a mature adult?????
Matthew for a return Oscar.
You should really include Emil Jannings for The Last Command/Way of All Flesh in 1927/28. He was awarded for his body of work that year and was not presented with 2 Oscars for tying with himself (nor was Janet Gaynor presented with 3 statuettes for her work in 3 films).
The above also applies to George Arliss in 1929/30. I've seen pictures of the actual ballot. Some of the Actors and Actresses were listed for their year's work and some for just one performance. Why he was only cited for Disraeli only is unknown.
Don't forget J.K. Simmons (2014) -- he won on his first and (so far) only acting nomination.
My list is for the individual performance rather than the career (not sure how you wanted it) and mixes lead and supporting:
1. F. Murray Abraham
2. Mark Rylance
3. George Sanders
4. Matthew McConaughey
5. Chris Cooper
6. Michael Douglas
7. Yul Brynner
8. Joel Grey
9. Jared Leto
10. Broderick Crawford
J.K. Simmons would be in my top 10, displacing (probably) Lou Gossett or Jeremy Irons.
You forgot Charlton Heston (Ben Hur, 1959). He was a one-and-done Oscar winner for the ages.
Unlike the “1 and Done” Actresses, my top 10 Actor List has a few Leading winners:
1. Timothy Hutton
2. George Sanders
3. Joel Grey
4. George Chakiris
5. Yul Brynner
6. Louis Gossett, Jr.
7. Broderick Crawford
8. Forest Whitaker
9. Adrien Brody
10. Ben Johnson
George Saunders
So many thoughts. Roberto Benigni successfully achieved what the movie needed of him, but I don't like the movie's goal.
Tim Robbins is a very good actor, but his one nomination and win came for a sub-par performance. He's not even the best supporting actor in that movie!
How was George Sanders only nominated once?
I couldn't finish Charlton. As soon as Cliff Robert started checking out his teacher's physique, I just couldn't take it anymore. Is it worth finishing?
@ cash
You mean Charly, yes? The movie gets a bad rap, primarily because Robertson "deprived" Peter O'Toole of one of his Oscars, but I loved it as a kid. Because of Charly, the original Days of Wine and Roses (and yes, that's Piper Laurie in the Lee Remick role), De Palma's Obsession and the Raimi Spider-Man, I'll always have a soft spot for Cliff Robertson.
Also Harold Russell (Best Years of Our Lives) 1946, and John Houseman (Paper Chase) 1973
BEST: Milland, Crawford, Abraham, Brody, Dujardin, McConnaughy
WORST: Lukas, Niven, Heston, Marvin, Robertson, Carney, Begnini (the absolute worst - Lord help us if he leaves the club)
Ernest Borgnine (Marty, 1955)
Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune, 1990)
George Chakiris (West Side Story, 1961)
Ed Begley (Sweet Bird of Youth, 1962)
Joel Grey (Cabaret, 1972)
Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda, 1988)
Jim Broadbent (Iris, 2001)
Chris Cooper (Adaptation., 2002)
Tim Robbins (Mystic River, 2003)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, 2014)
Mareko -- i left him out (forgot to mention this) because, as with the women i excluded people who had received a second Honorary Oscar.
You forgot JK Simmons my darling Nathaniel.
Oh, OK! That makes more sense.
Supporting only Top 5:
JK SImmons/Whiplash (Still fresh in my mind)
George Sanders/All About Eve
Chris Cooper/Adaptation (Great)
Kevin Kline/A Fish Called Wanda
James Dunn/A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
*Points taken off for Timothy Hutton/Ordinary People (He's 'supposed' to be on his high school swim team - it's painful to try to watch him complete 1/2 a length.)
Clearly I haven't seen them all, but there are some all-time greats here.
1. Abraham
2. Milland
3. Irons
4. Brody
5. Brynner
6. Whitaker
7. Robertson
8. Borgnine
9. Dujardin
10. Douglas
1. Kennedy
2. Grey
3. Leto
4. Cooper
5. Johnson
6. Sanders
7. Gooding
8. Rylance
9. Hutton
10. Chakiris
Lead
F Murray Abraham
Jean Dujardin
Forest Whitaker
Michael Douglas
Ernest Borgnine
Adrian Brody
Yul Brynner
SUPPORTING
George Sanders
Timothy Hutton
Louis Gossett Jr
George Chakiris
Joel Grey
Tim Robbins
Sean Connery
Cuba Gooding Jr
Burl Ives
Ed Begley