40 Famous Actors Who Actually Won Oscars, Despite Barely Being In The Movie

40 Famous Actors Who Actually Won Oscars, Despite Barely Being In The MovieI still can’t believe someone won an Oscar for only appearing in five minutes of a movie.

In 95 years of Oscars history, 40 people have won Oscars for appearing in less than 20 minutes on screen. One guy did it twice, two took home the award in leading categories, and twice as many women won than men. Here they all are, in order from most screentime to least.

41.

Olympia Dukakis won Best Supporting Actress for 1987’s Moonstruck. She was on screen for just 19 minutes and 54 seconds.

40.

Joel Grey won Best Supporting Actor for 1972’s Cabaret. He was on screen for 19 minutes and 38 seconds, which was less than 16% of the entire movie.

39.

John Gielgud won Best Supporting Actor for 1981’s Arthur. He was on screen for 18 minutes and 44 seconds, and he’s also the only EGOT winner on this list.

The Oscars have finally arrived! Keep up with the losers, winners, and best dressed celebs right here.

38.

Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress for 2019’s Marriage Story. She was on screen for 18 minutes and 36 seconds.

Both of her parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, had also been nominated for Oscars in the past.

37.

Lee Grant won Best Supporting Actress for 1975’s Shampoo. She was on screen for one second less than Laura Dern, coming in at 18 minutes and 35 seconds.

36.

Tilda Swinton won Best Supporting Actress for 2007’s Michael Clayton. She was on screen for one second less again, this time for 18 minutes and 34 seconds.

35.

Donna Reed won Best Supporting Actress for 1953’s From Here to Eternity. She was on screen for 18 minutes and 25 seconds.

34.

Anjelica Huston won Best Supporting Actress for 1985’s Prizzi’s Honor. She was on screen for 17 minutes and 56 seconds.

Anjelica’s win helped her family become the first to contain three generations of Oscar winners. Walter Huston, her grandfather, won Best Supporting Actor for 1948’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and John Huston, her father, won Screenplay and Director for the same film.

33.

Vanessa Redgrave won Best Supporting Actress for 1977’s Julia. She was on screen for 17 minutes and 45 seconds.

32.

James Coburn won Best Supporting Actor for 1997’s Affliction. He was on screen for 17 minutes and 20 seconds.

31.

The most recent winner to appear on this list is Jamie Lee Curtis, who won Best Supporting Actress for 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once. She was on screen for 17 minutes and 15 seconds.

Both of her parents, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, had also been nominated for Oscars.

30.

Claire Trevor won Best Supporting Actress for 1948’s Key Largo. She was on screen for 17 minutes and 12 seconds.

29.

Hugh Griffith won Best Supporting Actor for 1959’s Ben-Hur. He was on screen for 16 minutes and 51 seconds of the nearly 3.5-hour movie, which means he actually has the shortest percentage of screentime for any male winner.

28.

Cloris Leachman won Best Supporting Actress for 1971’s The Last Picture Show. She was on screen for 16 minutes and 46 seconds.

27.

John Houseman won Best Supporting Actor for 1973’s The Paper Chase. He was on screen for 16 minutes and 26 seconds.

26.

Miyoshi Umeki won Best Supporting Actress for 1957’s Sayonara. She was on screen for 16 minutes and 2 seconds.

25.

Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. He was on screen for 16 minutes, making him one of only two Best Actor winners to appear on this list.

This helped the movie become one of only three films in Oscars history to win “The Big 5” – that’s Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, and Actress, which Jodie Foster won.

24.

Ruth Gordon won Best Supporting Actress 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby. She was on screen for 15 minutes and 52 seconds.

23.

David Niven won Best Actor for 1958’s Separate Tables. He was on screen for 15 minutes and 38 seconds and he holds the record for having the shortest performance to win Best Actor.

22.

Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress for 2017’s I, Tonya. She was on screen for 15 minutes and 37 seconds.

21.

Jo Van Fleet won Best Supporting Actress for 1955’s East of Eden. She was on screen for 15 minutes and 31 seconds.

20.

Shelley Winters won Best Supporting Actress for 1965’s A Patch of Blue. She was on screen for 15 minutes and 6 seconds.

19.

Joseph Schildkraut won Best Supporting Actor for 1937’s The Life of Emile Zola. He was on screen for 15 minutes and 2 seconds.

The next three performers all have a total screentime of exactly 15 minutes:

18.

Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for 2012’s Les Misérables.

17.

Celeste Holm won Best Supporting Actress for 1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement.

16.

And Kim Basinger won Best Supporting Actress for 1997’s L.A. Confidential.

15.

Penélope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She was on screen for 14 minutes and 29 seconds.

14.

Alan Arkin won Best Supporting Actor for 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine. He was on screen for 14 minutes and 20 seconds.

13.

Ingrid Bergman won Best Supporting Actress for 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express. She was on screen for 14 minutes and 18 seconds.

12.

Shirley Jones won Best Supporting Actress for 1960’s Elmer Gantry. She was on screen for 14 minutes and 9 seconds.

11.

Gale Sondergaard won Best Supporting Actress for 1936’s Anthony Adverse. She was on screen for just 13 minutes and 34 seconds. She was the first Best Supporting Actress winner ever.

10.

Margaret Rutherford won Best Supporting Actress for 1963’s The V.I.P.s. She was on screen for 13 minutes and 6 seconds.

9.

Jason Robards won Best Supporting Actor for 1976’s All the President’s Men. He was on screen for 12 minutes and 58 seconds.

8.

Jack Palance won Best Supporting Actor for 1991’s City Slickers. He was on screen for only 12 minutes and 24 seconds.

7.

Maureen Stapleton won Best Supporting Actress for 1981’s Reds. She was on screen for 11 minutes and 35 seconds.

6.

Jason Robards won Best Supporting Actor again, this time for 1977’s Julia. He was on screen for 10 minutes and 49 seconds.

5.

Martin Balsam won Best Supporting Actor for 1965’s A Thousand Clowns. He was on screen for an even 10 minutes.

4.

Ben Johnson won Best Supporting Actor for 1971’s The Last Picture Show. He was on screen for 9 minutes and 54 seconds, making him the man with the shortest amount of screentime to ever win an Oscar.

3.

Gloria Grahame won Best Supporting Actress for 1952’s The Bad and the Beautiful. She was on screen for 9 minutes and 32 seconds.

2.

Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. She was on screen for an even eight minutes.

1.

And the actor with the least amount of screentime to ever win an Oscar is Beatrice Straight, who won Best Supporting Actress for 1976’s Network. She was on screen for only 5 minutes and 2 seconds.