Actors Who Won an Oscar Before 30

By John Harrington Published Jul 9, 3:00PM EDT

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Actors Who Won an Oscar Before 30 — © Jason Merritt/TERM / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

What do Audrey Hepburn, Vivian Leigh, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sophia Loren have in common? All won an Academy Award before they turned 30. They are not alone in that regard. Using IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and other online sources, 24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of actors and actresses who won Academy Awards for their performances when they were under the age of 30 – making them the youngest Oscar-winners in history. (How did the awards end up with a man’s name? Learn why “the Oscars” and other little-known facts about the Academy Awards.)

Besides taking home the golden statuette at an early age, some of these Oscar recipients have other distinctions. Six of the performers on this list won the Academy Award in their first theatrical film: Marlee Matlin (“Children of a Lesser God”), Timothy Hutton (“Ordinary People”), Tatum O’Neal (“Paper Moon”), Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”), Anna Paquin (“The Piano”), and Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”).

Matlin, who at 21 was the youngest actress to win for Best Actress, was also the first hearing-impaired person to win an acting Oscar. Hutton was the youngest man to earn an acting Oscar, when he won for best actor in a supporting role at 20. At 25, Hudson was the youngest African-American to win the honor. (Besides her acting abilities, Hudson is known for her powerful singing voice. Here are some actors you didn’t know are also musicians.)

Janet Gaynor, a major star in the 1930s, was the first performer of any age to win the Best Actress Oscar, and the only one who won for multiple film roles – in “7th Heaven” and “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans” (both 1927), and “Street Angel” (1928). She was 22 at the time.

Click here to see actors who won an Oscar before 30

Besides their work in motion pictures, four women who won acting Oscars before they turned 30 – Shirley Jones, Goldie Hawn, Patty Duke, and Miyoshi Umeki – would go on to have noteworthy careers in television. Speaking of Umeki, she was the first Asian-American woman to win an acting Oscar.

Cuba Gooding Jr.
> Award: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
> Age: 29
> Movie: Jerry Maguire (1996)

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Adrien Brody
> Award: Best Actor in a Leading Role
> Age: 29
> Movie: The Pianist (2002)

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Miyoshi Umeki
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: Sayonara (1957)

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Mary Steenburgen
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: Melvin and Howard (1980)

Sophia Loren
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: La ciociara (1960)

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Joanne Woodward
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

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Norma Shearer
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: The Divorcee (1930)

Emma Stone
> Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: La La Land (2016)

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Charlize Theron
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 28
> Movie: Monster (2003)

Shirley Jones
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 27
> Movie: Elmer Gantry (1960)

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George Chakiris
> Award: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
> Age: 27
> Movie: West Side Story (1961)

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Alicia Vikander
> Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 27
> Movie: The Danish Girl (2015)

Bette Davis
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 27
> Movie: Dangerous (1935)

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Luise Rainer
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 27
> Movie: The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Vivien Leigh
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Gone with the Wind (1939)

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Julie Christie
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Darling (1965)

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Jodie Foster
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: The Accused (1988)

Gwyneth Paltrow
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Shakespeare in Love (1998)

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Brie Larson
> Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Room (2015)

Katharine Hepburn
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Morning Glory (1933)

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Barbra Streisand
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Funny Girl (1968)

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Liza Minnelli
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 26
> Movie: Cabaret (1972)

Jennifer Jones
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 25
> Movie: The Song of Bernadette (1943)

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Grace Kelly
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 25
> Movie: The Country Girl (1954)

Hilary Swank
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 25
> Movie: Boys Don’t Cry (1999)

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Jennifer Hudson
> Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 25
> Movie: Dreamgirls (2006)

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Joan Fontaine
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 24
> Movie: Suspicion (1941)

Teresa Wright
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 24
> Movie: Mrs. Miniver (1942)

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Audrey Hepburn
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 24
> Movie: Roman Holiday (1953)

Goldie Hawn
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 24
> Movie: Cactus Flower (1969)

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Angelina Jolie
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 24
> Movie: Girl, Interrupted (1999)

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Anne Baxter
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 23
> Movie: The Razor’s Edge (1946)

Janet Gaynor
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 22
> Movie: 7th Heaven (1927), Street Angel (1928), and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

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Jennifer Lawrence
> Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 22
> Movie: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Marlee Matlin
> Award: Best Actress in a Leading Role
> Age: 21
> Movie: Children of a Lesser God (1986)

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Timothy Hutton
> Award: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
> Age: 20
> Movie: Ordinary People (1980)

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Patty Duke
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 16
> Movie: The Miracle Worker (1962)

Anna Paquin
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 11
> Movie: The Piano (1993)

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Tatum O’Neal
> Award: Best Actress in a Supporting Role
> Age: 10
> Movie: Paper Moon (1973)

Shirley Temple
> Award: An honorary Juvenile Academy Award
> Age: 6
> Movie: Various

About the Author John Harrington →

I'm a journalist who started my career as a sportswriter, covering professional, college, and high school sports. I pivoted into business news, working for the biggest newspapers in New Jersey, including The Record, Star-Ledger and Asbury Park Press. I was an editor at the weekly publication Crain’s New York Business and served on several editorial teams at Bloomberg News. I’ve been a part of 24/7 Wall St. since 2017, writing about politics, history, sports, health, the environment, finance, culture, breaking news, and current events. I'm a graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.