It’s tough enough to win an Oscar, especially with stiff competition, but here are Best Actors who defied the odds, not once, but twice:
Marlon Brando for On The Waterfront (1954) and The Godfather (1972)
Gary Cooper for Sergeant York (1941) and High Noon (1952)
Dustin Hoffman for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988)
Jack Nicholson for One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and As Good As It Gets (1997)
Fredric March for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Daniel Day-Lewis for My Left Foot (1989) and There Will Be Blood (2007)
Sean Penn for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008)
Even more unusual: only two actors have ever won two Best Actor Oscars in consecutive years:
Spencer Tracy for Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938)
Tom Hanks for Philadelphia (1994) and Forrest Gump (1995)
No actor has ever won three Best Actor Academy Awards, although Jack Nicholson has two for Best Actor and one for Best Supporting Actor and Walter Brennan won three times in the Best Supporting Actor category.
For best supporting actor, Jason Robards won two consecutive years as well. In 76 and 77 for All the King’s Men and Julia, respectively. I loved that guy!
I love Jason Robards, too. Very sexy. I think my favorite role of his (for me) was All the President’s Men.