The Academy Awards or the Oscars is one of the most prestigious awards in filmmaking. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the prizes each year (AMPAS). The first Oscars were given out in 1929, and they have been presented annually since. The Academy honors excellence and quality in filmmaking. In the 94 years of the Academy’s history, many young as well as old actors and directors have won the golden statuette. The oldest person to have won an Oscar is Anthony Hopkins who won the Best Actor statuette at the age of 83 at the 93rd Academy Awards.
Whereas, the youngest Oscar winner in the history of Academy Awards is Tatum O’ Neal who won at the age of 10. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress and has held onto the record for 48 years. She won at the 46th Academy Award ceremony. The oldest person to win the Best Director statuette is Clint Eastwood who won at the age of 74. At the same time, the oldest Best Actress winner is Jessica Tandy at the age of 80. The oldest Best Supporting Actor and Actress are Christopher Plummer (82 years) and Peggy Ashcroft (77 years) respectively.
Related: Who Is The Youngest Actor To Win An Academy Award?
Anthony Hopkins’ Big Oscar Win
Anthony Hopkins became the oldest winner ever to win an Oscar with his Best Actor win at the 93rd Academy Awards. He won for his role in the movie ‘The Father’ where he plays Anthony, an older citizen who suffers from dementia but refuses treatment and is constantly at loggerheads with his daughter.
This was the actor’s second Oscar after winning his first in 1992 for the movie ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. He won the Best Actor trophy for the movie where he played a psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. His portrayal of both Anthony and Hannibal is completely different but yet those two roles gave him his Oscars.
Anthony Hopkins did not receive his second Oscar in person during the ceremony due to lockdown restrictions. A video was posted of the actor accepting his award later by the team. He was utterly shocked about winning the statuette because he thought the Oscar would be awarded posthumously to Chadwick Boseman.
In the video message, Hopkins says, “Here I am in my homeland in Wales. At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award, I really didn’t. I’m very grateful to the Academy. I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman, who was taken from us far too early, I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honored.”
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Anthony Hopkins’ Glorious Career
Anthony Hopkins is from Wales and has also dipped his toes in directing and producing apart from acting. Apart from his two Oscars, he also has won two primetime Emmys and four BAFTAs. He started his career in the theater with plays ‘Anthony and Cleopatra‘ and ‘Pravda‘. His film debut was in the movie ‘The Lion in Winter‘ in 1968.
His major film credits include ‘The Remains of the Day’, ‘The Two Popes’, ‘Amistad’, ‘Nixon’, ‘The Mask of Zorro’, ‘Shadowland’, ‘Howards End’, and MCU’s ‘Thor‘ franchise. He also has many acting credits in TV shows like ‘Westworld’, ‘Hollywood Wives’, ‘Great Expectations’, ‘QB VII’, ‘All Creatures Great and Small’, and many more.
Anthony Hopkins initially wanted to become a pianist. It was only after meeting Richard Burton that he thought of becoming an actor. Not only is he a very successful actor but also a very proficient painter. He is also dyslexic but never let that get in between him from becoming an actor.
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