Every actor dreams of winning an Academy Award someday. Winning one, however, is not easy. It takes a lot of luck, a great performance, and unfortunately, a lot of campaigning. Then again, one could always try to be in a film helmed by a director the Academy greatly admires. If the part is juicy enough, you might just get those accolades you’ve been searching for. So which directors should you work with if you want that elusive naked golden man on your mantle? The directors below should give you an idea. They’re the ones who have directed the most Oscar-nominated performances throughout their careers. Many of them even dominate the leaderboards for winning performances, too.
8Mike Nichols
Mike Nicholsdirected 18 actors to Oscar nominations. However, only two have won, and both were for the same film:Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?Elizabeth Taylor won her second Best Actress Oscar for it and Sandy Dennis won Best Supporting Actress for it. The film was nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, but lost both. Two of Nichols' other films received three acting nominations:The Graduate(for Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, and Katharine Ross) andWorking Girl(for Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver, and Joan Cusack). Nichols passed away in 2014, with the last Oscar-nominated performance he directed being Philip Seymour Hoffman inCharlie Wilson’s War.Hoffman lost to Javier Bardem’s iconic performance inNo Country For Old Men.
Related:Best Mike Nichols Movies, Ranked
7George Stevens
Like Mike Nichols,George Stevensalso has directed 18 actors to nominations with only two wins. Charles Coburn won Best Supporting Actor for 1943’sThe More The Merrierand Shelley Winters won the first of her two awards for 1959’sThe Diary of Anne Frank.Stevens directed 1948’sI Remember Mama, which earned four acting nominations, including two for Best Supporting Actress. He also directed 1956’sGiant, which earned three acting nominations and won Stevens his second Best Director statue.
6Sidney Lumet
Like Nichols and Stevens,Sidney Lumethas directed 18 nominees. However, he’s directed four winning performances,three of which came for the same film: 1976’s masterpiece,Network, which won every acting award besides Best Supporting Actor.Networkis also the film of Lumet’s with the most acting nominations, at five. The only other acting win for a Sidney Lumet film comes for Ingrid Bergman inMurder On The Orient Express.The last Oscar-nominated performance Lumet directed was River Phoenix inRunning on Empty. Phoenix lost to Kevin Kline’s brilliant performance inA Fish Called Wanda.
5Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemannhas directed 20 Oscar-nominated performances, six of which won. Two of Zinnemann’s films won both Supporting categories:From Here To Eternity(which won Zinnemann Best Director and won Best Picture), and 1977’sJulia, which won Jason Robards the second of his back-to-back Oscars. Zinnemann’s two other wins both came in the Best Actor category. He directed Gary Cooper’s incredible winning performance for High Noon and directed Paul Scofield in his win forA Man For All Seasons, which won Zinnemann his second Best Director statue and Best Picture as well.
4George Cukor
With 21 nominated performances and five wins,George Cukortakes fourth place. The five winning performances for Cukor films are James Stewart forThe Philadelphia Story, Ingrid Bergman forGaslight, Ronald Colman forA Double Life(one of the more underrated wins the Best Actor category), Judy Holliday forBorn Yesterday(who triumphed over both Gloria Swansonand Bette Davis forSunset BoulevardandAll About Eve, respectively), and Rex Harrison forMy Fair Lady. Cukor also directed Judy Garland in 1954’sA Star Is Born, which many at the time believed would win Garland her Best Actress Oscar, but Grace Kelly triumphed forThe Country Girlinstead.
Related:Best Martin Scorsese Films, Ranked
3Martin Scorsese
With 24 nominated performances,Martin Scorsesetakes the bronze for the director with the most Oscar-nominated performances. One more nominated actor will give him second place outright. While actors in Scorsese films have no trouble getting nominated, winning is another story. As of 2022, he’s only directed five winning performances:Ellen Burstyn forAlice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Robert De Niro forRaging Bull, Paul Newman forThe Color Of Money,Joe Pesci forGoodfellas, and Cate Blanchett forThe Aviator. Scorsese is also the only still-living director on this list. He’ll turn 80 years young on November 17th.
2Elia Kazan
Like Scorsese,Elia Kazanhas also directed 24 actors to Oscar nominations. Unlike Scorsese, Kazan’s win rate is much better, with nine actors winning for performances in his films, the second-highest total of any director. Half of Kazan’s wins came for two films:On The Waterfront, which won Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint their Oscars, and A Streetcar Named Desire, which won every acting award except Best Actor (Humphrey Bogart won over Marlon Brando forThe African Queenthat year.) The last Oscar-nominated performance directed by Kazan was Natalie Wood for 1961’sSplendor In The Grass.
1William Wyler
William Wyleris the undisputed champion of getting actors Oscar nominations, and it’s not close. While Elia Kazan and Martin Scorsese are tied for second with 24 nominated performances, Wyler blows them out of the water with a whopping 36 nominated performances. Wyler also leads all directors in winning performances, with 14 actors winning for performances in his films. Wyler has three Oscars for directing, for the filmsMrs. Miniver,The Best Years Of Our Lives, andBen-Hur. All three films took home two acting awards.Mrs. Miniverwon Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress whileThe Best Years Of Our LivesandBen-Hurwon Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Other notable winning performances directed by Wyler includeAudrey Hepburn forRoman Holiday, Olivia de Havilland forThe Heiress, and Barbra Streisand forFunny Girl,who tied for the win with Katharine Hepburn inThe Lion In Winter.
