Straight Dope Message Board

[richardb]

The billboard ads for Insomnia tote three: "Acadamy Award Winner Al Pacino," "Acadamy Award Winner Robin Williams" and "Acadamy Award Winner Hillary Swank."

I saw a movie preview last week (don't remember which movie) which featured "Acadamy Award Winner Dustin Hoffman" "Acadamy Award Winner [some lead actress that I don't remember right now]" and "Acadamy Award Winner Holly Hunter." Jake Gyllenhaal is also in this same movie, and I couldn't help but think to myself that if he were to win an Oscar for Donnie Darko, there could be 4 Acadamy Award Winners starring in this movie.

So:

1. What is the record for most Acadamy Award Winners appearing in a movie (and I suppose we should say that mere cameos don't count)?

2. What about the record for most Acadamy Award Winners at the time the movie was released (as opposed to movies where some of the stars were to win their first Oscars in later years)?

3. What about just most Lead Actor/Actress winners or just most Supporting Actor/Actress winners? In The Insomnia lineup, for example, Pacino and Swank both have won their Oscars for lead roles, whereas Robin Williams won for a Supporting role (even though he had been nominated 3 times without winning for lead roles prior to his win for Supporting.)

Anyone have a handy link to a site where someone actually figures this stuff out (and keeps it updated as new movies are released)?

[Airbeck]

Well, The Godfather and The Godfather 2 both had 4 oscar winners.

Godfather: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall
Godfather 2: Pacino, Keaton, Duvall, and Robert DeNiro

I don't know if that's the most or not.

[astorian]

You may have to look to big-budget epic films, the kind that have MANY high-profile stars.

Example: the 1965 biblical epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told" featued the following performers:

BEST ACTORS:

John Wayne (the centurion)
Sidney Poitier (Simon of Cyrene)
Jose Ferrer (King Herod)
Charlton Heston (John the Baptist)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Van Heflin (Bar Amand)
Martin Landau (Caiaphas)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Shelley Winters (leper woman)


That makes 7 Oscar winners in the cast. I don't know if that's the most, but that's certainly the KIND of movie to look at.

[BobT]

In the Greatest Story Ever Told, John Wayne and Martin Landau had yet to win an Oscar, but that's still 5 different Oscar winners.

In "The Godfather", when it was released, only Brando had won an Oscar.

The "Poseidon Adventure" had 5 Oscar winners in it: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Jack Albertson

[Bryan Ekers]

By category 2 (including future winners), you can throw in The Longest Day, with Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Rod Steiger and John Wayne.

[MovieMogul]

Edmond O'Brien was also in The Longest Day--that's 6.

The Greatest Story Ever Told also had Joseph Schildkraut. That's 8.

A Bridge Too Far has Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Maximilian Schell, and Robert Redford (OP never said it had to be an Acting Oscar). That's 7.

Around the World in 80 Days has David Niven, John Gielgud, Ronald Colman, Shirley MacLaine, Charles Coburn, Frank Sinatra, Victor McLaglen, and John Mills. That's 8.

Robert Altman's The Player has Whoopi Goldberg, Sydney Pollack, Cher, James Coburn, Louise Fletcher, Joel Grey, Anjelica Huston, Jack Lemmon, Marlee Matlin, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Rod Steiger. That's 12.

Of course, the OP did suggest ruling out cameos, so that might eliminate most of these movies...

[MovieMogul]

The Swarm has Michael Caine, Olivia de Havilland, Ben Johnson, Lee Grant, Henry Fonda, Jose Ferrer, and Patty Duke. Quite possibly the worst movie ever with 7 Oscar-winners.

As for other disaster movies Airport, Airport 1975 and Airport `77 join Poseidon with 5 while Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, When Time Ran Out, Meteor and Beyond the Poseidon Adventure have 4 each.

[MovieMogul]

How the West Was Won has Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, James Stewart, John Wayne, Walter Brennan, and Spencer Tracy as narrator. That's 7. It also has Agnes Moorehead and Thelma Ritter, who between them received 10 Supporting Actress nominations but never won.

The earliest movie I found with at least 6 is 1943's Forever and a Day, with Ray Milland, Victor McLaglen, Edmund Gwenn, Charles Coburn, Charles Laughton, and Donald Crisp.

And of course The Oscar has Ernest Borgnine, Ed Begley, Walter Brenna, Broderick Crawford, James Dunn, Frank Sinatra, and costume designer Edith Head, for 7. So I take back what I said about The Swarm.

[MovieMogul]

Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet has Julie Christie, Judi Dench, John Gielgud, Charlton Heston, Jack Lemmon, John Mills, Robin Williams, and Richard Attenborough, for 8.

The documentary Looking for Richard has Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Estelle Parsons, F. Murray Abraham, Kevin Kline, John Gielgud, and Vanessa Redgrave for 7.

As to answer #3 of the OP given the films listed thus far, the leading film with Lead Oscar winners is The Player with 7, followed by How the West Was Won with 5

The Player also leads with Supporting winners with 5, along with Hamlet. Several other films having 4.

As for #2 (how many had Oscars at the time, as opposed to in the future), The Player again leads with 9, followed by The Oscar and Looking for Richard with 7 and The Greatest Story Ever Told and Hamlet with 6.

[Fibonacci]

Even "Rat Race" can be included here as hsitoric.
It was the first movie to have 2 African-American Oscar winners, Whoopi Goldberg & Cuba Gooding, Jr.
+ throw in the squirrel lady Kathy Bates and you have a total of 3.
I don't know as "Rat Race" is up for any Oscars itself.

[MovieMogul]

Actually, that's only technically true in that they both had their Oscars by that time.

But A Raisin in the Sun had Sidney Poitier and Louis Gossett, Jr. (both future winners) so it beats Rat Race by 40 years.

[Eve]

Are we allowed to count the director, producer, writer, etc.? If so, Dinner at Eight (1933) has got to be right up there:

Cast
Wallace Beery: 1931 Oscar
Marie Dressler: 1930 Oscar
Lionel Barrymore: 1931 Oscar
Jean Hersholt: 2 Honorary Oscars

Crew
Geo. Cukor: 1964 Oscar
Herman Mankiewicz: 1941 Oscar
Frances Marion: 1930 & '31 Oscars
Doanld Ogden Stewart: 1940 Oscar
David O. Selznick: 1939 and '40 Oscars
Wm. H. Daniels: 1948 Oscar
Douglas Shearer: 11 Oscars!

[Fibonacci]

Originally posted by ArchiveGuy
Actually, that's only technically true in that they both had their Oscars by that time.

But A Raisin in the Sun had Sidney Poitier and Louis Gossett, Jr. (both future winners) so it beats Rat Race by 40 years.

Well... technically true is still true.
It's a different ballgame when you carry your oscars into a film. Ask any agent.

[AV8R]

That's Entertainment

Does this count?
Here's a theatrically released movie that had clips from zillions of other great movies, so it might have had several dozen Oscar winners within it.

[BobT]

That's Entertainment I guess could count, but then you could pick a lot of those short films with lots of clips in them. Like the AFI's 100th anniversary of film short.

Of the principal narrators of the film, Bing Crosby, Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor won Oscars.

Of the people listed in the IMDb who also appear in the film you would get"
Joan Crawford
Clark Gable
Judy Garland (Best Juvenile Actor, 1940)

Not that many, primarily because MGM musicals haven't won a lot of Academy Awards.

If you had a clip show of a lot of English-oriented dramas, then you'd be getting Oscar winners by the score.

[astorian]

Well, if "That's Entertainment" counts, why not a 1982 film "starring":

1) Humphrey Bogart
2) Charles Laughton
3) James Cagney
4) Burt Lancaster
5) Ingrid Bergman
6) Ray Milland
7) Bette Davis
8) Joan Crawford

All "Best Actor" or "Best Actress" winners, too!

Of course, some oftem weren't even alive any more, by the time they "starred" in "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid."

[pesch]

This is probably the most original trivia question I've read in years!

All right, let me put "The Swarm" up against this bad-boy movie:

"Marooned" (aka "Stranded in Space")

Featuring 3 Oscar winners: Gregory Peck, Gene Hackman ("oh, he's good in everything") and Lee Grant.

This has a personal meaning to me. I saw it in the theaters as a 9-year-old in 1969, then again on MST3K, and it took several minutes of head-scratching before I realized it was the same movie!

Man this was rotten!

[voguevixen]

Surely JFK has gotta be way up there?
(I'll let you guys do the legwork, since I don't especially care.)

BTW, I think Hackman IS good in everything. And I hate pretty much everyone, so that's saying something! Heh.

[Kepi]

For JFK (made in 1991), there are five previous winners and one future winner.

Previous winners
Kevin Costner - director for Dances With Wolves (1990)
Sissy Spacek - actress in Coal Miner's Daughter (1981)
Jack Lemmon - supporting actor in Mister Roberts (1956) and actor in Save the Tiger (1973)
Walter Matthau - supporting actor in The Fortune Cookie (1966)
Joe Pesci - supporting actor in Goodfellas (1991)

Future winner
Tommy Lee Jones - supporting actor in The Fugitive (1994)

[Bryan Ekers]

Here's a bit of trivia that appeared on final Jeopardy: who is the only person named Oscar to win an Oscar?

[BobT]

Oscar Hammerstein?

[MovieMogul]

Hammerstein is right. How about this:

Who's the only actor to win an Oscar portraying a character named Oscar?

Re: the OP, I don't think any film where the actors consist of clip compilations should count. Just my $0.02.

[kunilou]

Originally posted by ArchiveGuy

Who's the only actor to win an Oscar portraying a character named Oscar?

I know! I know!

Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.

Weren't there are lot of loosely stitched together star vehicles that were made to entertain the troops during WW2? Since each of the stars had their own turn on screen, you couldn't really call the performances cameos. They had to have had a number of Oscar winners in them.

[jacksen9]

For JFK (made in 1991), there are five previous winners and one future winner.

What about Donald Sutherland?

[Kepi]

According to the Internet Movie Database, Donald Sutherland has never even been nominated for an Academy Award.

[MovieMogul]

I know! I know!

Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple.

Nope, Matthau won for The Fortune Cookie. Wasn't even nominated for that film.

[astorian]

Was it Edmund O'Brien, Best Supporting Actor as Oscar Muldoon in "The Barefoot Contessa"?

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by MovieMogul

Robert Altman's The Player has Whoopi Goldberg, Sydney Pollack, Cher, James Coburn, Louise Fletcher, Joel Grey, Anjelica Huston, Jack Lemmon, Marlee Matlin, Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Rod Steiger. That's 12.

Since this was originally posted, both Tim Robbins (competitive) and Harry Belafonte (Honorary) have won Oscars, putting the film's total to 14 now.

[AK84]

Has'nt Donald Sutherland won something in the meantime?

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by AK84

Has'nt Donald Sutherland won something in the meantime?

Nope, still nothing.

[Amateur Barbarian]

Originally Posted by MovieMogul

Nope, still nothing.

Not even for playing the teacher in the alternate ending of Big?

Takes out Nic Cage leather jacket. "I am a baaaaaaad man."

[terentii]

Originally Posted by astorian

Was it Edmund O'Brien, Best Supporting Actor as Oscar Muldoon in "The Barefoot Contessa"?

The answer to this question is "yes." Well done!

[Sampiro]

It wasn't asked but I'll volunteer anyway that Roseanne is a TV show that had at least 4 Oscar winners:

-Estelle Parsons (Bonnie & Clyde) was a regular as Roseanne's mom
-Shelley Winters (Diary of Anne Frank & Patch of Blue) had a recurring role as Bev's mom
-Red Buttons (Sayonara) had a recurring role for a few episodes as Bev's boyfriend
-George Clooney (Syriana) was a first season regular (many years before his Oscar wins)

Can any TV show match that?

[MovieMogul]

Just a mild bump since Oscar season is nigh.

It should be noted that The Grand Budapest Hotel has 15 Oscar nominees in its cast (including 4 winners). If Edward Norton wins for Birdman (he's a likely nominee), that will raise the film's total to 5.

Speaking of Birdman, Michael Keaton is likely to receive his first Oscar nomination for the film. If he manages to win, he will be the 14th person to both win an Academy Award and appear in a Batman film--a record for any film franchise.

The other winners
Batman: Kim Basinger, Jack Nicholson, Jack Palance
Batman Returns: Christopher Walken
Batman Forever: Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman
Batman & Robin: George Clooney
Batman Begins: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman
The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger
The Dark Knight Rises: Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway

And of course, Ben Affleck is cast as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which will also include Jeremy Irons (Alfred) and Holly Hunter in its cast.

[RivkahChaya]

In an ensemble cast of 14, Murder on the Orient Express had five winners, one honorary winner (lifetime achievement), and four actors who were nominated without winning, plus a French actor who had won a Cesar. Many of the actors who were British had won BAFTAs, and several of the cast members had won Golden Globes and Tonys.

Here's the list (probably badly formatted):

Albert Finney
... Hercule Poirot (nominated many times, but no wins)

Lauren Bacall
... Mrs. Hubbard (no wins; honorary award in 2010)

Martin Balsam
... Bianchi (yes, for A Thousand Clowns, 1966)

Ingrid Bergman
... Greta (yes, for Gaslight and Anastasia, both prior to MoOE)

Jacqueline Bisset
... Countess Andrenyi (no)

Jean-Pierre Cassel
... Pierre (as Jean Pierre Cassel) (no Oscars, but he was French, and did win a Cesar)
Sean Connery
... Col. Arbuthnot (yes, but not until 1988)

John Gielgud
... Beddoes (yes, in 1964, and 1981)

Wendy Hiller
... Princess Dragomiroff (yes, 1959)

Anthony Perkins
... McQueen (nominated, no wins)

Vanessa Redgrave
... Mary Debenham (yes, in 1978; had nominations prior to MoOE)

Rachel Roberts
... Hildegarde (nominated, no wins)

Richard Widmark
... Ratchett (nominated, no wins)

Michael York
... Count Andrenyi (no)


Director Sidney Lumet was a many-times nominee who was given an honorary award in 2005. The costuming, music, cinematography, was done by winners and nominees.

Usually when Hollywood tries a "star-studded" stunt like this, it flops, hugely, but this is an excellent film. Even Dame Agatha Christie, who was consistently disappointed in the film versions of her books, thought this film was perfect.

In fact, it's not just money (although, it is money) that prevents these sort of multiple big name films from getting off the ground. It's the fact that the common wisdom is that they will do poorly.

[Bryan Ekers]

Originally Posted by Sampiro

It wasn't asked but I'll volunteer anyway that Roseanne is a TV show that had at least 4 Oscar winners:

-Estelle Parsons (Bonnie & Clyde) was a regular as Roseanne's mom
-Shelley Winters (Diary of Anne Frank & Patch of Blue) had a recurring role as Bev's mom
-Red Buttons (Sayonara) had a recurring role for a few episodes as Bev's boyfriend
-George Clooney (Syriana) was a first season regular (many years before his Oscar wins)

Can any TV show match that?

As a side note, Ned Betty occasionally played Dan's dad, and has an Oscar nomination for his role in Network.

[kunilou]

Originally Posted by Sampiro

It wasn't asked but I'll volunteer anyway that Roseanne is a TV show that had at least 4 Oscar winners:

-Estelle Parsons (Bonnie & Clyde) was a regular as Roseanne's mom
-Shelley Winters (Diary of Anne Frank & Patch of Blue) had a recurring role as Bev's mom
-Red Buttons (Sayonara) had a recurring role for a few episodes as Bev's boyfriend
-George Clooney (Syriana) was a first season regular (many years before his Oscar wins)

Can any TV show match that?

I count six in recurring roles for St. Elsewhere, but the only two who had what I'd call a genuine lead or recurring role were Denzel Washington and Helen Hunt.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Originally Posted by MovieMogul

The other winners
Batman: Kim Basinger, Jack Nicholson, Jack Palance
Batman Returns: Christopher Walken
Batman Forever: Tommy Lee Jones, Nicole Kidman
Batman & Robin: George Clooney
Batman Begins: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman
The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger
The Dark Knight Rises: Marion Cotillard, Anne Hathaway

And of course, Ben Affleck is cast as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which will also include Jeremy Irons (Alfred) and Holly Hunter in its cast.

::checks IMDB::

Hang on -- Spielberg won the Best Picture Oscar by winning the Oscar for directing SCHINDLER'S LIST, but Liam Neeson got nothing for getting directed as Schindler?

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by The Other Waldo Pepper

::checks IMDB::

Hang on -- Spielberg won the Best Picture Oscar by winning the Oscar for directing SCHINDLER'S LIST, but Liam Neeson got nothing for getting directed as Schindler?

That was the year that Tom Hanks became Serious Actor, the first of his back-to-back wins.

But Neeson was nominated, and as long as we're discussing Batman-franchise nominees, we might as well add: Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, Uma Thurman, Gary Oldman, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Eric Roberts and Tom Conti (another 10 people), plus Burgess Meredith from the original Adam West movie. 25 total.

[candide]

Liam Neeson won his Oscar for playing Oskar Schindler, which is close. He also appeared in a film with four other Oscar winners: News on played a small role in "The Bounty." Laurence Olivier also had a small role with larger parts played by Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson and Daniel Day Lewis. Only Olivier had his awards when the film was made and Gibson did not win his Oscar for acting.

[RickJay]

Originally Posted by candide

Liam Neeson won his Oscar for playing Oskar Schindler, which is close.

Liam Neeson has never won an Oscar. As noted above, he was nominated for "Schindler's List" but did not win.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by MovieMogul

A Bridge Too Far has Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Maximilian Schell, and Robert Redford (OP never said it had to be an Acting Oscar). That's 7.

Around the World in 80 Days has David Niven, John Gielgud, Ronald Colman, Shirley MacLaine, Charles Coburn, Frank Sinatra, Victor McLaglen, and John Mills. That's 8.

Since it's Oscar season, I'm bumping this thread to correct this tally, since I excluded Honorary Oscar winners Buster Keaton and Noel Coward, both of whom appear in AtWi80D, putting that film's tally at 10.

Also, in the name of being completist, AB2F should add Richard Attenborough to that list (he directed the film and has a cameo in it).

Originally Posted by astorian

Example: the 1965 biblical epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told" featued the following performers:

BEST ACTORS:

John Wayne (the centurion)
Sidney Poitier (Simon of Cyrene)
Jose Ferrer (King Herod)
Charlton Heston (John the Baptist)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Van Heflin (Bar Amand)
Martin Landau (Caiaphas)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Shelley Winters (leper woman)


That makes 7 Oscar winners in the cast. I don't know if that's the most, but that's certainly the KIND of movie to look at.

In addition to adding Joseph Schildkraut to this list (see post #6), Angela Lansbury has since won an Honorary Oscar, putting that film's total to 9.

Originally Posted by BobT

That's Entertainment I guess could count, but then you could pick a lot of those short films with lots of clips in them. Like the AFI's 100th anniversary of film short.

Of the principal narrators of the film, Bing Crosby, Liza Minelli, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor won Oscars.

Four other narrators of that film--Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney & Debbie Reynolds--all won Honorary Oscars, putting that film's total also at 9 (excluding archival footage).

One other film that wasn't mentioned earlier that has a sizable, and eclectic, winner tally is the original Muppet Movie, which has appearances by

Edgar Bergen (Honorary)
Mel Brooks (Screenplay)
James Coburn
Bob Hope (Honorary)
Cloris Leachman
Steve Martin (Honorary)
Orson Welles (Screenplay)
Paul Williams (Song)

For a total of 8.

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by jacksen9

For JFK (made in 1991), there are five previous winners and one future winner.

What about Donald Sutherland?

Sutherland has just been announced as one of this year's honorary Oscar winners so the following tallies can be updated.

JFK - 7 winners (w/Costner, TL Jones, Lemmon, Matthau, Pesci, Spacek)

Cold Mountain - 5 winners (w/PS Hoffman, Kidman, Portman, Zellweger)
The Hunger Games - Mocking Jay, part 1 - 5 winners (w/Ali, PS Hoffman, Lawrence, Moore)
Outbreak - (w/Freeman, Gooding Jr., D Hoffman, Spacey)
A Time to Kill - 5 winners (w/Bullock, Cooper, McConaughey, Spacey)

He's also the only member of The Dirty Dozen to win an Oscar (Marvin, Borgnine & Kennedy were in the film but not among the 12).

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by MovieMogul

It should be noted that The Grand Budapest Hotel has 15 Oscar nominees in its cast (including 4 winners). If Edward Norton wins for Birdman (he's a likely nominee), that will raise the film's total to 5.

Looks like last year's nominee slate included Lucas Hedges, who had a small role in TGBH, so the total nominee count in its cast is up to 16, although the winner tally remains at 4. And since the names weren't previously included, here they are:

Winners (acting): F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton
Winners (other): Fisher Stevens

Nominees (acting): Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Lucas Hedges, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Tom Wilkinson
Nominees (other): Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson

Given that both Ronan and Dafoe are doing very well with this year's Oscar precursor awards (for Lady Bird and The Florida Project, respectively), they're very likely to be repeat nominees and both hold very good odds of winning, which will raise Budapest's total.

[RealityChuck]

Here's one overlooked: California Suite with six: Jane Fonda, Alan Alda, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Walter Matthau, and James Coburn*

*Coburn was uncredited, but appeared as Maggie Smith's co-star in the film she was (fictionally) nominated for.

[Greg Charles]

When I saw this thread bumped, I assumed it would be to mention the new Murder on the Orient Express, with its veritable Venn diagram of famous and talented actors. Surely five or six of them must be Oscar winners?

[RealityChuck]

Great cast (and pretty good movie), but only Judi Dench has actually won an Oscar.,

[MovieMogul]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

Great cast (and pretty good movie), but only Judi Dench has actually won an Oscar.,

Cruz has, as well. But that's still 5 fewer people than the cast of the 70s version.