Records are meant to be broken but these Academy Award milestones are almost impossible to beat…
Pageantry.
Private beefs made public.
There are plenty of reasons to watchthe Oscars.
However, there are a lot of ways to set a record.
And then, beyond those sit the oddities and records that are nearly impossible to break.
Its that kind of offbeat Oscar history were digging into below.
Here are 15 Oscar records that are unlikely to be broken, even if its technically possible.
The closest person toDisneyis art director Cedric Gibbons, who has 11 wins.
The most by any living person is VFX legend Dennis Muren, with nine.
Though, to be fair, the first of those isnt untouchable.John Williamscurrently has 54 nominations.
Ned Beatty was in just six minutes of that same movie and received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
I worked a day onNetworkand got an Oscar nomination for it, he later joked about the role.
Ben Johnson had the least screen time of any actor who won that category.
His Best Supporting Actor Oscar came from nine minutes and 54 seconds of work inThe Last Picture Show.
On the actor side, no one touches Leigh, making the marks a little more attainable.
However, had Denzel Washington won forMalcolm X, he would have almost reached Leighs mark.
He has the most screen time of any Best Actor nominee at two hours and 22 minutes.
So, good luck topping Bette Davis and Greer Garson in this category.
They each got five consecutive Best Actress nominations.
Davis did it from 1939 to 1943 and Garson from 1942 to 1946.
The shortest Best Picture nominee was 1934sShe Done Him Wrongat just 66 minutes.
Those are tough marks to break, of course, but theyre not impossible.
Do you think Martin Scorsese is opposed to making an Oscar-worthy five-hour epic?
that has to take place to get that many nominations is astounding.
Though, that hasnt always been the case as categories have shifted.
Starting in 1982, there were two sound awards.
So,TitanicandLa La Landwere eligible for 17 awards.
He is, however, evidence that the record is unlikely to be broken.
The closest to Newmans mark is Alan Menken, who has eight Oscars.
Hes trailed by Williams, John Barry, and Johnny Green, who have five wins each.
Most Consecutive International/Foreign Noms for a Country
An important record?
The first winner that wasnt a product of Europe or Japan was Costa-Gavras brilliantZin 1969.
Until 2000, only three winners were from countries besides Russia/U.S.S.R., Japan, or European nations.
Since 2000, there have been nine winners outside of those regions.
Anyhow, the record.
France has come close, with five consecutive nominations on three separate occasions.
Italy hit five consecutive nominations twice outside of its six-year run.
Since 1988, there hasnt been a country that has received more than three nominations in a row.
Nonetheless, were talking about directors.
Vittorio de Sica and Fellini lead the pack with four wins.
(De Sica also has the most category nominations of any director, with five.)
Ingmar Bergman and Rene Clement are next, with three each.
Akira Kurosawa and Asghar Farhadi come next with two wins each.
No other director has won more than once in the category.
Farhadi is the only living director with more than one.
Its certainly possible that he breaks the record.
He makes beautiful films, and hes just 51 years old.
BothCrouching Tiger, Hidden DragonandRomagarnered 10 nominations.
Parasite, for instance, broke barriers but only garnered six nominations.
Except that it has.
Bernard Hill did it.
He played Captain Edward Smith inTitanicand Theoden inLord of the Rings: Return of the King.
The third film that shares the record of 11 Oscar wins is William WylersBen-Hur.
Most Nominations for a Single Acting Performance
This one simply cannot happen again.
Fitzgerald won Best Supporting Actor, apparently for supporting himself.
No one will get nominated in both categories for a single role again.
Actors can still be nominated in both acting categories, but it has to be for two separate films.
That feat has happened 12 times, most recently by Scarlett Johansson for roles inMarriage StoryandJojo Rabbit.
However, no one has ever won both categories.
Most Acting Nominations
Of course, were talking aboutMeryl Streep.
She leads all actors with 21 nominations.
That total is high, but its hard to see just how impressive it is without context.
The actors next on the list areJack Nicholsonand Katharine Hepburn with 12 nominations.
No one is catching Streeps nomination record.
This is an untouchable record.
Thomas Little won four consecutive awards for Best Art Direction, starting with 1941sHow Green Was My Valley.
Those are all deeply impressive marks, but how can anyone touch what Disney did?
