Meet the Academy's exclusive club of three-time acting Oscar winners
Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Sally Field and Denzel Washington hope to join
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As "Lincoln" star Daniel Day-Lewis has dominated the precursor film awards circuit thus far, he has quickly become one of the no-brainer bets on Oscar night this Sunday. His presumed victory would bring him a third Best Actor Oscar after he won previously for 1989's "My Left Foot" and 2007's "There Will Be Blood."
There are precious few actors to have won as many prizes from the Academy in their time. There have been five, in fact. And it will be their illustrious company the actor will be joining upon gracing the stage at the Academy Awards. In fact, this looks to be the second year in a row the club takes on a new member.
But Day-Lewis isn't alone in that quest. "Silver Linings Playbook" star Robert De Niro hasn't been in the Oscar hunt since 1991's "Cape Fear," but he's back in a big way this year. He's been everywhere in phase two, campaigned within an inch of his life. And it may yet pay off. He won Best Supporting Actor in 1974 for "The Godfather Part II" and Best Actor in 1980 for "Raging Bull." So, odd as it sounds, David O. Russell would follow in the shoes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese as directors to lead De Niro to an Oscar if it were to happen.
Meanwhile, Day-Lewis's "Lincoln" co-star Sally Field is perhaps futilely in the hunt for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar that seems destined for Anne Hathaway's grasp. The actress who turned "You love me! You really love me!" into the Academy Awards' biggest meme (indeed, before there was such a word for it) has won an Oscar on each attempt; she won Best Actress twice, for 1980's "Norma Rae" and 1985's "Places in the Heart." While Day-Lewis looks to break the record for most lead actor Oscars this year, though, Field and her fellow actresses with two lead actress trophies are still two away from tying that record; the leading ladies have much stiffer record book competition, as you'll soon see.
And finally there's Denzel Washington, who quietly broke a record himself this year for most Oscar nominations for an African American. His "Flight" performance is in perhaps as futile a battle as Field's work in "Lincoln" as he faces off against her sure-thing co-star, Day Lewis. He became the first African American to win a second Oscar in 2001 as his "Training Day" performance took the gold. He previously won Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for "Glory."
So who's company are they all hoping to join? Click through the brief gallery below to read up on Oscar's Threefer Club.
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2012-2013 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Documentary Feature
Best Foreign Language Film
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupPaul Outlaw
February 19, 2013 at 2:30PM EST Reply to CommentDaniel Day-Lewis is the only actor likely to ever tie Hepburn's record for four statues as a leading actor. And there's no way he'll break it.
The Club Day-Lewis and Meryl are both possibles for tying Hepburn if the right role comes along. I could see Meryl getting a Supporting Oscar when she's really old. Jack barely works anymore but hypothetically, it's been long enough that if he had one last great role he could win one more. Day-Lewis, it seems hard to believe he'd top Lincoln but then did anyone think he'd top There Will Be Blood?
February 19, 2013 at 4:51PM ESTAlso, we've had two straight years with people becoming three time winners. Will it be a while before that happens again? Whose sitting on two wins that's still active enough where it's realistic they could win a third if the right role came along? Denzel, Penn, Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Swank, Foster, Field, Lange, Caine, Spacey, Maggie Smith...Of that group, I'd say Tom Hanks seems the most likely to join the club eventually.
John G. Hanks has Captain Philips and Saving Mr. Banks next year.
February 19, 2013 at 5:03PM ESTPaul Outlaw The Club, if you read it again, you'll see that I was specifically referring ONLY to leading statues in my comment. Meryl and Jack will not tie Hepburn unless they each get two more Best Actress/Actor trophies, and that's just not going to happen.
February 19, 2013 at 5:23PM ESTAnd if it did, they would both create a record that even Hepburn never achieved: five acting Oscars (four in lead, one in supporting).
As I said, not going to happen.
Daniel Day-Lewis, on the other hand, could win this year and it's conceivable that he could win another lead statue in the future. After all, he's only 55, and Hepburn won her last one when she was in her 70s. I just don't see him winning two more (in lead).
Guy Lodge "Day-Lewis, it seems hard to believe he'd top Lincoln but then did anyone think he'd top There Will Be Blood?"
February 19, 2013 at 5:27PM ESTUm, I don't think he HAS topped There Will Be Blood.
Paul Outlaw Those two performances are very apples and oranges to me, which is part of DDL's genius. Although for me his Lincoln is more transcendent and his Plainview more visceral.
February 19, 2013 at 5:34PM ESTThe Club Outlaw- Yeah, I know you meant four in lead. I was talking more in general of who might get four total.
February 19, 2013 at 6:43PM ESTGuy- I meant more in the eyes of the Academy. Though, it does raise the question of what is the role he'll be most remembered for? If he retired and never made another film, what would be the first movie mentioned in his obit?
Guy Lodge I wouldn't say the Academy necessarily feels he's topped his previous work here. He's competing against four other actors, not himself.
February 19, 2013 at 8:02PM ESTBy that logic, every time an actor wins a second or third Oscar, it's because the Academy thinks they've given career-best work. I don't think anyone was labouring under that misconception when they voted for Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. They just liked the performance.
In response to your question, I guess it depends on where the obit is published, but I'd say There Will Be Blood -- both the film and the performance -- will be more enduring in cinephile circles.
GRubi I don't agree with Guy often, but yeah, there is no way his performance as Lincoln was better than his performance as Daniel Plainview.
February 19, 2013 at 8:44PM ESTPaul Outlaw "Daniel Day-Lewis, seven-time Academy Award winning star of films such as My Beautiful Laundrette and The Age of Innocence..."
February 19, 2013 at 9:24PM ESTprettok Katherine Hepburn won three of her oscars AFTER turning sixty. So plenty of Academy Award winners are still in play to match her.
February 19, 2013 at 10:02PM ESTThe Club I regret my choice of words in saying topped. What I meant more was that considering how much acclaim he got for There Will Be Blood, it's interesting that only five years later he's getting similar acclaim for Lincoln. And it's still too early to know what the lasting opinion of Lincoln will be. The serious cinephile (And Jeff Wells) is going to prefer There Will Be Blood to Lincoln but the King's Speech was better than Social Network crowd might be the type of people that didn't get There Will Be Blood but love Lincoln. I have a feeling Lincoln will end up having staying power in one sense. It's the perfect movie to show to a high school US History class. (It's also going to be a movie where decades from now, a 10th grader is going to watch it in class and walk out going, "That was SOOOO Boring!" Anyway, with all that being said, screw you cinephiles and your There Will Be Blood love. He was just doing a variation of Bill The Butcher with a John Huston impersonation thrown in. His defining role was clearly Guido in Nine.
February 19, 2013 at 10:18PM ESTWaltz Up?
February 19, 2013 at 4:33PM EST Reply to CommentIs Christoph Waltz destined to become the next Walter Brennan?
John G. Christoph Waltzer Brennan
February 19, 2013 at 5:01PM ESTKristopher Tapley Okay, that ^^^ made me chuckle.
February 19, 2013 at 5:11PM ESTDonald
February 19, 2013 at 11:43PM EST Reply to CommentYou misquoted one of the most famous acceptance speeches in Oscar history. What Sally Field gushed was, "You like me, right now, you like me."
JLPatt Indeed. One of my biggest pet peeve misnomers!
February 20, 2013 at 1:17AM ESTBD That line is ALWAYS misquoted. Didn't she get like a banner where she was filming Murphys Romance the day after? I believe even that banner was misquoted just hours after the speech.
February 20, 2013 at 8:48AM ESTIt's just like "I'm ready for my closeup Mr DeMille"...not quite what Norma said.
Donald And lest we forget, "Play it again, Sam," or "I love how napalm smells when I wake up."
February 20, 2013 at 9:24AM ESTPaul Outlaw This is the first time I've ever seen the napalm line misquoted.
February 20, 2013 at 2:05PM EST"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."
Donald Just to clarify; that was supposed to be a joke.
February 20, 2013 at 5:30PM ESTWalter
February 21, 2013 at 4:04PM EST Reply to CommentHepburn's record will be hard to break, mostly because the Academy doesn't really give out those "career" or "we're sorry" Oscars they used to love giving out (think Helen Hayes in 1970 or Don Ameche in 1985).
Hepburn arguably had two of those: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" because Spencer Tracy had just died and everyone thought she was done acting, and "On Golden Pond" because she was old (she was pretty much absent from the second half of the film anyway). Her performance in "The Lion in Winter" must've taken the Academy by surprise. That she could still give a great performance while clearly enjoying herself gave her another award a year after her sympathy prize, though it was a tie with Streisand.
Streep and Day-Lewis are young enough to match Hepburn, but Streep especially faces the problem of "she's always here, we'll eventually give her another one when there's a weak field or when there's no 'it' actress we need to give an award to." That's how she loses for Julia Child but wins for Margaret Thatcher. And unless Jack Nicholson reappears in quality movies, his Warren Schmidt was his last shot at four Oscars.