With the growth of the entertainment industry and the glory of winning an Oscar, there’s at least one actor making their acting debut every year. With the growing number of actors and films released yearly, there’s a lot more competition to win the coveted Academy Awards. Interestingly, several famous actors have received nominations but are yet to win the industry’s biggest award, an Oscar.
However, there are a few actors who earned an Oscar nomination and a win with their debut film performance. Surprisingly, while several actors have won a competitive Oscar (Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress) with their debut performance, no actor has ever won Best Actor with a debut performance. These 9 living Academy Award winners won an Oscar for their debut performance.
Eva Marie Saint
American actress Eva Marie Saint began her professional acting career in 1946 and retired in 2021. Almost a decade after she began what became a 75-year career, Saint won her only Oscar with her feature film debut at the 27th Academy Awards in 1955. Eva Marie Saint received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Elia Kazan‘s crime drama On the Waterfront (1954). In the film, she played Edie Doyle, starring alongside Marlon Brando.
Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews is one of the biggest and most decorated English actresses. Born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, on October 1, 1935, Andrews was one of cinema’s most bankable actresses of the 60s. Although she did an English dub voicing Princess Zeila in La Rosa di Bagdad (1952), Julia Andrews’ feature film debut was in 1964. Andrews was cast as the titular character in the famous Walt Disney musical fantasy comedy Mary Poppins (1964). A commercial success, Mary Poppins wasn’t only a debut role for Andrews, as she also gained international recognition. Andrews was nominated for an Oscar for her excellent performance. Julie Andrews won Best Actress at the 37th Academy Award ceremony.
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand is an award-winning singer and actress. She’s also on the exclusive list of singers awarded a non-competitive EGOT. Even before making her feature film debut, Barbra Streisand was already a four-time Grammy Award winner. Streisand made her debut playing the lead character, Fanny Brice, in William Wyler‘s biographical musical comedy-drama Funny Girl (1968). Her performance gave her an Oscar nomination and win for Best Actress at the 41st Academy Awards. She shared her win for Best Actress with Katharine Hepburn, who won for her work in The Lion in Winter (1968).
Tatum O’Neal
If winning an Oscar for a film debut performance wasn’t enviable enough, actress Tatum O’Neal raised the stakes with her 1974 Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress. At 10 years old, when she received her Oscar, O’Neal became the youngest Oscar winner (competitive) in the Academy Awards history. In the 1973 Paper Moon (her film debut), Tatum O’Neal played a supporting character to her real-life father, Ryan O’Neal. Interestingly, her father wasn’t nominated for Best Actor for his performance. This was the start of the father-daughter strained relationship, especially after missing the Oscar ceremony and not being there to celebrate with his 10-year-old daughter.
Timothy Hutton
Known for his roles on the TV series A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000–2002) and Leverage (2008–2012), Timothy Hutton became the second male actor to win an Oscar with a film debut performance. Hutton’s recognized debut performance in film is playing Conrad Jarrett in the Robert Redford-directed drama Ordinary People (1980). Timothy Hutton played the on-screen son of Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore‘s characters. Hutton’s performance in the drama not only earned him a nomination but secured a win for the 20-year-old California-born actor at the 1981 Oscars.
Marlee Matlin
Actress and author Marlee Matlin is currently the last actress to win Best Actress with a debut performance. Matlin was cast as Sarah Norman in the 1986 romantic drama Children of a Lesser God. Being 21 years old when she received her Oscar, Marlee Matlin became the youngest actress to win an Oscar for Best Actress. Marlee Matlin’s Oscar win also made her the first deaf winner in Oscar history.
Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin is a Canadian and New Zealand actress. Her journey into professional acting began when she auditioned as a little girl for director Jane Campion‘s 1993 period drama The Piano. Paquin was reportedly chosen from an audition pool of 5,000, having impressed the director with her performance. It wasn’t only the director who was awed by her performance, with Anna Paquin receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Anna Paquin beat Holly Hunter, Rosie Perez, Winona Ryder, and Emma Thompson to clinch the win.
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson came into the spotlight as a contestant and finalist in season 3 of American Idol. Although she was placed seventh, the exposure helped push her career as a singer and actress. Two years after her appearance on American Idol in 2004, Hudson made her film debut playing Effie White in Bill Condon‘s musical drama Dreamgirls (2006). Starring alongside Beyoncé Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose, Danny Glover, and Keith Robinson, Hudson delivered a standout performance. It earned Hudson her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a win at the 79th Academy Awards.
Lupita Nyong’o
Beginning her career as a Production Assistant, Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o made her feature film debut in 2013. Cast as Patsey in Steve McQueen‘s 2013 biographical drama 12 Years a Slave, it became her breakthrough role, earning the actress international recognition. Nominated for Best Supporting Actress, Lupita Nyong’o beat Sally Hawkins, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts, and June Squibb to win her first-ever Oscar nomination at the 86th Academy Awards.
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