With the 96th Annual Academy Awards happening on March 10, 2024 (we know it’s happening so soon), we’re so excited to see Hollywood’s biggest night! From the red-carpet fashion to the tear-jerking speeches, we’re so ready for Sunday evening!
One thing we love to see every year is the beloved actresses we adore finally getting their flowers! And what we really love to see is actresses over 40 showing the world that they’re better than ever, and that ageism has no place at the Oscars!
Speaking of actresses over 40, did you know there have been over 130 actresses nominated for Oscars who were 40 and up? And within those hundreds, over 30 actresses have won their first Oscar over 40!
Want a walk down memory lane? We got you.
From first-time nominees to winners like Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, to iconic actresses that we’re surprised to have only one Oscar like Tilda Swinton, we have the list of al the actresses who won their first Oscar when they were over 40.
Below, see which actresses won their first Oscar in their 40s or older.
Michelle Yeoh
Back in 2023, Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once; at the age of 60.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis was 64 years old when she won her Oscar for her supporting role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Yuh-Jung Youn
Back in 2022, Yuh-Jung Youn won the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Minari at the age of 74.
Olivia Colman
Olivia Colman has been nominated for three Oscars since 2019: for her roles in the films The Favourite, The Father, and The Lost Daughter. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Favourite when she was 45 years-old.
Regina King
Back in 2018, Regina King was 48 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk.
Allison Janney
Did you know that Allison Janney was 58 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in I, Tonya?
Viola Davis
Viola Davis has been nominated for four Oscars since 2009, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2016 film Fences. She was 46 years old when she won!
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore was 54 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Still Alice.
Patricia Arquette
So far, Patricia Arquette has been nominated for three Oscars, and won one in 2014 for her supporting role in Boyhood. She was 46 years old.
Mo’Nique
Mo’Nique was 42 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Precious.
Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton was 47 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Michael Clayton.
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren has been nominated for four Academy Awards, winning once for Best Actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 film, The Queen. She won the Oscar when she was 61 years old!
Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman was nominated and won one Oscar: Best Supporting Actress for The Last Picture Show. She was 42 years old when she won!
Judi Dench
Did you know Judi Dench won her first Oscar at 64 for her supporting role in Shakespeare in Love?
Marcia Gay Harden
During the 73rd American Academy Awards, Marcia Gay Harden won the Oscar for Pollock. She was 41 years old.
Kim Basinger
Did you know that Kim Basinger was 43 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film L.A. Confidential?!
Peggy Ashcroft
Peggy Ashcroft won her first Oscar at 77 for her role in A Passage to India.
Susan Sarandon
When Susan Sarandon won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1995 movie Dead Man Walking, she was 49 years old.
Mercedes Ruehl
Back in 1992, Mercedes Ruehl was 43 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film The Fisher King.
Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates has been nominated for four OScars, and won one in 1990 for her iconic role in Misery. She was 42 when she won!
Brenda Fricker
When Brenda Fricker won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1989 film My Left Foot, she was 46 years old.
Jessica Tandy
At 80 years old, Jessica Tandy became the oldest actress to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in the iconic film, Driving Miss Daisy.
Shirley MacLaine
For those who don’t know, Shirley MacLaine was 49 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment.
Olympia Dukakis
Olympia Dukakis was 56 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1987 film Moonstruck.
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page was 61 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film The Trip to Bountiful.
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher was 41 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Beatrice Straight
Beatrice Straight was 57 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1976 film Network.
Ellen Burstyn
While Ellen Burstyn has been nominated for six Oscars so far, she won the award for Best Actress for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore when she was 41 years old.
Ruth Gordon
Ruth Gordon was 72 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby. (And she was nominated three years prior for another role!)
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was 44 when she won her first Oscar for her role in the 1970 film Airport, and she was 55 years old when she won the Oscar for her role in Reds.
Estelle Parsons
Estelle Parsons was nominated for two Oscars, once in 1967 and again in 1968, for Best Supporting Actress. She won in 1967 for her role in Bonnie and Clyde at the age of 40.
Lila Kedrova
When Lila Kedrova won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Zorba the Greek, she was 59 years old!
Margaret Rutherford
Margaret Rutherford was 71 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1963 film, The V.I.P.s.
Simone Signoret
For those who don’t know, Simone Signoret was 45 years old when she won her first Academy Award for Best Actress in Room at the Top.
Susan Hayward
At the 31st Academy Awards, Susan Hayward was 42 years old when she won for I Want to Live!
Jo Van Fleet
Jo Van Fleet was 40 years old when she won for her role in East of Eden. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role.
Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani was nominated for two Oscars for her roles in The Rose Tattoo and Wild Is the Wind. And Magnani was 44 years old when she won for The Rose Tattoo.
Shirley Booth
When Shirley Booth won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Come Back, Little Sheba, she was 54 years old.
Josephine Hull
Josephine Hull was 62 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film Harvey.
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford was 41 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her leading role in Mildred Pierce.
Anne Revere
Did you know Anne Revere was 44 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1944 film, National Velvet?
Katina Paxinou
Beloved Greek actress Katina Paxinou was 42 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1942 film, For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Jane Darwell
Jane Darwell was 57 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her iconic role in the 1940 film, The Grapes of Wrath.
Fay Bainter
Fay Bainter was 46 years old when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the iconic 1938 movie Jezebel.
Hattie McDaniel
At 44 years old, Hattie McDaniel made history as the first Black actor to win an Oscar. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Gone with the Wind.
Alice Brady
Alice Brady was 45 years old when she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1937 film In Old Chicago.
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler was nominated for two Academy Awards during her career, for her roles in Min and Bill and Emma. When she won for Min and Bill, she was 63 years old.
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