The Academy Award for Best Director is one of the awards given to directors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations are made by Academy members in the Directing branch, while the winners are chosen by the Academy membership as a whole. Since the inception of this award, 58 of the 79 Oscars for Best Director were for films that also won the Oscar for Best Picture.[1] Throughout the past 79 years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, AMPAS has presented a total of 81 Best Director awards to 59 different directors.

At the 1st Academy Awards, for films released in 1927/1928, there were two directing awards -- one for "Dramatic Direction" and one for "Comedy Direction." The Comedy Direction award was eliminated the next year and, indeed, the awards have overwhelmingly favored dramatic films ever since.

The earliest years of the award are marked by inconsistency and confusion. In the Academy Awards' first year, actors and others such as cinematographers were nominated for all of their films produced during the qualifying period. However, since the directing award was for "directing" rather than "best director", it honored the director in association with only a single film -- thus Janet Gaynor has two Frank Borzage films listed after her Best Actress nomination, but only one of them earned Borzage a directing nomination. The second year, the directing award followed the others in listing all of a director's work during the qualifying period, resulting in Frank Lloyd being nominated for three of his films -- but, even more confusingly, only one of them was listed on the final award as the film for which he won. Finally, for the 1931 awards, this confusing system was replaced by the modern system in which a director is nominated for a single film.

Many revered directors have never won the award, including Robert Altman (5 nominations), Michelangelo Antonioni (1 nomination), Ingmar Bergman (3 nominations), John Cassavetes (1 nomination), Charles Chaplin (1 nomination), Federico Fellini (4 nominations), Howard Hawks (1 nomination), Alfred Hitchcock (5 nominations), Stanley Kramer (3 nominations), Stanley Kubrick (4 nominations), Akira Kurosawa (1 nomination), Sergio Leone (0 nominations), Ernst Lubitsch (3 nominations), Sidney Lumet (4 nominations), David Lynch (3 nominations), Terence Malick (1 nomination), Arthur Penn (3 nominations), Ridley Scott (3 nominations), King Vidor (5 nominations), Peter Weir (4 nominations), George Lucas (2 nominations), and Orson Welles (1 nomination). Stephen Daldry has been nominated for both of his first two features without winning on either, a unique feat.

A few films have won Best Picture without their directors being nominated, though only one since the early 1930s, Driving Miss Daisy (1989). The others are both of the winners of Best Picture-like awards in 1927/28, Sunrise and Wings, and Grand Hotel (1932). The only directing winners to win for films which did not receive a Best Picture nomination are likewise at the very beginning: Lewis Milestone, director of the lone Comedy Direction winner Two Arabian Knights, and Frank Lloyd, none of whose three 1929 directing nominees was a Best Picture nominee.

No female director has ever won this award, and only three (Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, and Lina Wertmuller) have ever been nominated.

Though no one has won Best Actor and Best Director for the same film, winners Warren Beatty (Reds),Woody Allen (Annie Hall), Kevin Costner (Dances with Wolves), and Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby) all directed themselves in performances which received acting nominations. Furthermore, nominees Laurence Olivier and Roberto Benigni directed their own Oscar-winning performances in Hamlet and Life Is Beautiful, respectively.

John Ford is the only director with four Best Director Oscars, followed by Frank Capra and William Wyler, with three Best Director Academy Awards apiece. Wyler has the most nominations, 12. Robert Altman, Clarence Brown, Alfred Hitchcock, and King Vidor are tied for the most nominations without a win, at five each.

No Best Director winning film is lost, though the nominee The Patriot is lost and nominee Sorrell and Son is incomplete. Drag (one of the films for which Frank Lloyd was nominated but did not win in 1929) has long been presumed lost, though there are rumors of its survival, possibly only on videotape, and the Vitaphone discs of its soundtrack survive. The Comedy Direction winner, Two Arabian Knights, was believed lost for many years but was preserved in the Howard Hughes archive and has been broadcast (along with another first-year nominee produced by Hughes and believed lost, The Racket) on Turner Classic Movies.

Superlatives

Category	Name	Superlative	Year	Notes
Most Awards	John Ford	4 awards	1952	Awards resulted from 5 nominations.
Most Nominations	William Wyler	12 nominations	1965	Nominations resulted in 3 awards.
Oldest Winner	Clint Eastwood	74 years old	2004	Million Dollar Baby
Oldest Nominee	John Huston	79 years old	1985	Prizzi's Honor
Youngest Winner	Norman Taurog	32 years old	1930/31	Skippy
Youngest Nominee	John Singleton	24 years old	1991	Boyz N the Hood

Winners and nominees

Each Academy Award ceremony is listed chronologically below along with the winner of the Academy Award for Directing and the film associated with the award. In the column next to the winner of each award are the other nominees for best director. Following the Academy's practice, the films below are listed by the years of their Los Angeles qualifying run, which is usually (but not always) in the year of release; for example, the Oscar for Best Director of 1999 was announced during the award ceremony held in 2000.

1920s

In the first year only, the award was separated into Dramatic Direction and Comedy Direction.

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1927/1928 Dramatic	Frank Borzage Seventh Heaven	Herbert Brenon - Sorrell and Son King Vidor - The Crowd
Comedy	Lewis Milestone Two Arabian Knights	Charles Chaplin - The Circus Ted Wilde - Speedy
1928/1929	Frank Lloyd The Divine Lady	Lionel Barrymore - Madame X Harry Beaumont - The Broadway Melody Irving Cummings - In Old Arizona Frank Lloyd - Weary River and Drag Ernst Lubitsch - The Patriot

1930s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1929/1930	Lewis Milestone All Quiet on the Western Front	Clarence Brown - Anna Christie Clarence Brown - Romance Robert Z. Leonard - The Divorcée Ernst Lubitsch - The Love Parade King Vidor - Hallelujah
1930/1931	Norman Taurog Skippy	Clarence Brown - A Free Soul Lewis Milestone - The Front Page Wesley Ruggles - Cimarron Josef von Sternberg - Morocco
1931/1932	Frank Borzage Bad Girl	King Vidor - The Champ Josef von Sternberg - Shanghai Express
1932/1933	Frank Lloyd Cavalcade	Frank Capra - Lady for a Day George Cukor - Little Women
1934	Frank Capra It Happened One Night	Victor Schertzinger - One Night of Love W. S. Van Dyke - The Thin Man
1935	John Ford The Informer	Henry Hathaway - The Lives of a Bengal Lancer Frank Lloyd - Mutiny on the Bounty
1936	Frank Capra Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Gregory La Cava - My Man Godfrey Robert Z. Leonard - The Great Ziegfeld W. S. Van Dyke - San Francisco William Wyler - Dodsworth
1937	Leo McCarey The Awful Truth	William Dieterle - The Life of Emile Zola Sidney Franklin - The Good Earth Gregory La Cava - Stage Door William A. Wellman - A Star Is Born
1938	Frank Capra You Can't Take It with You	Michael Curtiz - Angels with Dirty Faces Michael Curtiz - Four Daughters Norman Taurog - Boys Town King Vidor - The Citadel
1939	Victor Fleming Gone with the Wind	Frank Capra - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington John Ford - Stagecoach Sam Wood - Goodbye, Mr. Chips William Wyler - Wuthering Heights

1940s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1940	John Ford The Grapes of Wrath	George Cukor - The Philadelphia Story Alfred Hitchcock - Rebecca Sam Wood - Kitty Foyle William Wyler - The Letter
1941	John Ford How Green Was My Valley	Alexander Hall - Here Comes Mr. Jordan Howard Hawks - Sergeant York Orson Welles - Citizen Kane William Wyler - The Little Foxes
1942	William Wyler Mrs. Miniver	Michael Curtiz - Yankee Doodle Dandy John Farrow - Wake Island Mervyn LeRoy - Random Harvest Sam Wood - Kings Row
1943	Michael Curtiz Casablanca	Clarence Brown - The Human Comedy Henry King - The Song of Bernadette Ernst Lubitsch - Heaven Can Wait George Stevens - The More the Merrier
1944	Leo McCarey Going My Way	Alfred Hitchcock - Lifeboat Henry King - Wilson Otto Preminger - Laura Billy Wilder - Double Indemnity
1945	Billy Wilder The Lost Weekend	Clarence Brown - National Velvet Alfred Hitchcock - Spellbound Leo McCarey - The Bells of St. Mary's Jean Renoir - The Southerner
1946	William Wyler The Best Years of Our Lives	Clarence Brown - The Yearling Frank Capra - It's a Wonderful Life David Lean - Brief Encounter Robert Siodmak - The Killers
1947	Elia Kazan Gentleman's Agreement	George Cukor - A Double Life Edward Dmytryk - Crossfire Henry Koster - The Bishop's Wife David Lean - Great Expectations
1948	John Huston The Treasure of the Sierra Madre	Anatole Litvak - The Snake Pit Jean Negulesco - Johnny Belinda Laurence Olivier - Hamlet Fred Zinnemann - The Search
1949	Joseph L. Mankiewicz A Letter to Three Wives	Carol Reed - The Fallen Idol Robert Rossen - All the King's Men William A. Wellman - Battleground William Wyler - The Heiress

1950s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1950	Joseph L. Mankiewicz All About Eve	George Cukor - Born Yesterday John Huston - The Asphalt Jungle Carol Reed - The Third Man Billy Wilder - Sunset Boulevard
1951	George Stevens ''A Place in the Sun	John Huston - The African Queen Elia Kazan - A Streetcar Named Desire Vincente Minnelli - An American in Paris William Wyler - Detective Story
1952	John Ford The Quiet Man	Cecil B. DeMille - The Greatest Show on Earth John Huston - Moulin Rouge Joseph L. Mankiewicz - 5 Fingers Fred Zinnemann - High Noon
1953	Fred Zinnemann From Here to Eternity	George Stevens - Shane Charles Walters - Lili Billy Wilder - Stalag 17 William Wyler - Roman Holiday
1954	Elia Kazan On the Waterfront	Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window George Seaton - The Country Girl William A. Wellman - The High and the Mighty Billy Wilder - Sabrina
1955	Delbert Mann Marty	Elia Kazan - East of Eden David Lean - Summertime Joshua Logan - Picnic John Sturges - Bad Day at Black Rock
1956	George Stevens Giant	Michael Anderson - Around the World in Eighty Days Walter Lang - The King and I King Vidor - War and Peace William Wyler - Friendly Persuasion
1957	David Lean The Bridge on the River Kwai	Joshua Logan - Sayonara Sidney Lumet - 12 Angry Men Mark Robson - Peyton Place Billy Wilder - Witness for the Prosecution
1958	Vincente Minnelli Gigi	Richard Brooks - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Stanley Kramer - The Defiant Ones Mark Robson - The Inn of the Sixth Happiness Robert Wise - I Want to Live!
1959	William Wyler Ben-Hur	Jack Clayton - Room at the Top George Stevens - The Diary of Anne Frank Billy Wilder - Some Like It Hot Fred Zinnemann - The Nun's Story

1960s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1960	Billy Wilder The Apartment	Jack Cardiff - Sons and Lovers Jules Dassin - Never on Sunday Alfred Hitchcock - Psycho Fred Zinnemann - The Sundowners
1961	Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins West Side Story	Federico Fellini - La dolce vita Stanley Kramer - Judgment at Nuremberg Robert Rossen - The Hustler J. Lee Thompson - The Guns of Navarone
1962	David Lean Lawrence of Arabia	Pietro Germi - Divorce, Italian Style Robert Mulligan - To Kill a Mockingbird Arthur Penn - The Miracle Worker Frank Perry - David and Lisa
1963	Tony Richardson Tom Jones	Federico Fellini - 8½ Elia Kazan - America, America Otto Preminger - The Cardinal Martin Ritt - Hud
1964	George Cukor My Fair Lady	Michael Cacoyannis - Zorba the Greek Peter Glenville - Becket Stanley Kubrick - Robert Stevenson - Mary Poppins
1965	Robert Wise The Sound of Music	David Lean - Doctor Zhivago John Schlesinger - Darling Hiroshi Teshigahara - Woman in the Dunes William Wyler - The Collector
1966	Fred Zinnemann A Man for All Seasons	Michelangelo Antonioni - Blowup Richard Brooks - The Professionals Claude Lelouch - A Man and a Woman Mike Nichols - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
1967	Mike Nichols The Graduate	Richard Brooks - In Cold Blood Norman Jewison - In the Heat of the Night Stanley Kramer - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Arthur Penn - Bonnie and Clyde
1968	Carol Reed Oliver!	Anthony Harvey - The Lion in Winter Stanley Kubrick - Gillo Pontecorvo - The Battle of Algiers Franco Zeffirelli - Romeo and Juliet
1969	John Schlesinger Midnight Cowboy	Costa-Gavras - Z George Roy Hill - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Arthur Penn - Alice's Restaurant Sydney Pollack - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1970s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1970	Franklin J. Schaffner Patton	Robert Altman - MASH Federico Fellini - Satyricon Arthur Hiller - Love Story Ken Russell - Women in Love
1971	William Friedkin The French Connection	Peter Bogdanovich - The Last Picture Show Norman Jewison - Fiddler on the Roof Stanley Kubrick - A Clockwork Orange John Schlesinger - Sunday Bloody Sunday
1972	Bob Fosse Cabaret	John Boorman - Deliverance Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather Joseph L. Mankiewicz - Sleuth Jan Troell - The Emigrants
1973	George Roy Hill The Sting	Ingmar Bergman - Cries and Whispers Bernardo Bertolucci - Last Tango in Paris William Friedkin - The Exorcist George Lucas - American Graffiti
1974	Francis Ford Coppola The Godfather Part II	John Cassavetes - A Woman Under the Influence Bob Fosse - Lenny Roman Polanski - Chinatown François Truffaut - La Nuit américaine
1975	Miloš Forman One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Robert Altman - Nashville Federico Fellini - Amarcord Stanley Kubrick - Barry Lyndon Sidney Lumet - Dog Day Afternoon
1976	John G. Avildsen Rocky	Ingmar Bergman - Face to Face Sidney Lumet - Network Alan J. Pakula - All the President's Men Lina Wertmüller - Seven Beauties
1977	Woody Allen Annie Hall	George Lucas - Herbert Ross - The Turning Point Steven Spielberg - Close Encounters of the Third Kind Fred Zinnemann - Julia
1978	Michael Cimino The Deer Hunter	Woody Allen - Interiors Hal Ashby - Coming Home Warren Beatty, Buck Henry - Heaven Can Wait Alan Parker - Midnight Express
1979	Robert Benton Kramer vs. Kramer	Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now Bob Fosse - All That Jazz Edouard Molinaro - La Cage aux Folles Peter Yates - Breaking Away

1980s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1980	Robert Redford Ordinary People	David Lynch - The Elephant Man Roman Polanski - Tess Richard Rush - The Stunt Man Martin Scorsese - Raging Bull
1981	Warren Beatty Reds	Hugh Hudson - Chariots of Fire Louis Malle - Atlantic City Mark Rydell - On Golden Pond Steven Spielberg - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982	Richard Attenborough Gandhi	Sidney Lumet - The Verdict Wolfgang Petersen - Das Boot Sydney Pollack - Tootsie Steven Spielberg - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1983	James L. Brooks Terms of Endearment	Bruce Beresford - Tender Mercies Ingmar Bergman - Fanny and Alexander Mike Nichols - Silkwood Peter Yates - The Dresser
1984	Miloš Forman Amadeus	Woody Allen - Broadway Danny Rose Robert Benton - Places in the Heart Roland Joffé - The Killing Fields David Lean - A Passage to India
1985	Sydney Pollack Out of Africa	Hector Babenco - Kiss of the Spider Woman John Huston - Prizzi's Honor Akira Kurosawa - Ran Peter Weir - Witness
1986	Oliver Stone Platoon	Woody Allen - Hannah and Her Sisters James Ivory - A Room with a View Roland Joffé - The Mission David Lynch - Blue Velvet
1987	Bernardo Bertolucci The Last Emperor	John Boorman - Hope and Glory Lasse Hallström - My Life as a Dog Norman Jewison - Moonstruck Adrian Lyne - Fatal Attraction
1988	Barry Levinson Rain Man	Charles Crichton - A Fish Called Wanda Mike Nichols - Working Girl Alan Parker - Mississippi Burning Martin Scorsese - The Last Temptation of Christ
1989	Oliver Stone Born on the Fourth of July	Woody Allen - Crimes and Misdemeanors Kenneth Branagh - Henry V Jim Sheridan - My Left Foot Peter Weir - Dead Poets Society

1990s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
1990	Kevin Costner Dances with Wolves	Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather: Part III Stephen Frears - The Grifters Barbet Schroeder - Reversal of Fortune Martin Scorsese - Goodfellas
1991	Jonathan Demme The Silence of the Lambs	Barry Levinson - Bugsy Ridley Scott - Thelma and Louise John Singleton - Boyz N the Hood Oliver Stone - JFK
1992	Clint Eastwood Unforgiven	Robert Altman - The Player Martin Brest - Scent of a Woman James Ivory - Howards End Neil Jordan - The Crying Game
1993	Steven Spielberg Schindler's List	Robert Altman - Short Cuts Jane Campion - The Piano James Ivory - The Remains of the Day Jim Sheridan - In the Name of the Father
1994	Robert Zemeckis Forrest Gump	Woody Allen - Bullets Over Broadway Krzysztof Kieslowski - aka Robert Redford - Quiz Show Quentin Tarantino - Pulp Fiction
1995	Mel Gibson Braveheart	Mike Figgis - Leaving Las Vegas Chris Noonan - Babe Michael Radford - Il Postino aka The Postman Tim Robbins - Dead Man Walking
1996	Anthony Minghella The English Patient	Joel Coen - Fargo Miloš Forman - The People vs. Larry Flynt Scott Hicks - Shine Mike Leigh - Secrets & Lies
1997	James Cameron Titanic	Peter Cattaneo - The Full Monty Atom Egoyan - The Sweet Hereafter Curtis Hanson - L.A. Confidential Gus Van Sant - Good Will Hunting
1998	Steven Spielberg Saving Private Ryan	Roberto Benigni - La Vita è Bella aka Life Is Beautiful John Madden - Shakespeare in Love Terrence Malick - The Thin Red Line Peter Weir - The Truman Show
1999	Sam Mendes American Beauty	Lasse Hallström - The Cider House Rules Spike Jonze - Being John Malkovich Michael Mann - The Insider M. Night Shyamalan - The Sixth Sense

2000s

Year	Winner film	Nominated
2000	Steven Soderbergh Traffic	Stephen Daldry - Billy Elliot Ang Lee - Wo hu cang long aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Ridley Scott - Gladiator Steven Soderbergh - Erin Brockovich
2001	Ron Howard A Beautiful Mind	Robert Altman - Gosford Park Peter Jackson - David Lynch - Mulholland Drive Ridley Scott - Black Hawk Down
2002	Roman Polanski The Pianist	Pedro Almodóvar - Hable con ella aka Talk to Her Stephen Daldry - The Hours Rob Marshall - Chicago Martin Scorsese - Gangs of New York
2003	Peter Jackson	Sofia Coppola - Lost in Translation Clint Eastwood - Mystic River Fernando Meirelles - Cidade de Deus aka City of God Peter Weir -
2004	Clint Eastwood Million Dollar Baby	Taylor Hackford - Ray Mike Leigh - Vera Drake Alexander Payne - Sideways Martin Scorsese - The Aviator
2005	Ang Lee Brokeback Mountain	George Clooney - Good Night, and Good Luck. Paul Haggis - Crash Bennett Miller - Capote Steven Spielberg - Munich
2006	Martin Scorsese The Departed	Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima Stephen Frears - The Queen Alejandro González Iñárritu - Babel Paul Greengrass - United 93

See also

• List of Best Director winners by age at win
• List of directors
• Lists of films

External links

• Oscars.org (official Academy site)
• Oscar.com (official ceremony promotional site)
• The Academy Awards Database (official site)

•  • [ e] Academy Awards
Academy Award of Merit: Current Awards	Best Picture • Best Leading Actor • Best Leading Actress • Best Supporting Actor • Best Supporting Actress • Best Animated Feature • Best Art Direction • Best Cinematography • Best Costume Design • Best Director • Best Documentary Feature • Best Documentary Short Subject • Best Film Editing • Best Foreign Language Film • Best Makeup • Best Original Score • Best Original Song • Best Animated Short Film • Best Live Action Short Film • Best Sound Mixing • Best Sound Editing • Best Visual Effects • Best Adapted Screenplay • Best Original Screenplay
Academy Award of Merit: Retired Awards	Best Assistant Director • Best Dance Direction • Best Director of a Comedy Picture • Best Short Film - Live Action - 2 Reels • Best Short Film - Novelty • Best Original Story • Best Title Writing • Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production
Special Awards: Current Awards	Academy Honorary Award • Academy Special Achievement Award • Academy Award, Scientific or Technical • The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award • The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award • Gordon E. Sawyer Award
Special Awards: Retired Awards	Academy Juvenile Award
Ceremonies	1927/28 • 1928/29 • 1929/30 • 1930/31 • 1931/32 • 1932/33 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936 • 1937 • 1938 • 1939 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1944 • 1945 • 1946 • 1947 • 1948 • 1949 • 1950 • 1951 • 1952 • 1953 • 1954 • 1955 • 1956 • 1957 • 1958 • 1959 • 1960 • 1961 • 1962 • 1963 • 1964 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 (Note: The years are listed as per Academy convention, usually the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the next year.)