10 Youngest Oscar Winners, Ranked (2024)

With the Oscars coming up on March 11, now's a good time to brush up on Academy Award records and trivia. There are all sorts of interesting stats to chew on, like who's won the most awards (it's Walt Disney with 22), who has the most nominations without a win (Peter O'Toole and Glenn Close), and which films have won all the Big Five awards (It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Silence of the Lambs).

Another interesting record category is that of the youngest winners. Some impressively youthful artists have taken home Oscar gold, usually in the acting categories. These performers prove that one doesn't need to be a veteran to turn in stellar work or go toe-to-toe with the greats. These are the ten youngest people to win a competitive Oscar, ranked by age.

10 Anne Baxter - 'The Razor's Edge' (1946)

Age: 23

"I don’t think I’ll ever find peace until I make up my mind about things." The Razor's Edge is a Golden Age drama based on a novel by English writer W. Somerset Maugham. It centers on Larry Darrell (Tyrone Power), a young American man who has been shell-shocked by his experiences as a pilot in World War I. Gripped by an existential crisis, he flouts social conventions and searches for a deeper meaning to his life.

Anne Baxter appears as Sophie MacDonald, a childhood friend of Larry's who is now dating Bob (Frank Latimore). They have a baby girl, but Sophie's life is shattered when a car crash takes both her husband and child. The script calls on Baxter to perform extreme shock, grief, and confusion, and she ably rises to the occasion. The Razor's Edge isn't really worth watching as anything other than a historical curio, but Baxter's performance is easily the strongest.

Rent on Amazon

9 Janet Gaynor - 'Sunrise' (1927)

Age: 22

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is a masterpiece by the legend of German Expressionist cinema, F.W. Murnau. It focuses on a Man (George O'Brien), who is manipulated by a seductive Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston). She convinces the Man to kill his wife (Janet Gaynor). He takes his wife on a boat ride, during which he plans to drown her, but his conscience poses a stumbling block to his diabolical plans.

The film is rightly held in high regard and considered a classic, both for the performances and for Murnau's visual mastery. He shoots his performers with a highly mobile camera and a wealth of powerful visual effects that were cutting-edge for their time. Gaynor's performance, in particular, was highly acclaimed. She actually won the first ever Best Actress Oscar for her efforts, although at this stage the award was still given to honor all of an actor's performances in a given year, rather than a single film. Thus, her award was also for her work in the films 7th Heaven and Street Angel.

Watch on Tubi

8 Jennifer Lawrence - 'Silver Linings Playbook' (2012)

Age: 22

Jennifer Lawrence had already appeared in mega-franchises like X-Men and The Hunger Games, but her Oscar win for Silver Linings Playbook cemented her place in the Hollywood pantheon. She plays Tiffany Maxwell, a young widow struggling to cope with her own grief and emotional turmoil. Her pain manifests in erratic behavior and a reputation for promiscuity. When she crosses paths with Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper), a recently released patient grappling with Bipolar Disorder and the collapse of his marriage, their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways.

Lawrence's portrayal of Tiffany is a tour de force, capturing the character's fierce independence and underlying vulnerability with raw authenticity. She touches on difficult subject matters but handles the character with charm and a light touch. Lawrence's finest moment in the movie may be the scene where she confronts Robert De Niro's character in spectacular fashion. She and Cooper also have undeniable chemistry, which elevates the film above similar, more mediocre fare.

Watch On Netflix

7 Marlee Matlin - 'Children of a Lesser God' (1986)

Age: 21

Children of a Lesser God follows the romance between James Leeds (William Hurt), a speech teacher at a school for the deaf with a penchant for unconventional methods, and Sarah Notman (Marlee Matlin), a young deaf woman who works there as a janitor. They form a surprising connection, and James seeks to understand why Sarah chooses not to use her voice. However, the school superintendent disapproves of the relationship.

Both lead performances were praised, and for good reason. It's the kind of story that could turn out sweet but a little overwrought, yet they keep it all grounded. Matlin, specifically, manages to be highly emotive, ironic, funny, and moving, conveying so much with just her signing. Impressively, this was her debut film performance, and it won her the Best Actress Oscar. This made her the youngest winner in the category's history, as well as the first deaf person to ever win an Academy Award.

Watch on Hoopla

6 Timothy Hutton - 'Ordinary People' (1980)

Age: 20

"Maybe, finally, it was the best of you that you buried." This drama was Robert Redford's directorial debut. Timothy Hutton leads the cast as Conrad Jarrett, a troubled teenager grappling with survivor's guilt following the death of his older brother, Buck, in a sailing accident. Haunted by memories of the tragedy and struggling with PTSD, Conrad attempts to navigate the fractured relationships within his family, including his narcissistic mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), and well-meaning but emotionally distant father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland).

As Conrad seeks solace in therapy and forms a tentative connection with a fellow patient, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Hutton is great in the part, capturing both Conrad's fear, self-loathing, and isolation at the beginning, as well as his growth and transformation over the course of the film. Redford's direction was also praised for its realism, frankness, and sensitive handling of challenging themes.

Watch on Max

5 Billie Eilish - 'No Time to Die' (2021)

Age: 20

Billie Eilish won the Best Original Song Oscar for the theme music to Daniel Craig's final outing as 007, alongside her brother, producer Finneas O'Connell. It was the third consecutive Bond theme to win the award, following Adele's "Skyfall" and "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith. Impressively, Eilish was just 18 years old when the song was recorded. It was not only praised by reviewers but commercially successful, debuting atop the UK Single Chart.

At first glance, Eilish may not have seemed like an obvious choice from a Bond song, but she absolutely knocked it out of the park. The track suits the vibe of the film to a tee. Eilish is now up for the award again at this year's Oscar for her song "What Was I Made For?" from Barbie. If she wins, she will be the youngest person to have won two Oscars, while her brother (who again co-wrote) will be the second youngest.

Watch on Prime

4 Markéta Irglová - 'Once' (2007)

Age: 19

Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard star in this romantic drama as a pair of aspiring musicians struggling to get by in Dublin. Guy is a busker who repairs vacuum cleaners to eke out a living. Girl is a Czech flower seller with a talent for the piano. They meet and their shared passion for music sparks a transformative connection. Together, they begin writing and recording songs, hoping to find a way out of their bleak circumstances.

The soundtrack includes many fantastic original pieces, but the highlight is "Falling Slowly," written by the leads themselves, which won the Best Original Song Oscar. There was initially some controversy over the win, as versions of the track had appeared in another movie that had come out the year before, but these issues were resolved before the awards were handed out. Irglová's songwriting displays a startling maturity, given that she was still a teenager at the time.

Watch on Peacock

3 Patty Duke - 'The Miracle Worker' (1962)

Age: 16

"You can see 2000 years back in the light of words. Everything we feel, think, know, and share in words. So not a soul is in darkness, or done with even in the grave." A young Patty Duke won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance here as Helen Keller, having first originated the role on Broadway. The Miracle Worker is about the extraordinary relationship between Keller and her dedicated teacher, Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft). Duke is astonishing as Keller, a young girl who was left blind, deaf, and mute after an illness in infancy.

Trapped in a world of darkness and silence, Helen's frustrated and uncontrollable behavior tests the patience of her family. Enter Annie, who arrives at the Keller household to unlock Helen's potential. Duke's portrayal of Keller is both heartbreaking and triumphant, as she captures the character's wild, untamed spirit and the rage at her isolation.

Watch on Tubi

2 Anna Paquin - The Piano '(1992)

Age: 11

"I have not spoken since I was 6 years old. Nobody knows why, least of all myself." The Piano is perhaps the defining film by director Jane Campion. Holly Hunter stars as Ada McGrath, a mute woman who is sold into a marriage with Alisdair Stewart (Sam Neill), a New Zealand frontiersman. She moves from Scotland to this rugged wilderness with her daughter Flora (Anna Paquin), who acts as her interpreter. Apart from Flora, Ada's only other modes of communication are sign language and playing the piano.

Much of the drama revolves around the romance between Ada and George Baines (Harvey Keitel), a retired sailor who is Alisdair's neighbor. Passions become inflamed, with violent consequences. Paquin turns in a touching, haunting performance as Flora, the silent witness to the tumultuous events that unfold. She is complex and wordy, forever inventing lies or revealing inconvenient truths for maximum impact. It's one of the best performances by a child actor ever.

Rent on Amazon

1 Tatum O'Neal - 'Paper Moon' (1973)

Age: 10

Paper Moon is a comedy-drama by New Hollywood director and film historianPeter Bogdanovich, perhaps most well-known for The Last Picture Show. Real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal star as Moses Pray and Addie Loggins. The girl turns out to be an orphan, so Moses, a con man, agrees to transport her to her aunt's home in St. Joseph, Missouri. Along the way, they get involved in a series of madcap escapades and more than a handful of scams.

The affection between the two performers is clear to see, reflecting their actual relationship in the real world. They seem raw and authentic, and watching them together is a pure delight. Addie is quirky and three-dimensional, impossible not to like, so it's easy to see why the Academy voters were taken with her. Madeline Kahn was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in Paper Moon, but Addie took home the gold, making her the youngest Oscar winner there's ever been - and, most likely, ever will be.

Watch on Max