The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It has been awarded since the 9th Academy Awards to an actor who has deli
The 2026 recipient: Sean Penn
Walter Brennan was the inaugural winner, thrice over, for: Come and Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938), and The Westerner (1940).
Joseph Schildkraut won for The Life of Émile Zola (1937).
Thomas Mitchell won for Stagecoach (1939); first male to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting".
Heath Ledger
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Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian actor. Known for his versatility across independent and major studio films, his work consisted of 20 films in a variety of genres. His accolades included an Acade
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
…Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Claude Rains, and Mark Ruffalo. For his performance in The Dark Knight (2008), Heath Ledger became the first actor to win posthumously in this category—and second overall. Christopher Plummer is the oldest actor to receive a nomination in any…
Ledger in 2006
Ledger (far right) posing with the cast and the director of I'm Not There at the 64th Venice Film Festival in September 2007, four months before his death
Ledger at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2006
Memorial for Ledger, outside 421 Broome Street, SoHo, Manhattan, 23 January 2008