These 16 Actors Won Oscars With Their First-Ever Movies, But Sure, I Guess My Desk Job Is Impressive Too

Some people just come out the gate winners.

1. Not only did Harold Russell win Best Supporting Actor for his first-ever acting role in The Best Years of Our Lives in 1947, he simultaneously became the first person to win two Oscars for the same part.

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It was the first part the first the former soldier took after coming home wounded from World War II. Allegedly convinced he wouldn't win an award on merit alone, the Academy voted for Russell to receive an honourary Oscar for "bringing aid and comfort to disabled veterans through the medium of motion pictures." This award had the supposed aim of "thanking veterans."

Harold received the honourary Oscar alongside his Best Supporting Actor award. He later became the first person to sell an Oscar, accepting a cool $55k from a collector in 1992.

2. Mary Poppins was Julie Andrew's first big-screen movie role — it landed her the 1965 Best Actress award.

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Though she'd made some TV appearances before, Mary Poppins was her first Hollywood movie designed for the big screen.

3. Lupita Nyong'o's 2014 Best Supporting Actress Oscar came after her breakout Hollywood movie role in 12 Years A Slave.

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She had appeared in some TV shows and had had smaller roles in movies — makes sense, as she studied at the Yale School of Drama. But she landed her first huge big-screen part before she'd even graduated, and promptly earned her first Oscar.

4. After a glittering stage career, Shirley Booth netted the 1952 Best Actress award for her first-ever movie role.

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She'd already won two Tony awards before she landed the Oscar, but her first-ever movie role in Come Back, Little Sheba earned her an Academy Award, too. She was also the first actress to win an Oscar and a Tony for the same role. 

5. 11-year-old Anna Paquin won Best Supporting Actress in 1994's Oscars for her first-ever acting role in The Piano.

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She had already voiced a character in Laputa: Castle in the Sky in 1986 (i.e., when she was around four), but this was her first on-screen acting role.

6. Effie White in Dreamgirls was Jennifer Hudson's debut acting role — and it resulted in her first Oscar, too.

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In her 2007 Best Supporting Actress speech, she thanked Jennifer Holliday, who played the OG Broadway role.

7. Barbara Streisand won Best Actress for her first off-stage acting role in Funny Girl.

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She'd already played the character on stage before accepting the movie role; she dazzled in the film adaptation, tying with Katharine Hepburn for Best Actress in the 1969 Oscars. 

8. In 1974, Tatum O'Neal won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her first movie role in Paper Moon. She was only 10 years old.

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She starred opposite her father,  Ryan O'Neal, in the movie; he did not receive a nomination, while she won. This caused some tension in the family, the actor says.

9. Timothy Hutton's breakout big-screen movie role in Ordinary People landed him Best Supporting Actor in 1981.

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Though he had appeared on TV before and had also played an uncredited role as "boy running to his daddy" in Never Too Late, Ordinary People was Timothy Hutton's first-ever big-screen movie role. 

10. Haing S. Ngor's debut acting role in The Killing Fields earned him Best Supporting Actor in 1985 (making him the first Asian Oscar Winner in that category).

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The former gynaecologist's career change was pretty successful, right?

11. Not only did Marlee Matlin win Best Actress in 1987 with her first movie Children of a Lesser God, but she was also the only ever deaf actor to have won any Oscar until 2022.

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She had acted on stage throughout her childhood and netted an Oscar with her first-ever movie role. 

12. Mercedes McCambridge won Best Supporting Actress in her debut movie role in All The King's Men.

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She had appeared in a TV show beforehand, but her first-ever movie landed her Best Supporting Actress in the 1950 Oscars.

13. Eva Marie Saint had never acted in a big-screen movie before she starred in On the Waterfront — for which she won Best Supporting Actress in 1955.

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To be fair though, she had built up an impressive TV CV by the time she won the award in 1955.

14. Jo Van Fleet's breakout role in East of Eden landed her Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1956.

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Again, she had had a successful TV career before this — nonetheless, it's pretty impressive to win an Oscar first-time, right? 

15. Katina Paxinou's first-ever role in For Whom The Bell Tolls ended in her 1944 Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar.

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She had performed on stage before her Oscar win, even helping to found the National Theatre of Greece. 

16. Gale Sondergaard, whose first role was in Anthony Adverse, won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her part in the movie in 1937.

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She also won Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Anna and the King of Siam 10 years later.

Do you have any actors you think deserved to win an Oscar for their performance, but never did? Let us know in the comments below!