5 Youngest Oscar Winners Who Might Soon Be Joined by Timothée Chalamet

Though Adrien Brody ’s BAFTA win might have caused quite a significant downfall in Timothée Chalamet’s chances to win the Oscar this year, the actor remains one of the strongest contenders who, surprisingly, is still likely to surpass Brody.

If the stars do align for Chalamet at the upcoming ceremony set for March 2, he will become the youngest actor to ever receive the award in this category, actually having the torch passed on from Brody, who won his first Oscar back in 2002 when he was only 29.

However, this year’s nominees aren’t the only ones who achieved such heights at a relatively young age, and Chalamet might join this list in a couple of weeks.

Marlee Matlin — Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Becoming a winner in the Best Actress category at the 1987 Oscars ceremony, Marlee Matlin actually broke two major records. With the statuette she received at the age of 21, Matlin is the youngest Best Actress winner to-date and also the first deaf person that took the prize.

Children of a Lesser God was Matlin’s film debut where she starred opposite her then boyfriend William Hurt; since the latter took home his own Oscar at the previous Oscars ceremony for a drama movie Kiss of the Spider Woman, Hurt was the one who presented Matlin with the award.

Timothy Hutton — Ordinary People (1980)

In the movie, Hutton portrayed Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore’s troubled son, and the performance was eventually praised an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. After winning the award at the age of 20, Hutton became the youngest actor to receive an Oscar in the nomination.

Apart from that, Ordinary People also won another pack of the Academy awards in major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Tatum O’Neal — Paper Moon (1973)

Despite being the only Oscar win for the movie, Tatum O’Neal’s Academy award for Best Supporting Actress was a major reason to remember the movie for decades on. The young actress was only 10 years old when she took home Hollywood’s most desired statuette after starring in Paper Moon alongside her father, Ryan O’Neal.

In her acceptance speech, O’Neal thanked the film’s director, Peter Bogdanovich, and her father, not long before a streaker ran up to the stage as the winner in the Best Picture category was about to be announced.

The Oscars have long been infamous for their scandalous outcomes, but the 1974 event was just exceptional in this regard.

Markéta Irglová — Once (2007)

A Czech-Icelandic singer-songwriter, Irglová was only 19 years old when won the Academy award for Best Original Song titled Falling Slowly which she co-wrote for a 2007 Irish indie romcom Once.

The movie also stars Irglová in one of the leading roles, following an encounter of two struggling musicians who team up in a hope that their duo might turn into their breakout project after all.

Trying to make a living at jobs that have nothing to do with music, the couple starts composing songs together, and soon they realize that their musical pieces are the perfect tale about their blossoming love.

Shirley Temple

Though she wasn’t awarded an Oscar for any specific role she had in movies, Shirley Temple received a special Juvenile Academy award as a recognition of her contribution to the motion picture art when she was just 6 years old.

By the time the young actress got her first and only Oscar, Temple starred in more than 10 movies, becoming one of the leading child actors in the 1930’s Hollywood.

However, the Academy award isn’t really a recognition of Temple’s talent, since she was primarily considered one of those actresses whose lighthearted performances kept everyone’s spirits up during tough times of the Great Depression.