Top 10 Oscar Wins Of The 1970s

The 1970s kicked off with a bang with George C. Scott’s portrayal of the real-life World War II hero George S. Patton in Franklin J. Schaffner’s Patton.

This nearly-three hour epic film tells the story of General Patton throughout the bulk of World War II. The movie was a major hit, winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture.

After his Best Actor win, Scott shocked the Academy by becoming the first person to ever refuse an Oscar. His refusal came in the form of a blistering letter in which he argued that actors should not be in competition with one another. He claimed that such awards shows are “demeaning,” and described the Oscar ceremony itself as “a two-hour meat parade.”

Sorry, George, but you still made our list!

Liza Minnelli, the daughter of the late great Hollywood star Judy Garland, is simply unforgettable in the role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

Directed by Bob Fosse and set in 1930s Berlin, Germany, this musical drama tells the story of a female Cabaret singer as she romances two men. Meanwhile, the Nazi Party is ominously rising to power, and World War II is fast approaching.

Cabaret won eight Oscars, including Best Actress for Minnelli, Best Director for Fosse, and Best Supporting Actor for Joel Grey. Had it not come out the same year as The Godfather, it almost undoubtedly would have won Best Picture as well.

Related: Hollywood Legend Liza Minnelli is Furious At How She’s Been Previously Portrayed, Will Fight Back In New Tell-All Memoir

Forget just the 1970s. Many would say that Marlon Brando’s portrayal of Don Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppolla’s The Godfather is the best acting Oscar win of all time.

This legendary Italian mafia movie tells the story of Don Vito, an aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty. As he transfers control of his mafia empire to his reluctant son, chaos quickly ensues.

Brando refused to accept his Oscar for Best Actor, instead famously sending Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. (Littlefeather would later come under fire for her claims of American Indian ancestry.)

“Marlon Brando very regretfully cannot accept this award because of the treatment of American Indians in this country to-day on the television, on reruns and recent happenings at Wounded Knee,” she said, much to the shock of the Academy.

Nevertheless, Brando’s performance speaks for itself, which is why he belongs on this list!

Related: Here’s Why Marlon Brando Couldn’t Stand Clint Eastwood

Tatum O’Neal was just 10 years-old when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing the scrappy Addie Loggins in Peter Bogdanovich’s Great Depression comedy-drama Paper Moon. Over 50 years later, O’Neal still holds the record for being the youngest person to win a competitive Oscar with her Best Supporting Actress victory.

Paper Moon tells the story of a 1930s con man who finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter. Against all odds, the two form an unlikely partnership. While O’Neal played the girl, her real-life father Ryan O’Neal played the con man.

Many would argue that O’Neal’s character of Addie was actually the lead of the movie. However, that could just be because she steals the show with her incredible performance.

Two years after Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather, De Niro won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing the younger version of this character in the much anticipated sequel The Godfather Part II.

In this movie, Vito Corleone’s early life in 1920s New York City is portrayed in flashbacks as his son Michael tries to expand and maintain control over the crime family decades later. This movie kickstarted De Niro’s hugely successful Hollywood film career that continues to this day.

For decades, Brando and De Niro were the only people to win Oscars for playing the same character. It wasn’t until 2019, when Joaquin Phoenix won the Oscar for Best Actor for playing The Joker in Joker, that this happened again. Eleven years before that, Heath Ledger won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing The Joker in The Dark Knight.

Louise Fletcher’s Nurse Ratched remains one of film’s greatest villainesses of all time nearly fifty years after the release of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. The fact that Nurse Ratched is so hated, and continues to send shivers down the spines of viewers everywhere, is a testament to the incredible work of Fletcher.

Directed by Milos Forman and set in the fall of 1963, this movie tells the story of a Korean War veteran (Jack Nicholson) who is admitted to a mental hospital after pleading insanity to a crime. There, he must rally up the other inmates against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, who runs the mental hospital like her own small kingdom.

In contrast to Nurse Ratched, Fletcher was known for being an incredibly kind woman. The child of deaf parents, Fletcher ended her acceptance speech during her Best Actress victory with a touching message to her mom and dad in sign language. It remains one of the most poignant Oscars speeches of all time to this day.

Nearly 50 years after she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her incredible work in Sidney Lumet’s Network, Straight still holds the record for the briefest performance to win an Oscar.

Straight may only be in the two hour-long Network for five minutes and 40 seconds, but she certainly makes the most of that time. She plays Louise Schumacher, wife of the fired television executive Max Schumacher (William Holden). In her main scene, a devastated Louise confronts her husband about his affair with his fellow network executive Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway).

The emotion that Straight shows in this scene leaves quite an impression. You may walk into this movie wondering how a five minute-long performance can win the Oscar, but you’ll leave not questioning how Straight managed to pull this off.

Diane Keaton was already an established Hollywood star by 1977, but it is Annie Hall that is arguably her most memorable role in her decades long career.

In this Woody Allen classic, Keaton plays the quirky title character. Allen stars in the movie as the divorced Jewish comedian Alvy Singer, who reflects on his relationship with his ex-lover, the aspiring nightclub singer Annie Hall.

Keaton carries this comedic movie beautifully and makes it an unforgettably fun watch. Thanks largely to her, the film was a huge success, winning four Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actress for Keaton. It’s rare that a comedy is such a huge hit with the Oscars, but the Academy simply could not ignore this one!

Christopher Walken’s Best Supporting Actor win for his work in Michael Cimino’s gritty Vietnam War drama The Deer Hunter is one of the best in this Oscar category in the 1970s.

Walken plays Nikanor “Nick” Chevotarevich, who works in a steel mill and hunts deer with his friends until they head off to serve in the Vietnam War. They end up imprisoned by the Viet Cong and suffer various unspeakable traumas that leave Nick struggling to deal with PTSD among other things.

This three hour movie explores the horrors of war in a way that few other movies can. Nick’s Russian Roulette scene (if you know, you know) is one that no viewer will ever be able to forget.

The Deer Hunter won five Oscars, including Best Picture. It’s easy to see why it has led to decades of Hollywood success for Walken.

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Finally, we close out the decade with Dustin Hoffman’s Best Actor Oscar win for his amazing turn in Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer.

Hoffman stars in this divorce drama as the workaholic Manhattan advertising executive Ted Kramer. After his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep) leaves him, he must figure out how to raise their young son Billy (Justin Henry) on his own as they fight for custody of him.

The transformation that Ted goes through as he realizes what is really important in life is incredible to witness. Hoffman brings a realism to this role that makes Ted feel like an actual human being. He’s so good in the part that it feels to the viewer like they really know Ted.

Like The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer also won five Oscars, including Best Picture. Decades later, Hoffman’s win still holds up!