Top 10 Jewish Actors Who Won the “Oscar” – Thursday’s Top Ten List

Created by Matthew J. Goldberg, tipofthegoldberg.com

Last Thursday, we published a Top 10 list of the best Jewish actresses to ever win an Academy Award—popularly known as the Oscar— as either a lead or supporting performer.

It was an impressive group, and now it’s time to recognize the guys.

A plethora of Jewish men have run major studios, produced and directed films and have become some of Hollywood’s best-known movie stars. Please consider this list of celebrated Jewish actors who were nominated for an (acting) Oscar, but never won. Where appropriate, I have listed their given names in parentheses.

Woody Allen (Allan Stewart Konigsberg)

James Caan

Lee J. Cobb  (Leo Jacoby)

Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch Demsky)

Peter Falk

John Garfield (Jacob Julius Garfinkle)

Harvey Keitel

Zero Mostel    (Samuel Joel Mostel)

Peter Sellers

Ed Wynn         (Isaiah Edwin Leopold)

Add to this list three other honorable mensches who somehow were never even nominated:

Danny Kaye   (David Daniel Kaminsky)

Edward G. Robinson   (Emmanuel Goldenberg)

Eli Wallach

It was a tall order to try to place these ten featured actors in ascending order of merit, but here is one man’s attempt to do so. My credentials: I am a pretty knowledgeable movie buff, and did once bring the house down with my hilarious, supporting performance in my senior class play in high school. You’re in good hands.

If you missed last week’s list, here are a couple quick facts about “Oscar.”

The first ceremony, in 1929, (none of the festivities were televised until 1953) was held for 270 guests at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The guests were charged $5 a head. Yes, five dollars, and I think that included dinner; the use of doggie bags was, allegedly, frowned upon.

According to Oscar.org, nobody is exactly sure why the Academy Award® of Merit is called the Oscar. There is an urban legend that the Academy’s librarian and future executive director saw the statuette for the first time and said that it resembled her Uncle Oscar.

(And maybe it did. For that matter, I often thought that the Monopoly man resembled my Uncle Albert.)

Thanks to this website, we do know that Uncle Oscar stands 13.5 inches tall, weighs 8.5 pounds and is lusted after by actors, directors, writers, cinematographers, technical wizards and studio bosses. Even by men.

Let’s get started. Three, two one…action, er, back to Number Ten!

10. Adrien Brody:  1973—

This tall, lanky native of Queens often plays eccentric, somewhat intellectual characters. He hit the big time with his Oscar-winning lead turn as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist (2002).

9. George Burns:  1896—1996

The lovable, cigar-chomping Nathan Birnbaum (of New York City) had a career that seemed as if it would last forever. Indeed, his only Oscar nomination, and win, was for his turn in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys (1975). He was 79 years young at the time, and his career would last until he hit the century mark.

After winning his Academy Award, Burns would go on to charm theatre- goers on the silver screen in ten more films and other TV specials. His unique wit and zest for life is still sorely missed.

8. Richard Dreyfuss:  1947

Oh yes, another New Yorker; Richard Stephen Dreyfuss was born in Brooklyn.

Dreyfuss has infused his manic, intelligent energy into more than 100 films, including television versions. Some of his blockbusters have included American Graffiti, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

He won as lead actor in Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl (1977) and was also nominated as the title character in Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995).

7. Alan Arkin:  1934—

The multi-talented Arkin has had great credits in many of the arts, including sketch comedy, acting, directing, producing, writing and composing. Arkin also was born in New York City, the son of Russian-German Jewish immigrants who were quite intellectual.

He was nominated twice as a lead, for The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966) and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968). Many years later, he won for his supporting turn in Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

6. Martin Landau:  1928—

Brooklyn’s own Martin Landau is still very much in demand by film directors at age 83. He is a terrific character actor who provided great support to many films.

An interesting note from imdb.com: Landau was one of 2000 applicants who auditioned for Lee Strasberg‘s Actors Studio in 1955; only he and Steve McQueen were accepted.

Landau won for his remarkable turn as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood (1994); he was also nominated for Tucker (1988) and Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).

5. Michael Douglas:  1944—

This son of the legendary Kirk Douglas has certainly forged a successful, and quite different, career in his own right.

Michael has given memorable turns in films such as Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and Falling Down; his one nomination was for Wall Street (1987). He won for his portrayal of Gordon (“Greed is good.”) Gekko.

4. Walter Matthau:  1920— 2000

Walter John Matthou grew up under impoverished circumstances in the Lower East Side of…where else? His acting career started in a Yiddish theatre troupe.

Tall and without “lead actor’ looks, Matthau played a lot of heavies, until he finally found his niche as that lovably cantankerous curmudgeon in comedies. One of the most gifted comic actors in recent memory, Matthau formed a great partnership (and friendship) with Jack Lemmon. Of course, Matthau was the messy Oscar Madison to Lemmon’s fussy Felix Ungar in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple.

Speaking of Oscar, Matthau won a supporting award for The Fortune Cookie (1966); he was nominated for lead turns in Kotch (1971) and The Sunshine Boys (1975).

3. Melvyn Douglas: 1901—1981

Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg started his life in Macon, Georgia; you see, not all the great ones were born in New York City.

Douglas excelled in a variety of lead and supporting roles in a fifty-year span between 1931 and 1981. Douglas won for his turn as Paul Newman’s father in Hud (1963) and as supporting actor for Being There (1979). He was also nominated for a lead role in I Never Sang For My Father (1970).

2. Dustin Hoffman:  1937—

Hoffman has given us so many memorable roles over the years, including Benjamin Braddock (The Graduate); Lenny Bruce (Lenny); Ratso Rizzo (Midnight Cowboy); Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels (Tootsie) and Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man.

Versatile, witty in a droll way and kind of an everyman, Hoffman is one of the most celebrated actors of the last 50 years, and he has received seven acting nominations, all as a lead actor.

Hoffman took Oscar home for Kramer v. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man 1988).

1. Paul Newman:  1925—2008

If you are a movie buff, it may be quite difficult to pick your favorite Paul Newman role, or film. I still debate this internally, although, for what it’s worth, Newman is, arguably, my favorite movie star and actor of all-time.

Newman is one of those guys who could have skated by on his incredible looks, but he worked to become quite adept at his craft. He was eternally cool on screen, yet was able to play both ruthless cads and men who were hanging on by their last thread with great realism.

Off-screen, he was praised for rejecting the Hollywood lifestyle and he was famously married to actress Joanne Woodward for 50 years.

When it comes to Academy Awards, Newman only won one competitive Oscar (in addition to his two honorary ones), but was nominated a remarkable 10 times. His win was for Martin Scorcese’s The Color of Money (1986), for which he reprised his Fast Eddie Felson character from The Hustler (1961).

And since no actor is about to top Newman on this list, let’s roll the closing credits for our look at The Top 10 Jewish Actors Who Won the Oscar.

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That concludes this Thursday’s Top 10 list; if you have any observations or suggestions for future lists, please comment below or email me via Matt@tipofthegoldberg.com.

Matthew J. (call him Matt) Goldberg will be presenting a Jewish-style Top Ten list every Thursday on www.jewocity.com. Please send feedback or suggestions to Matt@tipofthegoldberg.com.

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