The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has given Academy Awards to actors and actresses for non-English performances in films, with the first award given in 1961. For an actor or actress to be eligible for any of the Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, or Best Supporting Actress for a foreign language performance in a film produced outside the United States, the film must have been commercially released in Los Angeles County and have English subtitles with the theatrical release.
This list is current as of the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony held on April 25, 2021.
In 1962, Sophia Loren became the first actor to win an Oscar for a foreign-language performance.[1]
As of 2022[update], 49 actors and actresses have been nominated for Academy Awards for non-English language performances.[2] Fourteen of these actors and actresses have received Academy Awards for their performances:
Seven actors have had multiple Academy Award nominations for foreign-language performances: Marcello Mastroianni (three Best Actor nominations for Italian-language performances),[3] Sophia Loren (one Academy Award for Best Actress for Two Women and another Best Actress nomination for Marriage Italian-Style, both for Italian-language performances),[4] Liv Ullmann (two Best Actress nominations for Swedish-language performances),[5] Isabelle Adjani (two Best Actress nominations for French-language performances),[6] Javier Bardem (two Best Actor nominations for Spanish-language performances),[7], Marion Cotillard (one Academy Award for Best Actress for La Vie en Rose and another Best Actress nomination for Two Days, One Night, both for French-language performances).[8], and Penelope Cruz (two Best Actress nominations for Spanish-language performances).
Sophia Loren and Marion Cotillard are the only actresses to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for foreign language performances, Italian and French, respectively. Cotillard is the only actor to receive two Oscar nominations for foreign films without having her films nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She is also the only actor to be nominated for a Belgian film (Two Days, One Night).
Roberto Benigni is the only actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for a foreign language performance.
Twelve actors have been nominated for Sign Language performances: Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda (American Sign Language); Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker (American Sign Language); Alan Arkin for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (American Sign Language); John Mills for Ryan's Daughter (British Sign Language); Marlee Matlin for Children of a Lesser God (American Sign Language); Holly Hunter for The Piano (British Sign Language); Samantha Morton for Sweet and Lowdown (American Sign Language); Rinko Kikuchi for Babel (Japanese Sign Language), Sally Hawkins for The Shape of Water (American Sign Language); Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci for Sound of Metal (American Sign Language); Troy Kotsur for CODA.
Year (Ceremony) | Actor/Actress | Category | Film title used in nomination | Original title | Language | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948 (21st) |
Jane Wyman | Best Actress | Johnny Belinda[A] | Johnny Belinda | American Sign Language | Won Academy Award |
1956 (28th) |
Anna Magnani | Best Actress | The Rose Tattoo[A] | La rosa tatuata | English, Italian | Won Academy Award |
1960 (33rd) |
Melina Mercouri | Best Actress | Never on Sunday[A] | Pote tin Kyriaki | Greek, English | Nominee |
1961 (34th) |
Sophia Loren | Best Actress | Two Women | La ciociara | Italian | Won Academy Award |
1962 (35th) |
Marcello Mastroianni | Best Actor | Divorce Italian Style | Divorzio all'italiana | Italian | Nominee |
Patty Duke | Best Supporting Actress | The Miracle Worker[A] | The Miracle Worker | American Sign Language | Won Academy Award | |
1964 (37th) |
Sophia Loren | Best Actress | Marriage Italian-Style | Matrimonio all'Italiana | Italian | Nominee |
1966 (39th) |
Anouk Aimée | Best Actress | A Man and a Woman | Un homme et une femme | French | Nominee |
Ida Kamińska | Best Actress | The Shop on Main Street | Obchod na korze | Slovak, Yiddish | Nominee | |
1968 (41st) |
Alan Arkin | Best Actor | The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter[A] | The Heart is a Lonely Hunter | American Sign Language | Nominee |
1970 (43rd) |
John Mills | Best Supporting Actor | Ryan's Daughter[A] | Ryan's Daughter | British Sign Language | Won Academy Award |
1972 (45th) |
Liv Ullmann | Best Actress | The Emigrants | Utvandrarna | Swedish | Nominee |
1974 (47th) |
Valentina Cortese | Best Supporting Actress | Day for Night | La Nuit américaine | French | Nominee |
Robert De Niro | Best Supporting Actor | The Godfather Part II[A] | The Godfather Part II | Italian | Won Academy Award | |
1975 (48th) |
Carol Kane | Best Actress | Hester Street[A] | Hester Street | Yiddish | Nominee |
Isabelle Adjani | Best Actress | The Story of Adele H. | L'Histoire d'Adèle H. | French | Nominee | |
1976 (49th) |
Marie-Christine Barrault | Best Actress | Cousin, cousine | Cousin, cousine | French | Nominee |
Giancarlo Giannini | Best Actor | Seven Beauties | Pasqualino Settebellezze | Italian | Nominee | |
Liv Ullmann | Best Actress | Face to Face | Ansikte mot ansikte | Swedish | Nominee | |
1977 (50th) |
Marcello Mastroianni | Best Actor | A Special Day | Una giornata particolare | Italian | Nominee |
1978 (51st) |
Ingrid Bergman | Best Actress | Autumn Sonata | Höstsonaten | Swedish | Nominee |
1986 (59th) |
Marlee Matlin | Best Actress | Children of a Lesser God[A] | Children of a Lesser God | American Sign Language | Won Academy Award |
1987 (60th) |
Marcello Mastroianni | Best Actor | Dark Eyes | Oci ciornie | Italian | Nominee |
1988 (61st) |
Max von Sydow | Best Actor | Pelle the Conqueror | Pelle Erobreren | Swedish | Nominee |
1989 (62nd) |
Isabelle Adjani | Best Actress | Camille Claudel | Camille Claudel | French | Nominee |
1990 (63rd) |
Gerard Depardieu | Best Actor | Cyrano de Bergerac | Cyrano de Bergerac | French | Nominee |
Graham Greene | Best Supporting Actor | Dances with Wolves[A] | Dances with Wolves | Lakota | Nominee | |
1992 (65th) |
Catherine Deneuve | Best Actress | Indochine | Indochine | French | Nominee |
1993 (66th) |
Holly Hunter | Best Actress | The Piano[A] | The Piano | British Sign Language | Won Academy Award |
1995 (68th) |
Massimo Troisi | Best Actor | The Postman (Il Postino) | Il Postino | Italian | Nominee |
1998 (71st) |
Roberto Benigni | Best Actor | Life Is Beautiful | La vita è bella | Italian | Won Academy Award |
Fernanda Montenegro | Best Actress | Central Station | Central do Brasil | Brazilian Portuguese | Nominee | |
1999 (72nd) |
Samantha Morton | Best Supporting Actress | Sweet and Lowdown[A] | Sweet and Lowdown | American Sign Language | Nominee |
2000 (73rd) |
Javier Bardem | Best Actor | Before Night Falls[A] | Before Night Falls | Spanish | Nominee |
Benicio del Toro | Best Supporting Actor | Traffic[A] | Traffic | Spanish | Won Academy Award | |
2004 (77th) |
Catalina Sandino Moreno | Best Actress | Maria Full of Grace | María llena eres de gracia | Colombian Spanish | Nominee |
2006 (79th) |
Penélope Cruz | Best Actress | Volver | Volver | Spanish | Nominee |
Adriana Barraza | Best Supporting Actress | Babel[A] | Babel | English, Spanish | Nominee | |
Rinko Kikuchi | Best Supporting Actress | Japanese Sign Language | Nominee | |||
2007 (80th) |
Marion Cotillard | Best Actress | La Vie en Rose | La Môme | French | Won Academy Award |
2008 (81st) |
Penélope Cruz | Best Supporting Actress | Vicky Cristina Barcelona[A] | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | English, Spanish | Won Academy Award |
2009 (82nd) |
Christoph Waltz | Best Supporting Actor | Inglourious Basterds[A] | Inglourious Basterds | English, German, French, Italian | Won Academy Award |
2010 (83rd) |
Javier Bardem | Best Actor | Biutiful | Biutiful | Spanish | Nominee |
2011 (84th) |
Demián Bichir | Best Actor | A Better Life[A] | A Better Life | English, Spanish | Nominee |
2012 (85th) |
Emmanuelle Riva | Best Actress | Amour | Amour | French | Nominee |
2013 (86th) |
Barkhad Abdi | Best Supporting Actor | Captain Phillips[A] | Captain Phillips | English, Somali | Nominee |
2014 (87th) |
Marion Cotillard | Best Actress | Two Days, One Night | Deux jours, une nuit | French | Nominee |
2016 (89th) |
Isabelle Huppert | Best Actress | Elle | Elle | French | Nominee |
2017 (90th) |
Sally Hawkins | Best Actress | The Shape of Water[A] | The Shape of Water | American Sign Language | Nominee |
Timothée Chalamet | Best Actor | Call Me by Your Name[A] | Call Me by Your Name | English, French, Italian | Nominee | |
2018 (91st) |
Yalitza Aparicio | Best Actress | Roma | Roma | Spanish, Mixtec | Nominee |
Marina de Tavira | Best Supporting Actress | Spanish | Nominee | |||
2019 (92nd) |
Antonio Banderas | Best Actor | Pain and Glory | Dolor y Gloria | Spanish | Nominee |
2020 (93rd) |
Steven Yeun | Best Actor | Minari[A] | 미나리 | Korean, English | Nominee |
Youn Yuh-jung | Best Supporting Actress | Korean, English | Won Academy Award | |||
Riz Ahmed | Best Actor | Sound of Metal[A] | Sound of Metal | English, American Sign Language | Nominee | |
Paul Raci | Best Supporting Actor | Nominee | ||||
2021 (94th) |
Penélope Cruz | Best Actress | Parallel Mothers | Madres paralelas | Spanish | Nominee |
Troy Kotsur | Best Supporting Actor | CODA[A] | CODA | American Sign Language | Won Academy Award |
Rank | Language | BA | BSA | Total | Wins | Winning actor(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | French | 10 | 3 | 13 | 2 | Marion Cotillard (2007), Christoph Waltz (2009) |
2 | Italian | 10 | 2 | 12 | 5 | Anna Magnani (1956), Sophia Loren (1961), Robert De Niro (1974), Roberto Benigni (1998), Christoph Waltz (2009) |
3 | Spanish | 5 | 5 | 11 | 2 | Benicio del Toro (2000), Penélope Cruz (2008) |
4 | American Sign Language | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | Jane Wyman (1948), Patty Duke (1962), Marlee Matlin (1986), Troy Kotsur (2021) |
5 | Swedish | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | N/A |
6 | British Sign Language | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | John Mills (1970), Holly Hunter (1993) |
Korean | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Youn Yuh-jung (2020) | |
Yiddish | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | N/A | |
Academy Awards lists | |
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Combined major Academy Awards |
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Combined major awards |
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Directing |
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Countries of the nominees |
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Nominees demographics |
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