Youngest Actor to Win an Oscar
Tatum O'Neal remains the youngest actor to win a competitive Oscar. She won Best Supporting Actress at age 10 for the film Paper Moon. The Academy Award was presented at the 47th Academy Awards ceremony in 1975. Her record for the youngest competitive winner still stands as of the latest available data. You can check the official Academy Awards database for full historical winner lists.
No younger performer has won a competitive Oscar in a acting category since that year. The record is specific to competitive acting categories and does not include honorary awards. Paper Moon is a 1973 American comedy-drama directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film is based on the novel Addie Pray by Joe David Brown. Tatum O'Neal played Addie Loggins opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal.
Other Young Oscar Winners in Acting Categories
Justin Henry holds the record as the second youngest competitive acting winner. He was 8 years old when he won Best Supporting Actor for Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980. The film was released by Columbia Pictures and directed by Robert Benton. Justin Henry's performance is often cited alongside Tatum O'Neal's in discussions of young Oscar winners.
Anna Paquin won Best Supporting Actress at age 11 for The Piano in 1994. She remains the youngest winner in that specific acting category. The film was produced by CiBy 2000 and distributed by Miramax Films. The Piano won multiple Academy Awards at the 67th ceremony. You can read more about the film on the official Academy website.
Oscar Age Records and Categories
Tatum O'Neal's age of 10 makes her the youngest competitive acting winner across all four acting categories. The four categories are Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Each category has its own age record holder. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences maintains the official statistics.
Tatum O'Neal's win is a fixed record in the competitive acting categories. No performer younger than 10 has won a competitive acting Oscar. The Academy Awards database provides detailed historical data on age records. You can explore the full list of winners and nominees on the official Oscars.org website.