For over 90 years, the Academy Awards has been the Super Bowl event for Hollywood, and will roll out the red carpet on March 12 for this year's Oscar nominees. It's an accomplishment to be nominated for an Oscar, but winning is another level of pressure, especially for those nominated in any of the Big Five categories.
One of the major categories, Best Director, is a massive milestone for anyone to win, but only a few filmmakers have ever gone on to win it again. From current directors, including Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood, to trailblazers like Frank Capra and Billy Wilder, these directors have won the Oscar for best directing more than once.
10 Ang Lee — Two Awards
In 1995, Taiwanese filmmaker, Ang Lee, established himself as a director after directing Sense and Sensibility, starring Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. Lee has received nine Academy Award nominations winning his first Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001 for the martial art masterpiece, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Lee won his first Best Director Oscar in 2006 for the groundbreaking drama Brokeback Mountain starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. He returned several years later in 2013 to take home his second Best Director Oscar for Life of Pi, earning 11 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
9 Clint Eastwood — Two Awards
Clint Eastwood made his mark in movies with iconic Westerns and is regarded as one of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers of all time. Eastwood made his directorial debut, starring in the 1971 thriller Play Misty for Me, and earned 11 Academy Award nominations throughout his decades-long career.
Eastwood received his first ever Oscar nominations in 1993 for the modern Western noir, Unforgiven, including Best Actor, and went on to win Best Director and Best Picture that year. Eastwood didn't win again until 2005 for Million Dollar Baby starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, who also won Oscars for their performances.
8 George Stevens —Two Awards
George Stevens got his first major break as a director in 1934 when RKO Pictures hired him to direct Katharine Hepburn in Alice Adams. In 1942, Stevens put his career on hold to join U.S. troops overseas and document the events of World War II. The director collected footage from several Nazi concentration camps that became crucial evidence during the Nuremberg Trials.
Throughout his career, Stevens' films, including Shane and The Diary of Anne Frank, earned him six Oscar nominations and five for Best Director. Stevens won his first Oscar for directing in 1951 for A Place in the Sun, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift. He won his second Oscar for Best Director in 1956 for the Western drama Giant starring Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean.
7 Steven Spielberg — Two Awards
Steven Spielberg started in television and made his theatrical feature debut in 1974, directing The Sugarland Express starring Goldie Hawn. His career as a filmmaker took off the following year after the massive success of Jaws, which won three Oscars, including Best Original Score.
The filmmaker won first Oscar for best director in 1993 for the historical drama Schindler's List, which won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Spielberg continues to be an Academy favorite, having earned several nominations this year for his coming-of-age drama, The Fabelmans.
6 Billy Wilder — Two Awards
Billy Wilder is considered one of the most versatile directors and screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age who produced classics such as Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot, and Sunset Boulevard. Wilder earned a total of 21 Oscar nominations, 13 for screenwriting and eight for directing, and six wins.
In 1946, Wilder won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director for the film noir drama, The Lost Weekend, starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman. The director ended up winning again for both original screenplay and directing in 1961 for the romantic comedy, The Apartment starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, and Fred MacMurray.
5 Oliver Stone — Two Awards
Oliver Stone graduated from New York University in 1971, and by 1979, he won his first Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the prison drama Midnight Express. Stone went on to write the screenplay for Al Pacino's Scarface as well as Year of the Dragon starring Mickey Rourke, but his career as a director took off after his Vietnam War drama, Platoon.
In 1987, Platoon was nominated for eight Oscars, including Willem Dafoe for Best Supporting Actor. The movie won Best Picture and earned Stone his first Oscar for Best Director. Less than two years later, Stone took home his second Best Director Academy Award in 1990 for Born on the Fourth of July, starring Tom Cruise.
4 Alejandro González Iñárritu — Two Awards
Mexican filmmaker, Alejandro González Iñárritu, caught the Academy's attention in 2000 with his crime drama Amores Perros, which received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film and, several years later, earned seven nominations for Babel starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.
In 2014, Iñárritu's mind-bending dramedy, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) earned him four Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, and Iñárritu's first for Best Director. He won Best Picture and Best Director again the following year for The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.
3 William Wyler — Three Awards
In 1921, William Wyler traveled to the United States and found work at Universal Studios in New York City. In 1935, he became the youngest director at Universal. He received his first Oscar nomination for Best Director the following year for Dodsworth and produced other classic movies, including Roman Holiday and Wuthering Heights.
Wyler won the Oscar for Best Director in 1943 for Mrs. Miniver, which won a total of six Academy Awards. In 1947, Wyler's post-war film, The Best Years of Our Lives, won seven Oscars earning him his second for best director. He accepted his third Oscar in directing for Ben-Hur starring Charlton Heston. Wyler still holds the record for the director to receive the most nominations for Best Director, totaling 12.
2 Frank Capra — Three Awards
Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles, Frank Capra was a creative force behind notable goodwill films, including It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Capra started as a gag writer for producer Hal Roach and received his first Oscar nomination in 1934 for the pre-code comedy Lady for a Day.
In 1935, Capra's comedy, It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, earned him his first Oscar win for Best Director. It Happened One Night, along with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs, are the only movies to have ever won all five of the major categories. Capra received his second Oscar for best director in 1937 for Mr. Deed Goes to Town, and two years later, he went on to win his third Oscar for You Can't Take It With You.
1 John Ford — Four Awards
In a career spanning over 50 years, John Ford directed 140 movies and is regarded as one of the most important and influential pioneers in movie history. Ford moved from Maine to California in 1914 and directed his first feature film, Straight Shooting, three years later with Western star Harry Carrey. He successfully transitioned into the talkies earning his first Best Director nomination and winning for The Informer in 1936.
Ford ended up winning best director two years in a row for The Grapes of Wrath in 1941 and How Green Was My Valley in 1942 which also won best picture. In 1953, Ford won the Oscar for best director and best picture for The Quiet Man starring Maureen O'Hara and Ford's long-time friend and frequent star, John Wayne. Ford won a total of six Academy Awards and holds the record as the director to have won the most Oscars for best director.