Actors Who Won Major Awards After 60

Awards don’t have an age limit, and plenty of performers have proved it. Across film, TV, and theatre, actors have scored their biggest trophies well into their seventh, eighth, and even ninth decades. These wins aren’t footnotes—they’re headline moments from the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.

Below is a verified list of 15 actors who earned major awards at age 60 or older. Each entry notes the award and year and links to official records or reputable academies and guilds so you can check the details yourself.

Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at 82 for ‘Beginners’, with the Academy listing him as the oldest acting winner at the time. The 84th Oscars page records his category win on February 26, 2012, and the Academy’s “Oldest/Youngest” statistics document his age-related milestone.

Plummer’s acceptance is preserved in the Academy’s speech archive, and the 2012 ceremony materials document the category lineup he prevailed over that night. These primary sources verify both the win and his place in Oscar history.

Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor at the 93rd Academy Awards for ‘The Father’ on April 25, 2021, a result confirmed on the ceremony’s official page. The Academy’s listings show him as that year’s category winner.

His nomination and competition are detailed in the Academy’s nominations announcement and PDF, which provide the full slate of Leading Actor contenders that season.

Jessica Tandy

Jessica Tandy earned Best Actress at the 62nd Academy Awards for ‘Driving Miss Daisy’—the ceremony record confirms her win. The 1990 ceremony page and highlights also note the film’s broader success that night.

The Academy’s “Memorable Moments” entry states her exact age at the time and notes she became the oldest performer to win a competitive Oscar when she accepted.

Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren won Best Actress at the 79th Academy Awards for ‘The Queen’, as shown on the Academy’s official ceremony page and speech archive. These records verify the category result and the presentation on February 25, 2007.

Her performance also swept key pre-Oscar honors: BAFTA’s Leading Actress listing shows her win for the same role, and the Golden Globes record ‘The Queen’ and Mirren’s Best Actress (Drama) win that season.

Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman won Best Supporting Actor at the 77th Academy Awards for ‘Million Dollar Baby’. The 2005 ceremony page lists him as the category winner, and the Oscars “Memorable Moments” entry recaps the film’s wins, including his.

The Academy’s video/photo highlights also include his category presentation and win from that night, providing an official visual record of the result.

Judi Dench

Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress at the 71st Academy Awards for ‘Shakespeare in Love’, with the Academy’s ceremony page recording the result. The show’s “Memorable Moments” feature additionally summarizes her category victory.

The Academy’s “Oldest/Youngest” PDF lists Dench among older acting winners of her category, and her acceptance is archived in the Oscars speech database.

Michael Caine

Michael Caine won Best Supporting Actor at the 72nd Academy Awards for ‘The Cider House Rules’, as confirmed on the official ceremony page. The win appears in the year’s category highlights and recap.

The Academy’s materials for the 2000 ceremony include both the category outcome and event documentation, preserving the context of his second Oscar.

Alan Arkin

Alan Arkin took Best Supporting Actor at the 79th Academy Awards for ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, with the ceremony page showing him as winner. The Academy’s speech archive also retains his acceptance.

Oscar “Memorable Moments” for that year highlight Arkin’s category, providing an additional primary-source confirmation from the Academy site.

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood—an actor who also directs—won Best Director at the 77th Academy Awards for ‘Million Dollar Baby’, a major award collected at age 74. The ceremony page confirms his directing win, and the Academy notes he became the oldest directing winner at that time.

He had previously won Best Director at the 65th Academy Awards for ‘Unforgiven’, achieved after his 60th birthday; the Academy’s records preserve the results of both ceremonies. These official sources substantiate that his post-60 major trophies were in directing.

Glenda Jackson

Glenda Jackson won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 2018 for ‘Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women’. The Tonys’ official winners page lists her result that season.

She followed with the 2020 BAFTA TV Award for Leading Actress for ‘Elizabeth Is Missing’, with BAFTA’s winners page recording her category win. Both honours came after her 80th birthday.

Bryan Cranston

Bryan Cranston won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for ‘Network’. The official Tony winners page confirms the result.

Tony Awards galleries and press listings from that year also document Cranston’s win for the Ivo van Hove stage adaptation, providing further official confirmation.

Jean Smart

Jean Smart won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘Hacks’ in 2021. The Television Academy’s winners list for the category confirms her award.

The Emmys’ official documentation of the 73rd Awards provides a complete winners PDF listing Smart’s category result that night. The show page for ‘Hacks’ also reflects her wins.

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2019 for ‘The Kominsky Method’. The Globes’ winners listings for both the series and Douglas confirm the results.

His personal Golden Globes page also records the 2019 TV-actor win for ‘The Kominsky Method’, providing an additional HFPA source for the same outcome.

Catherine O’Hara

Catherine O’Hara won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2020 for ‘Schitt’s Creek’. The Television Academy’s category page and the show’s Emmys page both list the win.

She also won the 2021 Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV Series – Musical or Comedy for the same role, as documented on the Globes’ ‘Schitt’s Creek’ page and the HFPA’s winners round-up.

Frances McDormand

Frances McDormand won Best Actress at the 93rd Academy Awards for ‘Nomadland’, with the ceremony page recording her category win. The official listings also show ‘Nomadland’ winning Best Picture, on which she is credited as a producer.

The Academy’s site for the 2020 ceremony season and related materials provide context for her awards run around ‘Nomadland’, corroborating the scope of her achievements that year.

Share more over-60 triumphs we should include in a future update in the comments!