Oldest Oscar nominee

American composer/conductor/pianist John Williams (b. 8 February 1932) was 91 years 349 days old when he received a Best Original Score nomination, for soundtracking Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (USA, 2023), on 23 January 2024. Excluding the handful of individuals who received honorary (non-competitive) awards at a greater age, it cemented Williams’ place in history as the first nonagenarian to be Oscar-nominated (in 2023, aged 90 years 350 days), trumping the 2018 nods for the Belgian-born French director Agnès Varda (b. 30 May 1928; Best Documentary Feature) and the American director James Ivory (b. 7 June 1928; Best Adapted Screenplay), who were both 89 years old on 23 January 2018.

Williams’ Best Original Score nod ahead of the 96th Academy Awards on 10 March 2024 was his 54th Oscar nomination overall – the most nominations for a living person and five shy of Walt Disney’s (1901-66) overall record haul of 59. Williams won his five Best Original Score statuettes for Fiddler on the Roof (1972), Jaws (1976), Star Wars (1978), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1983) and Schindler’s List (1994). He has been up for Best Original Score an unprecedented 49 times (1968–2024) and Best Original Song five times (1974–96). His first-ever nomination preceded the 40th Academy Awards on 10 April 1968, for scoring Valley of the Dolls (USA, 1967).