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Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Awarded for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Country United States
Presented by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)
First awarded 1937 (for performance in films released during the 1936 film season)
Currently held by Mark Rylance
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Official website oscars.org

The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry.

At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Walter Brennan was the first winner of this award for his role in Come and Get It. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded plaques instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy.

Since its inception, the award has been given to 72 actors. Brennan has received the most awards in this category with three awards. Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, and Claude Rains were nominated on four occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2016 ceremony, Mark Rylance is the most recent winner in this category for his role as Rudolf Abel in Bridge of Spies.

In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of film release in Los Angeles County; the ceremonies are always held the following year.


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