Summary
- Winning the Best Director Oscar more than once is a guarantee of legendary status among filmmakers. Here are the 21 directors who have achieved this prestigious feat.
- Directors like Alfonso Cuarón, Clint Eastwood, and Elia Kazan have won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, showcasing their exceptional talent and filmmaking abilities.
- John Ford holds the record for the most Best Director wins, having won the award four times, solidifying his status as one of the greatest directors in film history.
The Academy Award for Best Director is one of the most prestigious awards that any filmmaker can win, and these 10 directors have actually won the highly coveted Oscar more than once. Tons of talented directors have gone their whole life without even being nominated for Best Director, meaning that it is a big deal for anyone to actually win it. Winning the Best Director Oscar more than once is an almost guarantee of legendary status, and here are all 21 directors who have done it.
The Academy Award for Best Director has been around since the very first Academy Awards ceremony, with it being won by Lewis Milestone for his comedy Two Arabian Knights and Frank Borzage for his drama 7th Heaven. Ever since the award was introduced, the Academy Award for Best Director has been a heavily competitive category, with many filmmaking titans competing for the prestigious honor each year. While loads of directors have won the award once, 17 have won it twice, three have won it three times, and one has actually won it four times. So, here they all are.
21 Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage was one of the first directors to win the Academy Award for Best Director, but he actually won it more than once. Borzage won the award at the 1st Academy Awards for the drama film 7th Heaven. Borzage won his second Best Director Oscar at the 5th Academy Awards for the 1931 film Bad Girl.
20 Alfonso Cuarón
Director Alfonso Cuarón is one of the more recent directors to have won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, with him winning it at the 86th and 91st Academy Awards. Cuarón first won the award for the 2013 film Gravity, which remains one of his most popular movies. Cuarón returned to the stage only a few years later in order to claim the Oscar a second time for 2018's Roma.
19 Clint Eastwood
While Clint Eastwood may be more well-known for his acting, he is one of the 21 directors who has won the Academy Award for Best Directing twice. Eastwood first won the Oscar at the 65th Academy Awards, for 1992's Unforgiven. Eastwood again won the award at the 77th Academy Awards for 2004's Million Dollar Baby.
18 Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman is a beloved director that has been behind all kinds of classic films, and two of his most well-known ones have actually scored him the Academy Award for Best Directing. Forman first won the prestigious award at 48th Academy Awards for the 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Forman then won the award again at the 57th Academy Awards for 1984's Amadeus.
17 Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alejandro González Iñárritu is another relatively recent filmmaker that has managed to win the Academy Award for Best Directing twice, although it's always possible he could win it again in the future. Iñárritu first won the award at the 87th Academy Awards for the 2014 film Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Iñárritu won the award again the very next year at the 88th Academy Awards for 2015's The Revenant.
16 Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan is another iconic filmmaker who has won the prestigious Oscar twice. Kazan first took home the gold at the 20th Academy Awards for 1947's Gentleman's Agreement. Kazan returned to the stage only a few years later at the 27th Academy Awards, winning the Best Directing Oscar for 1954's On the Waterfront.
15 Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a beloved filmmaker whose filmography spans all kinds of genres, but only two of them have won him the Academy Award for Best Directing. Ang Lee first won the award at the 78th Academy Awards for 2005's Brokeback Mountain. Lee again won the award at the 85th Academy Awards for 2012's Life of Pi.
14 David Lean
Director David Lean had all kinds of opportunities to win the Academy Award for Best Director, with him having been nominated several times before actually winning. However, Lean finally won the award for the first time at the 30th Academy Awards for 1957's The Bridge on the River Kwai. Lean won the award again a few years later at the 35th Academy Awards for the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia.
13 Frank Lloyd
Director Franky Lloyd is one of the first-ever filmmakers to win the Academy Award for Best Director, although he did it more than once. Lloyd first won the Oscar at the 2nd Academy Awards for the 1929 film The Divine Lady. Lloyd won the award again at the 6th Academy Awards for the 1933 film Cavalcade.
12 Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz is one of the few filmmakers to not only win the Academy Award for Best Director twice but to win it back-to-back years. Mankiewicz first won the award at the 22nd Academy Awards for 1949's A Letter to Three Wives. Mankiewicz won it again only a year later at the 23rd Academy Awards for 1950's All About Eve.
