Summary
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.
11 Leo McCarey
Another early Academy Award for Best Director winner, Leo McCarey also managed to take the prestigious award home twice. McCarey first won the Oscar at the 10th Academy Awards for the 1937 film The Awful Truth.McCarey again won the award at the 17th Academy Awards for 1944’s Going My Way.
10 Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone was also one of the first directors to win the Academy Award for Best Director, with him being one of two to win at the first-ever Oscars ceremony. At the 1st Academy Awards, Milestone won the comedy section of the category for his film Two Arabian Knights. Milestone again won the award at the 3rd Academy Awards for the much darker 1930 war film All Quiet on the Western Front.
9 Steven Spielberg
Beloved director Steven Spielberg is another filmmaker who has been the recipient of the Academy Award for Best Director twice. Spielberg finally won the Oscar years into his filmmaking career at the 66th Academy Awards for 1993’s Schindler’s List. Spielberg again won it at the 71st Academy Awards for 1998’s Saving Private Ryan.
8 George Stevens
Another director who has won the Academy Award for Best Director twice is legendary filmmaker George Stevens. Stevens first won the award at the 24th Academy Awards for 1951’s A Place in the Sun. Stevens again won the Oscar at the 29th Academy Awards for 1956’s Giant.
7 Oliver Stone
Acclaimed director Oliver Stone has also won the Academy Award for Best Director twice. He first won it at the 59th Academy Awards for 1986’s Platoon. Stone then won it again at the 62nd Academy Awards for 1989’s Born on the Fourth of July.
6 Billy Wilder
Acclaimed filmmaker Billy Wilder too won the Academy Award for Best Director twice. Wilder first won it at the 18th Academy Awards for 1945’s The Lost Weekend. Wilder again won the Oscar at the 33rd Academy Awards for 1960’s The Apartment.
5 Robert Wise
Robert Wise not only won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, but he was also part of the first duo to win the award. Wise first won the Oscar alongside co-director Jerome Robbins at the 34th Academy Awards for 1961’s West Side Story. Wise won it again, this time solo, at the 38th Academy Awards for 1965’s The Sound of Music.
4 Fred Zinnemann
Going in alphabetical order, Fred Zinnemann is the final director to have won the Academy Award for Best Director only twice. Zinnemann first won it at the 26th Academy Awards for 1953’s From Here to Eternity. Zinnemann then won it again at the 39th Academy Awards for 1966’s A Man for All Seasons.
3 Frank Capra
Director Frank Capra is one of only two directors to have won the Academy Award for Best Director only three times. Capra first won the award at the 7th Academy Awards for 1934’s It Happened One Night. Capra won the Oscar for a second time at the 9th Academy Awards for 1936’s Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. Capra won the Oscar for his third and final time at the 11th Academy Awards for 1938’s You Can’t Take It with You.
2 William Wyler
The other director to have won the Academy Award for Best Director three times is filmmaker William Wyler. Wyler first won the award at the 15th Academy Awards for 1942’s Mrs. Miniver. Wyler won the Oscar for a second time at the 19th Academy Awards for 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives. Wyler won for a third and final time at the 32nd Academy Awards for 1959’s Ben-Hur.
