The Academy Award for Best Director is always a coveted spotlight for film creators. To win Best Picture is huge, but Best Director is a personal acknowledgment of the director’s vision and story weaving abilities. The Academy has had some controversial picks over the years in this category, and filmgoers might actually be surprised to know that some of the most famed and renowned directors in history have never won the golden statue.
To win in this category more than once is quite the feat. A handful of directors have won it twice, but only a few have won three or more. The Academy Award’s views on directors are by no means the only perspective on filmmaking, but it is always interesting to see which directors have made an impact throughout the history of cinema.
7 Billy Wilder – Won Twice
Billy Wilder is one of the titans of the silver screen. A monumental director who defied the status quo of genre films, Wilder experimented with various ideas, often more risqué than his contemporaries. Wilder was also an accomplished screenwriter who won several times in that Oscar category too – he was known for his loose style of writing that reflected the personalities and opinions of Americans in the 40s and 50s.
Noir, screwball comedies, dark dramas; Billy Wilder could tackle them all and was a beloved fixture of old Hollywood’s stylistic Renaissance. Wilder won Best Director twice, for The Lost Weekend and The Apartment, both of which he also won Best Picture and Best Screenplay for as well.
6 Oliver Stone – Won Twice
Oliver Stone is known in Hollywood as a hard-hitting director, notorious for his political and historical films that often explore the darker and more decrepit side of things. Stone has won the Best Director award twice, for Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, both Vietnam War films that were personal ventures for him given his time spent in the war himself.
Stone’s films almost always involve American affairs and are notable for merging fact and fiction into one cohesive story.
5 Steven Spielberg – Won Twice
As big as they come in the world of directors, Spielberg is a name brand at this point, capable of doing any movie he wishes to do. While lately those have involved historical dramas, Spielberg’s filmography is truly all across the board and quite legendary by itself. In some ways, it is hard to believe Spielberg only has two Best Director Academy Awards.
Much like Oliver Stone, Spielberg focuses on American subject matter, specifically, WW II is a favorite subject of his. For Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg won Best Director among the praise of filmgoers and critics everywhere for his realistic depictions of the brutality of the Second World War. Spielberg is a special effects master who blends technology and storytelling together.
4 Elia Kazan – Won Twice
Elia Kazan is another big Hollywood director from the golden era of the scene, one who used realism and empathic storytelling techniques to draw audiences in and wow them with some serious drama. Kazan won Best Director twice for Gentleman’s Agreement and On the Waterfront, two films that tackled serious issues and captured the audience's minds as well as their eyes.
Some argue that he created the modern structure for message films that seek to educate and entertain.
3 William Wyler – Won Three Times
William Wyler was one of Hollywood’s most successful directors during its booming '40s and '50s periods. Many of his films were box office smashes, and he was highly regarded as a multi-talented director who achieved his artistic visions by controlling every facet of the film’s production. He was notorious among actors for doing countless takes for just one scene, but few could deny the successes won through his effortless approach.
Wyler won Best Director a whopping three times, something rarely seen in Hollywood in this day and age. Wyler won for Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Ben-Hur. Wyler could jump genres and still thrive as a great artist.
2 Frank Capra – Won Three Times
A name synonymous with filmmaking, Frank Capra is still a director many modern creators look up to and aspire to learn from. Capra preferred a relaxed directing style that let actors lead the film’s plot along. He rarely used fancy gimmicks and tricks to tell the story, instead focusing on the script and the emotional motivations behind its characters. He also had a penchant for American films that uplifted the spirit of good-natured folks saving the day.
Capra was a hero to many budding filmmakers for these reasons. He won Best Director an impressive three times, winning for It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and You Can’t Take It with You.
1 John Ford – Won Four Times
The most Best Director Academy Award wins goes to John Ford, a giant among giants. The Godfather of the Western, Ford is an American icon for his filmmaking techniques, which include sprawling epic shots and stories of trodden-upon individuals rising to the occasion.
Ford is the only director to have won this prize four times, prevailing for The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, and The Quiet Man. Ford didn’t know how to make a small picture, all of his films were bombastic, and he is without a doubt one of the most influential directors of all time.