Oldest Oscar winner

The oldest winner of a competitive Academy Award – or Oscar – is James Ivory (USA, b. 7 June 1928), who was aged 89 years 271 days when he won Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me By Your Name (Italy/France/Brazil/USA, 2017), a cinematic retelling of the novel by André Aciman, on 4 March 2018. The movie is a coming-of-age drama that tells of the relationship between precocious 17-year-old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and the older scholar Oliver (Armie Hammer) in the summer of 1983.

James Ivory is perhaps best-known for his directing work with the film producer Ismail Merchant and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who as Merchant Ivory Productions won six Academy Awards. Ivory took the record from movie composer Ennio Morricone (Italy, b. 10 November 1928), who was 87 years 111 days old when he won his one and only Oscar with his score for The Hateful Eight (USA, 2015) at the 88th Academy Awards in 2016.

The oldest Oscar winner overall is production designer Robert F Boyle (USA, b. 10 October 1909), who picked up an Honorary Award at the 80th Oscars ceremony on 24 February 2008 aged 98 years 137 days.