With ‘One Battle,’ Leonardo DiCaprio Ties Record for Most Lead Roles in Best Picture Oscar Winners

When “One Battle After Another” claimed the top prize at the Oscars on Sunday, Leonardo DiCaprio joined a very small club of actors who have had lead roles in three Best Picture winners.

In addition to his Oscar-nominated staring role in “One Battle,” DiCaprio was also top-billed in 1997’s “Titanic” and 2006’s “The Departed,” which both scored the Academy’s biggest award.

He joins a historical list that includes only two other men: Clark Gable and Dustin Hoffman. Gable was the lead or co-lead in Best Picture winners “It Happened One Night,” “Mutiny on the Bounty” and “Gone With the Wind,” while Hoffman was top billed in “Midnight Cowboy,” “Kramer vs. Kramer” and “Rain Man.”

Many other actors have appeared in three Best Picture winners, albeit not entirely in lead roles. The list includes Morgan Freeman (“Driving Miss Daisy,” “Unforgiven,” “Million Dollar Baby”), Meryl Streep (“The Deer Hunter,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Out of Africa”), Jack Nicholson (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Terms of Endearment,” “The Departed”), Ralph Fiennes (“Schindlers List” “The English Patient,” “The Hurt Locker”) and the late Diane Keaton (“The Godfather,” “The Godfather Part II” and “Annie Hall”).

In addition, Talia Shire appeared in three Best Picture winners within five years (“The Godfather,” “The Godfather Part II” and “Rocky”) and the great character actress Beth Grant played small roles in three winners (“Rain Man,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Artist”).

And an actress named Bess Flowers, who died in 1984 and played bit parts in more than a hundred films during Hollywood’s golden age, appeared uncredited in five Best Picture winners in the 1940s and 50s.

DiCaprio’s new milestone is a tribute to both his star power and instincts for quality projects. An Oscar winner ten years ago for “The Revenant,” he is a seven-time acting nominee who also tied the record among living actors for most appearances in Best Picture nominees. His record of 12 is shared with Robert De Niro. They are followed closely by Nicholson, Cate Blanchett and Tom Hanks, who have each appeared in 10 Best Picture nominees.

It’s also worth noting that of the three Best Picture winners in which DiCaprio starred, he only scored an acting nomination for “One Battle After Another.” But at the age of 51 and with an unerring record of good choices, he stands likely to add to his haul and become the first actor ever to star in four Best Picture winners — and probably be nominated himself.

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