Every Best Director Winner In Oscar History
The ’60s
For the most part, the ’60s didn’t have repeat winners — just two: Fred Zinnemann, this time adapting A Man for All Seasons; and Robert Wise, for his two musicals. However, even as the Academy rewarded new directors, it also tended to reward them for working on the Best Pictures. There’s just one exception: 1967’s The Graduate didn’t win Best Picture, but Mike Nichols did win the directing category.
1960: Billy Wilder — The Apartment
- Yes, Wilder wrote this one, too.
1961: Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise — West Side Story
- Robbins was primarily a choreographer, but he directed the stage version of West Side Story.
1962: David Lean — Lawrence of Arabia
- Lean was also a film editor, though he didn’t edit for several decades.
1963: Tony Richardson — Tom Jones
- Richardson later directed the ’60s version of Hamlet.
1964: George Cukor — My Fair Lady
- 10 years earlier, Cukor directed Judy Garland in A Star is Born.
1965: Robert Wise — The Sound of Music
- Wise also directed Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
1966: Fred Zinnemann — A Man for All Seasons
- Zinnemann also had nominations for The Sundowners in the ’60s, but won neither Best Picture nor Best Director.
1967: Mike Nichols — The Graduate
- The Graduate was the second movie Nichols directed. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was the first.
1968: Carol Reed — Oliver!
- Oliver! Reed’s was one of last directorial outings in a career that included The Third Man with Orson Wells.
1969: John Schlesinger — Midnight Cowboy
- Schlesinger also acted, primarily in TV, and later directed Sunday Bloody Sunday.