Golden Globe Best Supporting Actor

The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture is presented annually during the Golden Globe Awards ceremony that is conducted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award is given to honor an actor who has delivered remarkable performance in a supporting role in a film. It marks as a token of pride for the recipient who, through the substantial part he played, contributed in the development of the story thus adding value to the film.

The Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture award category was introduced as one of the six original categories of the Golden Globe Awards ceremony at the time of the latter’s inception by the Hollywood Foreign Correspondent Association (HFCA), the predecessor of HFPA. Armenian-American actor Akim Tamiroff became first recipient of the Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture award at the 1944 held 1st Golden Globe Awards ceremony for playing the character of Pablo in the epic war film For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943).

English actor Edmund Gwenn became the first actor to receive the award twice, first for his best remembered role of Kris Kringle in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street (1947) in 1948, and then for playing the titular role in the light-hearted romantic drama Mister 880 (1950) in 1951. Distinguished English actor, film director and producer Richard Attenborough won the award back-to-back in 1967 and 1968 for his performances in the epic war film The Sand Pebbles (1966) and musical comedy Doctor Dolittle (1967) respectively. Other luminaries who won the award twice are Edmond O'Brien (in 1955 and 1965), Martin Landau (in 1989 and 1995), Brad Pitt (in 1996 and 2020) and Christoph Waltz (in 2010 and 2013). In 2009, Australian actor Heath Ledger, who had an untimely death due to an accidental overdose of medications, became the first actor, and so far the only one, who received the award posthumously. He was bestowed with the honor for his role as the Joker in the Christopher Nolan directed superhero film The Dark Knight (2008).

The 37th Golden Globe Awards, held in 1980, witnessed two actors winning the award, namely Melvyn Douglas for playing Benjamin Rand in the satirical comedy-drama Being There (1979) and Robert Duvall for playing Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in the epic war film Apocalypse Now (1979). Noted American retired actor and filmmaker Jack Nicholson who won the award for playing Garrett Breedlove in the family comedy drama Terms of Endearment (1983) in 1984, holds the record of earning most nominations in the category with 5. The award is officially known as Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture since 2005.

List of Winners - Golden Globes Best Supporting Actor