Where every Oscar winner for Best Actor and Actress was born
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Ahead of Sunday's 97th Academy Awards, we dove into the Oscars' database to find out where past Best Actress and Best Actor winners were born.
The big picture: Hollywood may be the movie capital of the world but many of the industry's most celebrated actors aren't originally from there.
By the numbers: Just six of the 86 men who have won Best Actor and five of the 87 women who earned Best Actress were born in the Los Angeles area.
- The fine print: Multiple-time winners like Daniel-Day Lewis (London) and Katharine Hepburn (​​Hartford, Connecticut) were counted once for their respective cities.
State of play: Los Angeles takes a backseat to the New York City metropolitan area, birthplace of 11 Best Actors and seven Best Actresses.
- Other cities with multiple winners included Philadelphia, native to three Best Actor and two Best Actress winners, and San Diego, where three Best Actor winners were born.
Zoom out: By state, California led the way with 13 Best Actor and nine Best Actress recipients.
- New York state is tied with California with 13 Best Actor winners and was second with seven Best Actresses.
Zoom (further) out: 31 Best Actor winners were born outside the United States, including 17 from England.
- Meanwhile, 35 Best Actress winners hail from other countries, with 10 coming from England.
Go deeper: Where to watch 2025 Oscar-nominated movies
