Two years ago, siblings Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell shared in four Grammy wins for the album “When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” (Album of the Year; Best Pop Vocal Album) and its single “Bad Guy” (Record of the Year; Song of the Year). Now, they have concurrently earned their first Oscar nominations for co-writing the song “No Time to Die” for the James Bond film of the same name. If they prevail later this month, they will become the fourth brother-sister pair to both be honored by the academy and the first to win for the same film.
The first brother-sister Oscar champs and first sibling winners overall were Douglas Shearer and Norma Shearer. In 1930, he triumphed in the Best Sound category for “The Big House” while she took the Best Actress prize for “The Divorcee.” They were followed by Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore, who respectively won acting awards for “A Free Soul” (lead, 1931) and “None but the Lonely Heart” (supporting, 1945). The third and most recent brother-sister victors were Warren Beatty (Best Director, “Reds,” 1982) and Shirley MacLaine (Best Actress, “Terms of Endearment,” 1984).
Five sibling pairs – all brothers – have won Oscars together, beginning with twin “Casablanca” screenwriters Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein in 1944. Next came Denis Sanders and Terry Sanders, whose “A Time Out for War” won Best Live Action Short in 1955. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman then nabbed Best Original Score and Best Song prizes for “Mary Poppins” (1965). In 1990, twins Christoph Lauenstein and Wolfgang Lauenstein won Best Animated Short for “Balance.” Finally, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen shared in one win for “Fargo” (1997, Best Original Screenplay) and three for “No Country for Old Men” (2008, Best Picture, Best Directing, and Best Adapted Screenplay).
Nine more sets of brothers have triumphed in separate years, beginning with Herman J. Mankiewicz (Best Original Screenplay, “Citizen Kane,” 1942) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Best Director and Screenplay for both “A Letter to Three Wives,” 1950 and “All About Eve,” 1951). James Goldman and William Goldman then won writing awards for “The Lion in Winter” (1969) and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (1970), respectively, and the latter went on to prevail again for penning the “All the President’s Men” (1977) script.
Also in 1970, Lionel Newman was honored for adapting the “Hello, Dolly!” score, which put him in the company of his brother, Alfred Newman, who had bagged nine scoring awards between 1939 and 1968. In 1979, Paul Sylbert won Best Production Design for “Heaven Can Wait,” following in the footsteps of his twin, Richard Sylbert, who had prevailed in the same category for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1967) and would do so again for “Dick Tracy” (1991). Todd Boekelheide and Jay Boekelheide then respectively earned sound awards for “The Right Stuff” (1984) and “Amadeus” (1985).
In 1987 and 1990, visual effects artists Robert Skotak and Dennis Skotak were respectively rewarded for their work in “Aliens” and “The Abyss.” Chris Corbould’s own Best Visual Effects win for “Inception” (2011) was sandwiched between those of his brother, Neil Corbould, for “Gladiator” (2001) and “Gravity” (2014). In 2017, Casey Affleck won Best Actor for “Manchester by the Sea” after his brother, Ben Affleck, had already conquered the Best Original Screenplay (“Good Will Hunting,” 1998) and Best Picture (“Argo,” 2013) categories. Lastly, Anthony Giacchino won Best Documentary Short for “Collette” in 2021, 11 years after his brother, Michael Giacchino, won Best Score for “Up.”
If they are victorious, Eilish (20) and O’Connell (24) will make further history as the youngest Oscar-winning siblings ever. The record is currently held by the Sanders brothers, who were 23 (Terry) and 26 (Denis) at the time of their collective win. The youngest siblings who triumphed in different years and the only pair of winning sisters are Joan Fontaine (24, Best Actress, “Suspicion,” 1942) and Olivia de Havilland (30 and 33, Best Actress, “To Each His Own,” 1947 and “The Heiress” 1950).
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