Top 10 shortest Best Actor Oscar-winning performances [PHOTOS]

Given that the last Best Actor Oscar recipient with less than an hour of screen time was Jean Dujardin (“The Artist,” 2012), it’s clear that modern academy voters strongly prefer lengthy lead male roles. That hasn’t always been the case, however, as indicated by the fact that 30 briefer turns than Dujardin’s have been awarded during the category’s 96-year history. Scroll through our photo gallery to find out which 10 Best Actor-winning performances are the shortest of all time.

This countdown is presented in terms of physical screen time, meaning any time an actor actually appears on screen or can be heard off screen. Moments involving non-visible or audible scene presence are not factored in. Unfortunately, one of this category’s 98 winning performances – Emil Jannings (“The Way of All Flesh,” 1929) – could not be counted since the film is lost, but his concurrently honored and still-intact turn in “The Last Command” puts him in 13th place here.

All 10 of the entrants on this list won prior to the start of the 21st century, with the newest being from the 69th Academy Awards in 1997. The overall screen time average for winners in this category is one hour, nine minutes, and 47 seconds, which 46 champs have fallen under.

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