How many Californians have won an Oscar Award and who has won the most?
California may be the home of the film industry, but many stars are not originally from there. So how have the California-born actors done at the Oscars?
Tinsel Town is the center of the movie industry in the United States. The allure of becoming famous draws people from across the country and around the world to sunny California and more specifically Hollywood.
You would think though that growing up near the Mecca of the seventh art, California would be home to the most Oscar winners. With the biggest night in movies approaching, we had a look.
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Ranking the Oscars by State: how many Californians have won an Academy Award?
Since its first edition, in 1929; more than 3,000 people have been awarded the golden statuette, with California coming second on the list of States where the most winners were born. Number one? New York.
In total 33 Californians have won an acting Oscar either as lead or in a supporting role.
According to a report by Wanderu, as of 2019, a total of 30 Californians had won an acting Oscar. Since then, three more California-born actresses have taken the award: Laura Dern for ‘Supporting Actress’ in “Marriage Story” (2020) and Jessica Chastain as ‘Best Actress’ for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (2022) and last year, Jamie Lee Curtis won for ‘Supporting Actress’ in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” taking home her first golden statuette.
All eyes will be on America Ferrera this year. She has been nominated for her supporting performance in the 2023 box-office hit “Barbie”. The Los Angeles native could put another win on the board with her first Oscar to help the Golden State catch up to its East Coast rival.
According to the aforementioned report, the state that has the most Oscars is New York with a total of 48 statuettes. After California comes Illinois with 13 and Massachusetts with 11 statuettes.