Oscars 2021: Which actors have won posthumous Academy Awards?

Chadwick Boseman has received a posthumous nomination for best actor at the 2021 Oscars.

The news was announced last month with Chadwick getting his nod for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom following his death from cancer last year.

Chadwick is the seventh actor to get a posthumous acting nomination, following the likes of Heath Ledger and James Dean who were also nominated after their deaths.

And, if he wins, he will be the third star to win the best actor Oscar, with Health Ledger winning for his role in The Dark Knight and Peter Finch for his part in Network.

Who else was nominated for a posthumous Oscar?

Jeanne Eagels

Jeanne Eagels was the first-ever person to win a posthumous acting nomination in the second ceremony for her performance in The Letter.

She is the only woman to have ever received an acting nomination posthumously.

Jeanne potrayed Leslie Crosbie in the 1929 film which was black and white, and silent.

She was addicted to alcohol and heroine and died at the age of 39 following an overdose of choral hydrate which she took to help her sleep.

James Dean

James Dean played Caleb Trask in East of Eden, which earned him a nomination for best actor.

Caleb was a lost young man who wanted the attention of his father who preferred his other son.

He lost out to Ernest Borgnine who won the award for his role in Marty.

James Dean

James Dean played the role of Jett Rink in 1956 film Giant.

He received his second posthumous best actor nomination and is the only actor to have received more than one posthumous nomination.

He lost out to Yul Brynner who won for his role in The King and I.

James died in 1955 in a car crash at the age of 24.

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy died at the age of 67 in 1967 from a heart attack just 17 days after he finished filming Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

He played Matt Drayton alongside actress Katharine Hepburn and the pair portrayed a couple who changed their attitudes when their daughter got engaged to a black man.

Spencer was nominated for best actor for his performance.

Peter Finch

Peter Finch played television anchor Howard Beale in Network and was the first person to win an acting Oscar after his death.

His character was known in the film for losing his mind and ranting about the media.

Peter died in 1977 at the age of 60 after a heart attack.

Sir Ralph Richardson

Sir Ralph Richardson was nominated for his part in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes as the sixth Earl of Greystoke who lost his memory after suffering grief.

He lost to Cambodian actor Haing S. Ngor who won for film The Killing Fields.

Sir Ralph died at the age of 80 in 1983 after a number of strokes.

Massimo Troisi

Massimo Troisi played a postman who used poetry to attract women in Il Postino and he received two posthumous Oscar nominations for best actor and adapted screenplay.

He lost the best actor Oscar to Nicholas Cage who won for his part in Leaving Las Vegas.

Massimo died in 1994 at the age of 41 after a heart attack.

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger played the Joker in The Dark Knight and he became the second actor to win an Oscar posthumously and the first to win in the supporting actor category.

He died at the age of 28 in 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

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