Academy Award-winning Bruins
Did you know that UCLA alumni have received 101 Academy Award nominations? According to the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s website, Bruins in all parts of the film industry, from directors to composers to producers, have not only been nominated for Oscars but won — Academy Award-winning Bruins include notable names like Francis Ford Coppola, John Williams and more.
Keep reading to learn about Bruin Oscar winners.
Francis Ford Coppola
Foreshadowing his later success with revolutionary mobster film The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola was a high-performing student at UCLA film school. In 1962, his screenplay Pilma Pilma won the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award, kickstarting his professional career.
Within a decade of receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree from UCLA in 1966, Coppola won six Academy awards. He received his first Oscar from co-writing Patton (1970), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Then, The Godfather (1972) won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Godfather Part II (1974) not only won Coppola two more Oscars (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director), but became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
John Williams
Although he is currently famous for composing iconic scores and themes for movies like Star Wars, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park, John Williams was once a humble UCLA student. As a Bruin, Williams studied composition privately with Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
As of March 2024, Williams has 54 Academy Award nominations, making him the second-most nominated person after Walt Disney. Over the course of his career, Williams has received five Academy Awards for Best Original Score for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler's List (1993).
Blye Pagon Faust
Although it takes most producers many tries before they produce an Academy Award-winning film, UCLA School of Law graduate Blye Pagon Faust won the Oscar for Best Picture for the first movie she produced: Spotlight (2015). The film received critical acclaim for its raw and honest depiction of how a Boston Globe investigative team reported the Catholic Archdiocese’s child molestation by priests.
In addition to her work as a producer, Faust also works to increase the visibility of women in the film industry as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Mill Valley Film Festival's Mind the Gap initiative.
These are just three of the many UCLA Alumni who have won Academy Awards, and there will be many more to come. Can’t wait to see what Bruins in the film industry will achieve next!
