Which director (still alive today) has received the most Academy Award Best Director nominations (as of 2017)?

With eight Best Director nominations, Martin Scorsese is the most nominated living director and is tied with Billy Wilder for the second most nominations overall.

Martin Charles Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and film historian, whose career spans more than 50 years. Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Sicilian-American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, faith, machismo, modern crime, and gang conflict. Many of his films are also known for their depiction of violence and liberal use of profanity.

He has directed works such as the crime film Mean Streets (1973), the vigilante-thriller Taxi Driver (1976), the biographical sports drama Raging Bull (1980), the black comedy The King of Comedy (1983), the religious epic drama The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), the crime film Goodfellas (1990), the psychological thriller Cape Fear (1991) and the crime film Casino (1995), some of which he collaborated on with actor and close friend Robert De Niro. Scorsese has also been noted for his successful collaborations with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, having directed him in five films, beginning with Gangs of New York (2002) and most recently The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Their third film together, The Departed, won Scorsese the Academy Award for Best Director in addition to the film winning the award for Best Picture.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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46 Comments

Davida Kristy

Since 3 of the 4 options are DEAD, and you said the correct choice was still alive, this didn't present much of a challenge.

billyboy915

This submission might have been made more interesting and challenging had there been more than one living director among the choices.

Jim Hubbard

Bill Zaczek, Isn't this the same William Wyler who, according to the same Wikipedia article you claim to have cited, died in 1981? If the question is asking for a director still living, then a dead director does not qualify, now does it? "On July 24, 1981, Wyler gave an interview with his daughter, Catherine, for Directed by William Wyler, a PBS documentary about his life and career.[82] Three days later, he died from a heart attack. He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, near his older brother, Robert Wyler, sister-in-law, actress Cathy O'Donnell and his son, William "Billy" Wyler, Jr in Glendale, California.[83][84][85][86]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wyler If you're going to be pedantic, your energy is better served actually reading the question than doing "research" to prove the question wrong.

Paulette Arnold

Don't keep up with this stuff. Hate movies with a lot of profanity. I don't watch them.

Leslie Burum

This question is absolutely ridiculous. Why put "still alive" within the question? Gee.....duh....which one do I pick? My word....please, please go through these questions and edit them out!!!!