Illini 411: How many Illinois alumni have won the Oscar for Best Director?

Ang Lee, the only U of I alumnus to win the Academy Award for Best Director. (Image courtesy of UIAA)
By Ryan A. Ross

A: One, but he’s done it twice. Ang Lee, ’80 FAA, won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012). (He was also nominated for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [2000], which was nominated for Best Picture and won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.) Lee is one of only six active filmmakers with multiple wins as Best Director. The others? Alfonso Cuarón, Clint Eastwood, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone.

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