New Zealander Anna Paquin, who at 11 won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Piano, is one of the youngest performers in Oscar’s history to have received the award.

The youngest nominees in the Academy's history are in the supporting leagues. Justin Henry was only eight when first nominated for Kramer vs. Kramer, a remarkable achievement since he had never acted before. The youngest nominees among the supporting actresses are Tatum O'Neal, who won for Paper Moon in 1973, at the age of ten, and Quinn Cummings for The Goodbye Girl, who, at eleven, earned a nomination for her first picture, though she had appeared on TV before.

The youngest nominees in the Academy's history are in the supporting leagues. Justin Henry was only eight when first nominated for Kramer vs. Kramer, a remarkable achievement since he had never acted before. The youngest nominees among the supporting actresses are Tatum O'Neal, who won for Paper Moon in 1973, at the age of ten, and Quinn Cummings for The Goodbye Girl, who, at eleven, earned a nomination for her first picture, though she had appeared on TV before.

The list of performers to have benefited from a radical gain/loss of weight is too long to recite in its entirety, so here is a brief sample.

Shelley Winters’ Oscar history (one Best Actress and three Best Supporting Actress nominations) is a testament to the importance of physical transformation.