10 Most Surprising Underdog Oscar Victories

Throughout Academy Awards history, certain actors have proved themselves so talented that even their relatively short amount of screen time have managed to bag them a much-coveted acting Oscar.

In recent years, we’ve seen Anthony Hopkins win Best Oscar for just under sixteen minutes on screen for his role as cannibal Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and Judi Dench scoop Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love in which she featured on screen for around eight minutes.

But way before Dench and Hopkins’ wins Beatrice Straight managed to nab herself the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the jilted wife of a TV news executive in Sidney Lumet’s 1976 media satire Network pipping her fellow nominees Piper Laurie and a young Jodie Foster to the post predominantly for just one scene that clocks in at under six minutes long.