It will be hard to beat William Wyler's record of 14 wins for his actors in lead or supporting roles. Given the 36 nominations for his actors, he also has one of the best hit rates, at close to 40 per cent of his actors becoming winners.
Elia Kazan, an excellent teacher and director of actors, was not too far off, with 9 wins from 24 acting nominations.
Out of living directors Woody Allen leads the pack with 6 wins from 16 nominations, an excellent success rate. He is closely followed by the 5 wins from 20 nominations for actors in Martin Scorsese films.
Interestingly, both Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick share the distinction of directing only one performance to an acting Oscar win.
The full list from Tim Dirks' excellent :
Directors with Most Acting Nominations
36 - William Wyler, 24 - Elia Kazan, 21 - George Cukor, 20 - Martin Scorsese, 20 - Fred Zinnemann, 18 - Sidney Lumet, 18 - George Stevens, 18 - Mike Nichols, 17 - Billy Wilder, 16 - Stanley Kramer, 16 - Woody Allen, 15 - John Huston.
Directors with Most Acting Awards
14 - William Wyler, 9 - Elia Kazan, 6 - Fred Zinnemann, 6 - Woody Allen, 5 - John Ford, 5 - Martin Scorsese, 5 - Clint Eastwood, 5 - George Cukor, 4 - Jonathan Demme, 4 - Victor Fleming, 4 - John Huston, 4 - Sidney Lumet, 4 - Hal Ashby, 4 - James L. Brooks.
