Streisand, in a controversial decision, was allowed to become a voting member of the Academy prior to the release of her first film. She won the Oscar in a tie with Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter. Presumably, she voted for herself; so if the Academy hadn't let her join so early, she wouldn't have won.

Some sources list Ben Kingsley (Ghandi, 1983) and Geoffrey Rush (Shine, 1996) as winning the Best Actor Award for their film debuts. But Kingley's first film was Fear is the Key (1972) and Rush's was Hoodwink (1981).