Anthony Quinn won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Paul Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli's 1956 biography of Van Gogh, Lust for Life (left). That same year, he starred as Zampanò the strong man in Fellini's La Strada, the first film to win the Best Foreign Film Oscar as a competitive award. (From 1947-1955, a Special Oscar was given to the best foreign language film.)

Quinn had won a previous Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Viva Zapata! in 1952 and was later nominated for Best Actor for Wild is the Wind (1957) and Zorba the Greek (1964), as well as co-starring in the 1962 Best Picture Lawrence of Arabia. He holds the record for appearing in more movies with other Oscar-winning actors than any other Oscar-winning performer: 46; 28 actors and 18 actresses.

Many sources claim that Quinn's appearance in Lust for Life is only eight or nine minutes long, but he is actually onscreen for almost 24 minutes of the film.