Kobe Bryant, Greta Gerwig: Some fun facts about the 2018 Oscar nominations

Behind the headlines at the Academy Award nominations on Tuesday, there were some special achievements, including honors for Christopher Plummer and Kobe Bryant.

— At age 88, Christopher Plummer becomes the oldest acting nominee to date. He already holds the crown for the oldest acting winner, having won for his supporting role in “Beginners” in 2011 at age 82.

— Meryl Streep increased her lead as the most-nominated actress in Oscar history by nabbing her 21st nomination for her work in “The Post.” She has won three times.

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— Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant could get an Oscar to go along with his NBA championships, MVP Awards and Olympic gold medals. His animated short film, “Dear Basketball,” written and narrated by Bryant, got a nomination for best animated short film.

— Look out, Walt: Composer John Williams added to his record number of nominations for writing film scores with his 46th nod. His overall total of 51 nominations (including five for original song) is the most for any living person, and second only to Walt Disney at 59.

— Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman nominated as director for helming “Lady Bird,” joining Lina Wertmuller for “Seven Beauties” (1976), Jane Campion for “The Piano” (1993), Sofia Coppola for “Lost in Translation” (2003) and Kathryn Bigelow (2009) for “The Hurt Locker.”

— Welcome back: Actors Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”), Meryl Streep (“The Post”) and Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”) earned back-to-back Oscar nominations. Last year, Washington earned a nod for “Fences,” Streep for “Florence Foster Jenkins” and Spencer for “Hidden Figures.”

Associated Press