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. 2022 Apr 13;17(4):e0266563.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266563. eCollection 2022.

Long-term mortality of academy award winning actors and actresses

Donald A Redelmeier  1   2   3   4   5 , Sheldon M Singh  1   6
Affiliations

Long-term mortality of academy award winning actors and actresses

Donald A Redelmeier et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Social status gradients are powerful health determinants for individuals living in poverty. We tested whether winning an Academy award (Oscar) for acting was associated with long-term survival.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal cohort analysis of all actors and actresses nominated for an Academy award in a leading or a supporting role. For each, a control was identified based on age, sex, and co-staring in the same film.

Results: Overall, 2,111 individuals were analyzed with 1,122 total deaths occurring during a median follow-up of 68.8 years. Comparisons of winners to controls yielded a 4.8% relative difference average life-span (95% confidence interval: 1.6 to 7.9, p = 0.004), a 5.1 year absolute increase in life expectancy (95% confidence interval: 3.0 to 7.2, p < 0.001), and a 41% improvement in mortality hazard (95% confidence interval: 19 to 68, p < 0.001). The increased survival tended to be greater in recent years, for individuals winning at a younger age, and among those with multiple wins. The increased survival replicated in secondary analyses comparing winners to nominees and was not observed in analyses comparing nominees to controls.

Conclusions: Academy award winning actors and actresses show a positive association between success and survival, suggesting the importance of behavioral, psychological, or other modifiable health factors unrelated to poverty.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Survival of winners and controls.
Survival plot comparing mortality between winners and controls based on multistate model. X-axis denotes time in years following birth. Y-axis denotes percent in each group surviving to corresponding time point. Winners as dashed blue line and controls as solid red line. P-value based on bootstrap statistic. Counts in square brackets indicate number of individuals in risk set at corresponding time point. Results show generally long life-expectancy and significant difference comparing winners to controls. Median survival for winners is 83 years and controls is 78 years.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Secondary analysis of winners.
Forest plot showing multiple sensitivity analyses of absolute increase in life-expectancy for winners in different subgroups. Referent group in all analyses is control performers with no win and no nomination. Circles denote estimate and horizontal lines denote 95% confidence interval. Vertical line for null association marked as a 0 year increase in life expectancy. Sample size in each analysis shown as corresponding count of winners. Findings suggest increased life-expectancy for winners compared to controls.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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